concord question

[reisjdmd]

well, the final reading was brix 17 and TA 0.45 before i added anything. does this seem possible??? low suger and low acid??? hmmmm??i double checked everything [used the hydrometer for brix], but i have to admit that it is hard to read the pH color changes on the test kit.
finally, is there an electrical tester that anyone can recommend that i can use to test for TA?? the drop method seems difficult for a red must, even diluted 1:3.

 

[grapeman]

The results you got for the Concord are HIGH brix and low TA. Concord is a low brix grape and rarely makes it to even 18, so 17 is high enough. The reason it can taste so sweet is that when that ripe the acid level is low. My Concords here only made it to 12 before they froze! Others like Marquette got up to 26!


Yes there is an electronic test instrument - a pH meter. They can be inexpensive upt to hundreds of dollars. You add the drops, but unlike the color change method, you bring the mixture up to a pH of 8.2. That is the point the color change would occur, so you use that point for the measurement. Then you run any necessary conversion to get the test results.


See this pdf file on pruning Concord having affects on brix, etc. There is a table in it showing average 4 year brix readings.
http://www.grapes.msu.edu/pdf/cultural/MechPruneConcords.pdfEdited by: appleman

 

[reisjdmd]

appleman
thanks for the reply. i had no idea that concord happened to be a low brix variety. i feel better now, and i wonder if we left them on the vine too long. i did that on purpose to drive the brix up, but one day noticed a great many japanese beatles [appeared overnight]feasting on them. that was the day we harvested, like really fast, because, even as i watched, the beatles were sucking the juice out. grapes were not crushed; they were frozen in a nylon strainer bag. pectinase was added. sulfate was added to a level of about 25 [low on purpose].did add suger to raise the brix to 21 and added acid to raise the level to 0.60. the must has dropped from 1.090 to 1.035 after 8 days. i used a pasteur yeast made for red grapes. fermentation seems slow, but the flavor of the must is pleasant. ifit goes to zero, i may have a light dry, slightlytartred wine, kind of a red chablis, which i would enjoy. cetainly does not taste like a store bought concord wine: thanks be to god.

 

[grapeman]

Good luck with it. If you wanted you could oversweeten it and it might be just like the store bought