Can REALLY HIGH acid be fixed?

[necroman]

Hi, First post...think I'm screwed...

I've made kit wine before and just tried grapes for the first time...

I won't bore you with all the details but basically I just found out the acid test kit I used to test wine acidity had a base solution that was WAY too strong and I've overadded acid.

If my math is correct, my acid is approx. 14.6g/l.
I have not tested yet cause I have my baby son home tonight...will test when wife gets home in 2 hours...but I'm pretty sure my math is good (based on my father in law's results...he's the one who discovered the bad solution)

Can this be saved, or do I pour it down the waste disposal?

 

[necroman]

really acidic wine

Hi, First post...think I'm screwed...

I've made kit wine before and just tried grapes for the first time...

I won't bore you with all the details but basically I just found out the acid test kit I used to test wine acidity had a base solution that was WAY too strong and I've overadded acid.

If my math is correct, my acid is approx. 14.6g/l.
I have not tested yet cause I have my baby son home tonight...will test when wife gets home in 2 hours...but I'm pretty sure my math is good (based on my father in law's results...he's the one who discovered the bad solution)

Can this be saved, or do I pour it down the waste disposal?

 

[Wade E]

What kind of acid did you add? Tartaric can be precipitated out with very cold temps but Im not sure if Citric or malic can be. Malic can be fermented out if the sulfites are still very low by adding a malolactic culture. Any of these can be brought down using chemicals such as Calcium Carbonate and another known as Potassium Bicarbonate.

 

[necroman]

Tartaric, but I find it hard to believe that I can precipitate out enough to get down to 6 or 7 g/l where I should be...have you ever heard of such a thing?

 

[Wade E]

If it were mine Id do a little of both. Id cold stabilize to get as much out naturally and then use the chems to finish.

 

[docanddeb]

tell us more

More info please... tell us what your recipe is and exactly what you added.

Debbie

 

[Skyhawk]

If my math is correct, my acid is approx. 14.6g/l.

Did you actually get it to start fermenting? If the pH is less than 3.0, your yeast isn't going to be very happy. Cold stabilization of an unfermented must with grape skins might be a bit problematic. You could try and get your TA down enough to ferment with Acidex (never tried it myself), then later cold stabilize once its finished.

So yeah, like Wade said.

 

[necroman]

So did the measurement and it came out at 12g/l...which is still real bad obviously.

It is already fermenting...well.

I hear everything you guys are saying...and but I'd still like to hear from someone who has actually had to deal with a situation like this...the chemist in me thinks I might go through all this grief and still have an 8 or a 9...which would suck. Might as well pitch it now.

My current plan is to try an get more of the grapes...I think they're at about a 5g/l (will confirm as my father in law is doing the same stuff)...if that's the case the difference between 5 (grape) and 12(what I've got now) is 7...double up the batch and I split the 7 extra in two and wind up with 8.5...which might be more manageable....or I triple it to get 7.33....or I quadruple it to get 6.8...and then do calcium carbonate if necessary.

Wish me luck...and keep the thoughts coming...much appreciated.

 

[necroman]

Don't know what all you need...
making old vines zin.
34L of must (juice & skins) (hoping for 23L of wine)
Read acid at 2 g/l initially
added 134 g tartaric (34L*4g/l increase needed=136
still was really low (don't have my book with me so don't remember how low...or how much I added...but it doesn't matter because...)
The current acid content is 12g/l.

 

[kiljoy]

Never fear. Go get yourself an acid test kit from your wine supplies store. While there, they should have a special chalk that is used to neutralize some of the acid. It’s like adding baking soda to vinegar. I’ve never done it, but have read about it because I was afraid my wine was acidic from too early a harvest.

 

[Wade E]

Dont know what to tell you. Ive had to drop a few points but never that much.