Reduce acid of Cayuga White

[siddharthk]

Hi Guys

First time wine maker. I have been doing beer for some time and someone gave me about 6 gallons of Cayuga White juice. The fermentation is complete and i just racked it. However i am reading the acid at 10.5 - Too high by most forums. Almost everybody recommends between 7-9.

I need to reduce the acid and am utterly confused by different suggestions - use calcium carbonate or pottasium carbonate etc

Really need help.

Regards
Sid

 

[ffemt128]

I would let it age out and cold stabilize before making any adjustments. You may very well be able to balance out the acid with sugar additions after aging. I've rarely had to adjust any of the PA juices we receive which are very high in acid.

 

[Reluctant Chemist]

Hi,
There's one other thing I think it would be wise to check: the pH. If high acid pairs with pH below 3.5, I'd add 1 g/l of potassium carbonate before chilling for cold stabilization. This with drop the TA by an extra 1 g/l. If the pH is above 3.5 cold stabilization alone won't do the trick without resulting in a pH that's too high. In this case add 1g/l of calcium carbonate before cold stabilization.
Reluctant Chemist

 

[salcoco]

How does it taste? sometimes the acid level numbers donot equal poor taste. plus this wine seems young let it rest for three months and then taste.

 

[TonyR]

Where are you located? If up north what you can do is put the whole carboy ( with airlock) outside in a shed or garage for a few weeks when the temps drop down to the 20's. This will drop out some of the acid, it will form into little crystals and fall to the bottom of the carboy. The TA will drop a few points. Good luck.

 

[Stressbaby]

Reluctant Chemist makes good points. Cold stabilization will actually lower the pH if your starting pH is low (I actually thought the cutoff was 3.6). It will raise the pH if you start above 3.6.

Also, and I have not done this, but if you use the calcium carbonate you want to wait at least 3 months because it takes a long time for this process to occur.

 

[REDBOATNY]

Had a similar situation with Traminette yesterday, I would add about 34 gms. Potassium Bicarbonate along with about a month of cold stabilizing. I usually add calcium carbonate prior to fermentation in a case like yours. Some juices require both methods. Doubt iff you would get too low in acid, if so it is easily added prior to bottling. good luck.