Syrah-zilla

[yakhunter]

Hi all, I just picked up my 5 crates (36# each) of Syrah grapes from the Suisun valley of CA.

I crushed them through a hand-cranked crusher and sulfited them last night.

at 64F, the SG was 1.120 (!!!) and the pH was vacillating between 4.1 and 4.2. What should I do with this monster? Should I water it down to like 1.095? Will this also fix the pH? Or should I just let'er rip as she is?

If it makes any difference, I don't think the grapes crushed all that completely. there was ZERO mold, and some of the grapes were starting to "raisin".

 

[ibglowin]

Your going to need to add water and Tartaric acid. What is the TA?

 

[yakhunter]

I do not have the equipment to test for TA, just a pH meter.

 

[ibglowin]

Thats the best way to check TA. You have to check both TA and pH. You can't just go by pH. Take a look at this manual where it talks about testing TA with a pH meter. You can usually pick up a TA test kit at any local home brew store for like $10.

 

[yakhunter]

Thanks, IBG. I don't see an attachment here. Is the article on this site?
I picked up a test kit and it sort of confirmed everything. I ended up adding 3 L of water with Tartaric acid 0.6% solution and then had to add 2 oz. Tartaric acid.

It was my first time using the acid test kit so I am not sure I saw the "change" I was supposed to see. I was expecting something a little more abrupt. Hope I did not over acidify it. Wishing now that I had added less and waited to see what it was like in a little while.

 

[ibglowin]

My bad, looks like I forgot to add the link. I would recheck your TA using the pH meter as it is 10X more accurate.

http://morewinemaking.com/public/pdf/W501.pdf

 

[geek]

we also have a link here for checking TA with a PH meter:

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f71/how-take-acid-test-ph-meter-11244/