PH question

[cecilias_9]

I read the power point presentation on ph and acid etc. It seems that it is highly recommended that Ph be tested regularly. How many of you have Ph meters or what methods do you use? I just started a muscadine wine. Tested the acid at start and it was .7% so according to instructions, I added 1/4 tsp calcium carbonate. SG was 1.064. Have added sugar and the SG is now at 1.094, temp at 76 degrees F. Have not retested acid; should I? At this point how important is it to test Ph? I took out the skins last night and just added the yeast this morning.
Thanks,
Cecilia

 

[winemaker_3352]

I would test the acid until you get it where you want it at. This probably isn't right - but i test the acid level more that the ph levels.

 

[cecilias_9]

Thank you, Jon. I will do that again.

 

[mmadmikes1]

Now I am confused, isn't a PH test testing acid levels. Everything below 7 is acid and everything above 7 is alkali. Or are you doing a TA test to test for kinds of acid

 

[winemaker_3352]

Now I am confused, isn't a PH test testing acid levels. Everything below 7 is acid and everything above 7 is alkali. Or are you doing a TA test to test for kinds of acid

I believe you are right - i use an acid test kit to test my TA levels. You can also use a PH meter or test strips to test the PH balance also acid levels.

But the lower the pH, the higher the acidity; the higher the pH, the lower the acidity.

So a wine that has a TA between 0.6 to 0.7% will generally have a pH between 3.3 and 3.7.

 

[Julie]

since you added calcium carbonate and sugar, I would test again to make sure you levels are where you want them. I also check before bottling.

 

[winemaker_3352]

I don't know a whole lot about calcium carbonate - but aren't you suppose to do cold stabilization with that?

 

[winemaker_3352]

Actually i am wrong - i think that Potassium Carbonate is combined with cold stabilization.

 

[cecilias_9]

Julie, you are amazing! Hopefully one of these years I will be on the same track. Do you use a juice steamer to get your juice from fruit or do you chop, crush, and press?

 

[BobF]

I believe you are right - i use an acid test kit to test my TA levels. You can also use a PH meter or test strips to test the PH balance also acid levels.

But the lower the pH, the higher the acidity; the higher the pH, the lower the acidity.

So a wine that has a TA between 0.6 to 0.7% will generally have a pH between 3.3 and 3.7.

There isn't a solid correlation between TA and pH. If only there were! TA represents total titrable acid. pH represents the strength of the acid present.

For example, malic is a weaker acid than tartaric. If you have two wines with the same TA, but one has more malic and the other more tartaric, the one with more malic will have a higher pH than the one with more tartaric.

 

[winemaker_3352]

There isn't a solid correlation between TA and pH. If only there were! TA represents total titrable acid. pH represents the strength of the acid present.

For example, malic is a weaker acid than tartaric. If you have two wines with the same TA, but one has more malic and the other more tartaric, the one with more malic will have a higher pH than the one with more tartaric.

You are exactly right - i did some reading on it - and found out the same information.

There was just another thread that started today on it. I posted a PPT and a link that had some useful info on it.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8178