Hello guys, I had some questions regarding the addition of Calcium Carbonate to the must. So i will give you a few details before i ask.
Strawberry wine recipe - Ended up with 4 gallons of pure strawberry juice steam extracted.
Starting SG of 1.086
Starting Ph of 3.74
Added all the ingredients as directed except for the yeast and acid blend, as i didnt have time to test right away. Let pectic enzyme and kmeta sit for 12 hours, and tested the must. It showed on the the vinmetrica sc300 a ph of 3.74. I added 4.5 tsps of acid blend, testing the ph as i added and ended up with a ph of 3.53. It seemed odd to me at the time that it took what seemed like alot to drop the ph but this is my first go around with the SC300 and i thought this might be typical. Judging by the kellar recipes they add 2 tsps per gallon so i wasnt overly concerned. Pitched the yeast that night.
2 days later i checked the SG and it was really good, SG of 1.045. checked the Ph and it was 3.19. Side note, i calibrate the sc300 both times and had good cals... not sure why the big difference. Anyways, to balance it out i added tsps of calcium carbonate and ended up with a Ph of 3.37, which im fairly ok with.
My question are... does my methodology seem sound? Is there taste implications with adding the calcium carbonate? Are you more experienced wine makers noticing any glaring mistakes?
Thanks guys, love the way this site helps out the beginners. Keep it up!
Strawberry wine recipe - Ended up with 4 gallons of pure strawberry juice steam extracted.
Starting SG of 1.086
Starting Ph of 3.74
Added all the ingredients as directed except for the yeast and acid blend, as i didnt have time to test right away. Let pectic enzyme and kmeta sit for 12 hours, and tested the must. It showed on the the vinmetrica sc300 a ph of 3.74. I added 4.5 tsps of acid blend, testing the ph as i added and ended up with a ph of 3.53. It seemed odd to me at the time that it took what seemed like alot to drop the ph but this is my first go around with the SC300 and i thought this might be typical. Judging by the kellar recipes they add 2 tsps per gallon so i wasnt overly concerned. Pitched the yeast that night.
2 days later i checked the SG and it was really good, SG of 1.045. checked the Ph and it was 3.19. Side note, i calibrate the sc300 both times and had good cals... not sure why the big difference. Anyways, to balance it out i added tsps of calcium carbonate and ended up with a Ph of 3.37, which im fairly ok with.
My question are... does my methodology seem sound? Is there taste implications with adding the calcium carbonate? Are you more experienced wine makers noticing any glaring mistakes?
Thanks guys, love the way this site helps out the beginners. Keep it up!