grapefruit acid update

[appleweld]

sorry it took so long to get back on this. i tested the acid level in the wine and it is .9%.fermentation is near complete, so is there any way to lower the acid level at this point. the beginning sg was 1.105. the sg now is .992. it has been racked once into the seconday, and a few bubbles still go though the airlock. i will probly rack again in a few days. i tasted the wine last night and it was one of the most bitter things id ever tasted. my questions are: is acid level ok?, is it possible to backsweeten enough to make this drinkable? thanks in advance

 

[grapeman]

Ashley one thing you want to do in the future is to continue on with your previous post instead of starting a new one each time when they relate to the same wine. That way others can look at what you previously did to better aid you. By starting a new post it is hard to find what you previously did if we hadn't followed you.


Now, the 0.9% is a bit high, but not terrible. You could use some potassium carbonate at this point or you could just try to cold stabilize. Cold stabilization after the k-carb will help drop out the k-carb and resulting bound acids. If this is in a small enough container, put it in the refrigerator and you should see some crystals form on the bottom. Leave it in thre a couple weeks and it should drop a point or 2 and get it in a more desireable range. When that is done, add your k-meta and k-sorbate to stabilize it and then sweeten with a simple syrup to taste. The bitterness should lessen over time. This is probably why you rarely hear of grapefruit wine!

 

[appleweld]

thanks for the info, and ill be sure to update under the same topic. i dont have k carb, but i have calcium carbonate, will this work? yeah, wed never heard of this wine either, but we had the grapefruits...

 

[grapeman]

Ca Carbonate is to be used pre-fermentation- potassium carbonate is for post fermentation. I would just try it cold stabilizing the wine and the sweeten it.