Acidic

[back2it]

Hi,

I have a 2 gallon 70 day old batch of Mango which is a little too acidic for my taste (SG 1.012 PH 3.38, no TA) so I have popped it into the fridge at about 4°c.

Should I degass it first?

Thanks
Ray...

 

[winemaker81]

If you have excess CO2 in the wine, it will hold solids in suspension so the wine won't clear properly, so a mild degassing is a good idea. Stir for 30 seconds, then change direction and stir for another 30 seconds. There is no need to "whip" the wine. This will jump start the ejection of any remaining excess CO2.

Post cold stabilization? I'd bulk age 3 months then taste it. Fruit wines normally benefit from at least a bit of sugar, which brings out the fruit aroma and flavor. It also balances acid so you do not perceive it.

 

[winemanden]

81 is right! If you like drier styles of wine, add your sugar in small amounts. Often if you catch it at that magic moment when the flavour, and acid suit your taste, you might not even notice the added sugar.

 

[winemaker81]

I much prefer dry wines and my version of backsweetening is far less than many people. There's no right or wrong here, it's all personal taste.

I recently bottled a Vidal that was just a bit sharp tasting. I added 1/4 cup sugar per 4 liters, which bumped the SG 6 points. As soon as the wine hits the tongue the acid is perceptible for just a moment, then the wine tastes off-dry, just a hint of sugar.

When ready to bottle, use sugar syrup and experiment with 4 oz glasses of wine, adding varying amounts. Stir each glass well and taste test.

When making any addition, start with less than you think you need. It's far easier to add more than to take some out. And once you get to the point where you think the wine needs just a bit more, STOP. It doesn't.

 

[back2it]

Thank you,

I havent done or added anything since primary, just racked from bucket to carboy. It is bubbling slowly but i'm not experienced enough to know if it's degassing or it's doing something else. It may even still be fermenting because the SG is 1.012 but 20 days ago when I checked it last it was 1.014.

I am tempted just to leave it sitting but I will give it a stir, pop it in the fridge for 14 days then wait for the three months. It's going to be a tough summer!

I'm not sure about sweetness though, some wines I like sweet others not it depends on what it is. I supose my tastes/pallet will change as I progress.

 

[winemaker81]

- Activity in an airlock doesn't tell you anything useful, as it could be active fermentation, degassing, and/or changes in temperature or barometric pressure.

The wine is way too young to really taste like wine. Depending on the fruit, that can take a lot more than 2 months. IMO you should not have refrigerated it yet, since it's not done fermenting, but we can work with this. Wine is very forgiving of many things.

If the SG dropped 2 points in 20 days, it's not necessarily done, but other factors may be in play. The pH is one factor.

What was the OG (original gravity) and what yeast did you use?

At this point your wine is probably fine. We just need to figure out what state it is in, and how to proceed. This is a procrastinator's hobby -- don't be in too much hurry at this point. We'll figure things out.

 

[back2it]

"The wine is way too young to really taste like wine." That IS good new to me.

Not Temperature change as temp is stable at 19°c ~ 20°c nor barometric activity as it all outbound bubbles in a lowering barometric environment and I was already procrastinating and hadn't yet put it into the fridge, so good news

The yeast is Mangrove Jacks CY17.

It's a step feed:

ABV Calc
Date	OG	FG	Calc	ABV
29 Mar	1.064​	1.010​	0.054​	7.3%​
08 Apr	1.010​	0.997​	0.013​	1.8%​
15 Apr	1.008​	0.998​	0.010​	1.4%​
22 Apr	1.010​	0.995​	0.015​	2.0%​
30 Apr	1.010​	1.000​	0.010​	1.4%​
05 May	1.020​	1.014​	0.006​	0.8%​
	1.014​		0.000​	0.0%​
		Final ABV	14.6%​

On the 5th May I racked it and popped it under the stairs to await my pleasure. I checked and sampled yesterday (27th May) resulting in an SG of 1.012

I think maybe the best thing is to leave it under the stairs and wait a few more weeks and check again.

Thank you

 

[Raptor99]

I think that pH 3.38 is just about perfect for a country wine. Once the SG drops below 1.010 and most of the gross lees have settled out, you can rack it into a clean carboy for several months of bulk aging.

Then you can taste it and decide if you want to backsweeten a bit. I don't like really sweet wines, but just a little bit of sugar really helps to improve the flavor of most country wines. If you are going to back sweeten, you should stabilize it first so that fermentation does not restart.

 

[back2it]

Thinking about it, my mistake was probably racking it on the 5th and it's taken a little while for the yeast to build back up and become reasonably active again.

I feel happier about the PH now and I think I will wait for two to four weeks to let it do its thing and check to see if I get a stable SG reading several weeks apart.

It shouldnt need sweetening but stabilising noted.

Thank you

 

[back2it]

Well, today is whine day and I was going to take SG, PH and look at TA as well but as I was removing the other fermentors I had a quick look at this and found that it is quite active. Difficult to see without shining a torch at it. I have a video but couldn't upload it as its an unauthorised extension but it is bubbling away quite nicely.

I deciced to do nothing and wait to see what happens in another two weeks.