Hi Acid

[Wiz]

I make several gallons of cab sauv from bulk imported concentrate every year. For the past several years acid has been high and even using potassium bicarbonate I could not bring it within range. I do not have the capabilities to keep it at a cold level. Any other ideas?

 

[acorn]

You can also try calcium carbonate (chalk powder), though it may give some slight (I emphasize, slight) earthy aftertaste if added in excess, but you can play with it. I would imagine, it should be a problem with Cabernet Sauvignon. I personally find that it works well with some other acidic wines (I used it with success on cranberry wine). Also, by how much did you dilute the concentrate? I know it is the last thing you would want to do, but see if you can dilute a bit further.

 

[salcoco]

try some bench trials using sugar syrup. the syrup is made using two cups sugar to one cup water. dissolve in blender. set up samples each about 100ml. add 1/4 tsp sugar to first , two 1/4 tsp to second etc adding an additional 1/4 tsp to each sample. do taste test. the sugar syrup will balance the acidity it will not sweeten the wine. once wine sample is selected make a small batch about 500ml let it set a week or two and taste again to see if it still meets you desire. make sure to add sorbate to sample. calculate desired amount for larger batch add sorbate.

 

[JohnT]

Personally I would stick with the bicarb, but I know some that have added water to thin the acid and then add sugar syrup to hoist up the brix. Of course, this only works as a step prior to fermentation.