GreenEnvy22
Senior Member
So I had some wines that are a bit to acidic that I wanted to lower. I haven't used potassium bicarbonate before, but decided to use this vs calcium carbonate.
The LD Carlson package said to use 1 1/3 tsp per gallon to lower TA by 0.1%. Finding the same product online, which also showed the same on the label, I was confused because the description said to use 3.8g per gallon. When i weighed 1.33 tsp, it was more like 8g. So didn't match up with the expected weight.
I decided to use the 3.8g figure, as it was more conservative so I can always add more if needed later. Didn't want to use too much and ruin the wine.
I had 25 gallons of 2020 Riesling that was a bit below room temperature. When adding it, there was a very active reaction, as expected. My first carboy actually overflowed a bit because I underestimated it. Was slower with the remaining carboys. This wine I was reducing by 0.2%.
Then I added some to a few wines that are more like 2-3 degrees celcius, just above freezing. Those barely had any visible reaction.
Then lastly i added some to wine in my cellar which was maybe around 10C, and it made a visible reaction (kicked up some lees on the bottom), but didn't overflow or make visible fizz.
As it turned out, the 1lb of this stuff I had on hand was exactly how much I needed. This treated a total of around 86 gallons. Most of it just to reduce TA by 0.1, but some by 0.2.
Anyway, I mostly found the varying reactions based on temperature interesting.
Most of the wine is in the garage so it will cold crash easily for the next month or two. The stuff in my cellar might need to go out into the garage, not sure if 10C is low enough temp for it to precipitate out.
The LD Carlson package said to use 1 1/3 tsp per gallon to lower TA by 0.1%. Finding the same product online, which also showed the same on the label, I was confused because the description said to use 3.8g per gallon. When i weighed 1.33 tsp, it was more like 8g. So didn't match up with the expected weight.
I decided to use the 3.8g figure, as it was more conservative so I can always add more if needed later. Didn't want to use too much and ruin the wine.
I had 25 gallons of 2020 Riesling that was a bit below room temperature. When adding it, there was a very active reaction, as expected. My first carboy actually overflowed a bit because I underestimated it. Was slower with the remaining carboys. This wine I was reducing by 0.2%.
Then I added some to a few wines that are more like 2-3 degrees celcius, just above freezing. Those barely had any visible reaction.
Then lastly i added some to wine in my cellar which was maybe around 10C, and it made a visible reaction (kicked up some lees on the bottom), but didn't overflow or make visible fizz.
As it turned out, the 1lb of this stuff I had on hand was exactly how much I needed. This treated a total of around 86 gallons. Most of it just to reduce TA by 0.1, but some by 0.2.
Anyway, I mostly found the varying reactions based on temperature interesting.
Most of the wine is in the garage so it will cold crash easily for the next month or two. The stuff in my cellar might need to go out into the garage, not sure if 10C is low enough temp for it to precipitate out.
