Acid

BobF · Mar 9, 2010

A couple of weeks ago I finally got around to stabalizing and back-sweetening a few batches that were ready. Peach, apple, apple-cherry and a strawberry.

Up to this point I just followed recipes for acid additions up front and didn't bother with post-ferment adjustments. Well, I finally picked up an acid test kit and made acid adjustment part of the process.

Holy Wine Gawd - what a difference even a small adjustment makes!!

Weak flavors pop right out with as little as .5g/L worth of adjustment!

If you're going blind on acid, do yourself a favor - spend less than $10 on an acid test kit. It is worth it!!!!!

NOTE: Make sure you adjust the acid BEFORE you do any sweetening. Sweetness pops out along with the flavor.

djrockinsteve · Mar 9, 2010

and it only takes a few minutes. Who wants flabby wine.

Leanne · Mar 9, 2010

Yes, it is so worth it! I do this so often now. The hidden flavours just rise and the tongue gets so much more pleasure from the wine.

surlees · Mar 9, 2010

I did the same thing with a commercial wine. It was a Rodney Strong Charbono. Cost me $35. When I first tasted it, I said to my wife, "This wine is flabby and dull." I tested the pH and it was 4.0. I couldn't believe a well respected winery would even bottle a wine with a pH that high. So, I added enough tartaric acid to increase the acidity to pH 3.40. The difference was amazing! It was transformed completely to the wine it should have been all along.

Fred

BobF · Mar 9, 2010

surlees said:
I did the same thing with a commercial wine. It was a Rodney Strong Charbono. Cost me $35. When I first tasted it, I said to my wife, "This wine is flabby and dull." I tested the pH and it was 4.0. I couldn't believe a well respected winery would even bottle a wine with a pH that high. So, I added enough tartaric acid to increase the acidity to pH 3.40. The difference was amazing! It was transformed completely to the wine it should have been all along.

Fred

I did the same with a cheap jug of Carlo Rossi!

It didn't help ;-)

BShuhart · Jan 6, 2019

Late arrival on this thread, but thought people might like to see an Acid test with pictures. I created these files in 2008 and sent them to 2 other blog sites for distribution, so I may as well upload them here. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.