pH and acid

[CoastalEmpireWine]

If I remember correctly from chemistry class the pH level is a direct correlation of the acid level, if I have the correct pH for my wine is it necessary to test the acid level? Just a food for thought question.

 

[robie]

If I remember correctly from chemistry class the pH level is a direct correlation of the acid level, if I have the correct pH for my wine is it necessary to test the acid level? Just a food for thought question.

In wine, if the pH goes up, the TA goes down and visa-verse. I am not a chemist, but you can't say the TA is x, just because the pH is y. There are other factors in wine that affect their results. Maybe a chemist will jump in and explain; we have a few on board.

 

[Noontime]

I have very little practical understanding...but I do know you can have high pH and high acid (total acidity) and vise-versa. It's certainly a problem if you do, but they are independant of each other.

 

[Turock]

PH is the strength of the acid. Which is why wine tastes too sharp if it's too low. PH can actually affect the flavor--we've proved this to ourselves many times as we acid adjust must before fermentation.

It's wise to have PH in balance because it affects flavor, and if it's too low, you can't balance it with sugar because too much sugar will tamp down flavor.

 

[JohnT]

Additionally.

PH is a scale where 7.0 is neutral.

The LOWER the PH, The HIGHER the acid content. The higher the PH, the lower the acid content. A bit confusing, but when we need to LOWER the PH, we need to ADD acid. A typical good PH level for wine is around 3.4. of course, this varries from wine to wine.

As said above, PH measures the free ions present. This is the strength of the acid. Some acids bring more free ions than other acids.

TA is the total content of acid (usually by weight or %) and does not take into account the strength of the acids present.

johnT.

 

[robie]

PH is the strength of the acid. Which is why wine tastes too sharp if it's too low. PH can actually affect the flavor--we've proved this to ourselves many times as we acid adjust must before fermentation.

It's wise to have PH in balance because it affects flavor, and if it's too low, you can't balance it with sugar because too much sugar will tamp down flavor.

Very true. I made a fairly high alcohol Zin once and after fermentation to very dry, the pH level was very low. I was surprised to find the wine actually tasted sweet (very sweet!). I did some reading and found that low pH (High acid) and high alcohol will cause the wine to taste sweet.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

Additionally.

PH is a scale where 7.0 is neutral.

The LOWER the PH, The HIGHER the acid content. The higher the PH, the lower the acid content. A bit confusing, but when we need to LOWER the PH, we need to ADD acid. A typical good PH level for wine is around 3.4. of course, this varries from wine to wine.

As said above, PH measures the free ions present. This is the strength of the acid. Some acids bring more free ions than other acids.

TA is the total content of acid (usually by weight or %) and does not take into account the strength of the acids present.

johnT.

Agreed. I would add that, pH is a better measure of how your wine will age. Lower pH means more protection and longer possible aging time. Higher pH wines (3.6+) will possibly spoil sooner (think years). I don't do TA because it is too variable with fruit wines.