Other California Wine - Chardonnay

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DasK

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My starting pH seems a little too alkaline to me. It's reading around 4.0. Normally I like to be at 3.4 to 3.6.

Seeing as this is my first Chardonnay what should I use to bring my pH more in line, if I even need to? I have tartaric/malic blend and I think I have a tartaric.
 
Are you going to do an MLF? If so - I would use the blend.

If not - go with the tartaric.
 
This post is in "Wine Kits - Other Brands". Therefore I have to believe that DasK is asking about a kit. I don't like to answer q's about kits without knowing the EXACT kit.

However, it is not necessary to test acidity in most kits. It is actually a waste of time. Due to the processing that kits receive, the acidity reading will not be correct.

DasK...where did you get this California Chardonnay? What brand? Etc, etc.

Steve
 
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Thanks, the link to the kit I got is here: http://www.williamsbrewing.com/CALIFORNIA-CHARDONNAY-KIT-P1291C166.aspx

I'm not sure I would go so far as to call it a "kit" per say. I expected more than just 2 cans of concentrate and a packet of yeast. This just seems TOO easy. Almost like cheating, I might say.

They do state that the concentrate is acid balanced and that you don't need to add acid, unless you want to.
 
Sorry I have no experience with the Williams cans as they are not available in Canada. And when I said 'most kits' above, this is the type of kit that I was deliberately exempting.

Steve
 
I know nothing about that product.

However, in the case of kits from the larger kit makers, like Mosti Mondiali, RJ Spagnol, Cellar Craft, WineXpert, home wine makers are advised to NOT try to adjust acid or PH. Although, some do make adjustments AFTER the kit is fermented and before bottling, in most cases this is not necessary.
 
Sampled a small bit from the carboy. Obviously it's still very young, but I wanted to check the color.

I can't say much about the nose on it yet. It has some maturing to do.

Taste-wise though it's progressing very nicely. It has a good mouth feel. Not too crisp, but it definitely is smooth. I can see this becoming a very nice wine in a few months.

Bear in mind this is my first kit wine and my first wine from grapes. So all I am accustomed to on chardonnays is what I buy at the store and I usually don't spend just a whole lot of money on those.
 
The pH is way high for a white. Should be down in the 3.1-3.2 range. Do you have any way to test the TA? Be interesting to see whats going on there.
 
The pH is way high for a white. Should be down in the 3.1-3.2 range. Do you have any way to test the TA? Be interesting to see whats going on there.

I have an acid tritation test kit, but I suck at trying to use it. I don't have my notes in front of me but I want to say it was at a .5 or so.

Nothing really added up to me which is why I posted here. cpfan indicated that acid testing may not even be accurate on a kit such as this, so I'm not sure if I should even mess with it further.
 
On another note, I'm trying to remember back to the days when I kept planted fish aquariums, and I'm trying to remember the relationship between water hardness and pH.

If I remember correctly the harder the water the more it buffers the pH and makes it harder to pull down. CO2 binds with ____ forming carbonic acid, and the harder your water is, the more CO2 you can pump into the liquid before carbonic acid crashes your pH?

That being said, I'm in San Antonio where we pull our water from a limestone aquifer so it's pretty hard. But I have a reverse osmosis filter that I use for drinking/wine making.

It might be of some benefit to get a water hardness test and check the pH of my water out of the tap. But, I've never really noticed a pH problem with my other wines. I make an apple pretty regularly and it is right at 3.4.
 
Doubt if the water is the problem here. I would try and get the acid down with straight Tartaric. As this comes from a can I certainly would not spend the $$ to do an MLF on it so don't add any Malic. Bringing down the pH will make it less susceptible to bacterial spoilage, it will need less SO2 to protect it it will age better and it will probably have a better finish.
 
So this is going to seem like a noob question, but should my starting pH be 3.1-3.2 or my finishing pH? Because carbonic acid will change the pH during fermentation. It just never dawned on me until tonight that this chemical reaction would occur in wine making.
 
There is a whole lot of rxn's going on. Your finishing should be ~3.2 or so. Best time to adjust is prior to fermentation but post is almost as good.
 
Acid changes before fermentation tend to "stick" better.

That is a very high PH, but I have never checked the PH on a kit before, so I can't say anything. However, unless there are some tricks in that kit, the PH will most likely go up even more after fermentation.
 

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