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I know this is a few weeks later after your post. I just picked my 80 vines of Barbera yesterday. Brix was 26.5 and PH 3.10. 35 gals of must. I’m in El Dorado Hills and my 6 year old vines are finally making into September. The first year we picked, 2020, my PH was 2.90. I added a little...

Hi Guys - My Cab Franc was down to zero brix last night. I’ve had it in my garage at 78-86 degrees. Smells and looks great. PH is at 3.65. I did add TA to bring the PH down about .2 I had 2 batches of barbera 1) fermented in garage at 78-86 degrees and 2) fermented in basement room at 74-78...

Makes sense, I agree.. I did add about 2g/l of Tartaric acid after crush. Hopefully that helps, my PH is down to 3.6 now. Haven’t bothered to check the acid.

With the acid so low, should I not introduce the MLB? I was thinking of CH16 but maybe no need now?

Crushday - for what it’s worth by cab franc batch is PH 3.82 and I calc’d the TA at .58%.

here’s how I calc the TA. 1. Calibrate PH meter 2. Draw 10ML juice to tube/beaker 3. Add in .1n sodium hydroxide until PH =8.20 4. TA calc is ML of sodium hydroxide divide by ML of juice X .75.. for example, if it took 15ml sodium hydroxide to get to 8.20, the TA =15/10x.75 =1.125% TA

Hi Crushday, probably not at least. We came towards the end, might have just missed you. and only got 100lbs, couple of buckets. I’ve been dealing with my home 90 barbera vines, 1st year they had grapes. 250lbs. Doing it all by hand.. My barbera is kinda the opposite on the PH. I had 26 brix...

Thanks NorCal! My wife and I had a great time at the Cab Franc crush yesterday, this is our first year making wine. Having the crusher/de-destemmer right there sure beats hand crushing them at home.

Roger that. That’s what I thought.

Norcal, just wanted to confirm. No more Sulfites until after MLF complete? I added 35ppm at crush, wasn’t sure if that dissipates through ferm and if I should top off a little or leave because of the MLB. I know with my low ph, don’t need as much so2.

Thanks. I figure it’s good to have a starting baseline.

I did the chromo test on my acidic barbera..one early fermentation (8/18 crush) and the other which I just pressed. (8/11 crush). I added ch16 to the 8/11 during ferm. Then I read ch16 not good with a low ph so I picked up VP41 and added into both batches. PH has risen from 2.95 at crush to...

Hi - I’m still thinking about a small batch of port with my barbera I just started primary ferm on. I talked to a wine maker who makes a barbera desert/port wine. He says he ferments the barbera dry then adds concentrate and grape spirits in the back-end and ages 18 mos in oak. Here’s my rough...

Thanks.. yep, It’s my barbera. PH is still on the low side 3.24 and high acid. I added a little potassium carbonate to help. I’m adding in VP41 for ML and cold stabilize later hopefully acids will come down. I’m about done with primary after 7 days. 2 brix, gravity 1.02 so the yeast got through...

I just wanted to check if I’m doing my TA test/calcs correctly with my PH meter. 1. I calibrated my PH meter 2. I added 5 ML of wine must 3. I added .1N sodium hydroxide until 8.2Ph..added 8ML to get to 8.2PH. 8ML .1N Sodium hydroxide / 5ML juice X .75 = TA of 1.2% or 12.?? is that...

Yeah. I already have it. Rookie mistake, that’s what my wine/beer making store recommended. I can’t believe the stupid directions on the WPL. Add to must at 5 brix. however must can’t have over 10ppm so2. I do have the WPL, think I’ll add the WPL after pressing for an extra kick.

Yes, I meant wlp675... Johnd recommended getting VP41 on the must. I’ll do that. would you guys add the wlp675 after press just for an extra boost (maybe Sulfites down far enough) or is it not good to have the VP42 and the WLP going together?? btw, I’m day 4 of ferm. Brix is down to 9. My PH...

Thanks guys. I think I’ll try and sample 100proof Christian bro’s and possibly add/test 1 bottle of the 124 butcherton. do you guys put the alcohol in the must or after pressing?

That’s what I was wondering. I know if I use 80proof brandy and maybe the 100proof it’s diluted too much. The 124 proof is expensive or I could buy the 1gal grape alcohol for $200. I was also thinking maybe a mix of the 124 proof brandy and 100proof brandy to save $$ and a little less dilution.

I’m thinking of making a small batch of port with my remaining barbera grapes. I’m shooting to pick at Brix 28-30. Shooting for 5 gal of must and calc I need somewhere between .6 - 1.2 gal of Fortified something depending on the proof. I’m a newbie.. my understanding is you fortify the must...