Concord grape wine, testing acid

[coboll2921]

I will be starting a 6 gallon batch of Concord grape wine and was wondering what I should use to test acidity. I understand they can be somewhat acidic.
Also, I'm thinking of using extra water to control the acid but what does that do to the flavor? Should I add frozen grape concentrate to it?
Any help on Concord Wine would be great! I have 107 lbs and was going to divide it into two batches.
Also, any good ideas on taking the grapes off the stems? I froze them with stems on and now I'm in a dilema. Probably no easy way there.

 

[reefman]

I am intending to back sweeten with Welches Concord Juice, depending on the flavor I get from my batch, which is about ready to be racked to secondary.
I did this with a batch of Niagara last year. I added a couple cans of Welches White Grape juice concentrate.

I just stripped about 30lbs of Concord grapes from stems last week....by hand. It took me about an hour.
Some folks leave the stems on from comments I have read.
Sorry I don't have a better method, other than buying a de-stemmer/crusher for a couple hundred. I have another thread going on Concord here: http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f6/concord-grapes-41101/

 

[reefman]

forgot to mention, I used a pH meter to check pH. My grapes needed some Acid blend.

 

[coboll2921]

Ok, thanks for all the information. So acid blend is the way to go for bringing acidity down?
I need to order a PH meter and acid blend before I start the process. I believe I have everything else.
I'm sure I'll be chiming in if things get out of hand. It's my first batch of Concord.

 

[GreginND]

No, adding acid blend will INCREASE the acidity (lower the pH). If you have too much acid you can dilute it with water or use calcium carbonate to lower it. With concord, dilution is your best option, in my opinion. It's plenty grapey in flavor.

 

[reefman]

Nope, it's for raising acidity. My pH was high.
You can get cheap pH meter's for around $30.00. Although it's not the best situation, you can adjust pH after fermentation if you can't measure it before you pitch your yeast.
Read Turock's comments in the other thread. He talks about yeast nutrient additions, and has other recommendations.

 

[coboll2921]

Thanks, this will help. I was going to use water for dilution if too acidic. I'll be purchasing a meter this week. I understand they need to be calibrated first.

I was going to destem the grapes after they thaw out and put them into a fermentation bucket with nylon liner. How long should the mashed grapes stay in the fermentation bucket before squeezing out the juice/pulp? Should I wait until 1.020? or squeeze it out earlier and continue to ferment?

 

[reefman]

My grapes have been in for a week. A bit longer than recommended, but since there's not much tannin in Concords, I figured it wouldn't hurt much.
I didn't freeze my grapes, I added peptic Enzyme to break down fibers.