ph range

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reeflections

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So I just got around to buying a digital ph tester and figured out how to calibrate and use it.

Now, my question is about the range I should be shooting for and does the meter take into account the temperature of the must?

For example, I am starting two batches now. One blueberry and one cranberry. Both have been sitting for over 24 hrs with a k-meta dose.

Blueberry - ph 3.77 @ 73.7 degrees F
Cranberry - ph 3.14 @ 73.7 degrees F

Should I be making any ph adjustments before pitching the yeast?
 
Some do, and some don't. Look for the letters "ATC" on the packaging or instructions (automatic temperature compensation).

Thanks! Checked and found that mine does have automatic temperature compensation.

BTW I have the Apera SX620. It has an accuracy +/- .01 and it has a replaceable electrode. I bought it on Amazon for $70
 
Q should you adjust?
The reality is that a lot of the answer is your personal preference. Both could be run as is.

YES’ the BB is high for a fruit wine, you will have better oxidation and microbial stability at under pH 3.5. (I target 3.2 to 3.5) The cranberry is at the low edge of OK, if the TA is high, ,, above 0.8% it will require back sweetening to balance and you could adjust up, mainly for the purpose of decreasing the TA. CB is high acid and sometimes the yeast gets stuck.

NO’ the BB has a high TA since you run a high juice to water ratio and you would like to minimize the sugar needed to balance after it’s finished, and you plan on drinking within a year so long shelf life doesn’t matter. The cranberry is so close to normal it isn’t worth the effort and if the yeast stop early you wanted to back sweeten so that is OK.

I live and die by the pH meter to build a combination of high fruit flavor (high fruit to water), pH target, TA, and reasonable back sweetening, ,,,, ie style
 
Q should you adjust?
The reality is that a lot of the answer is your personal preference. Both could be run as is.

YES’ the BB is high for a fruit wine, you will have better oxidation and microbial stability at under pH 3.5. (I target 3.2 to 3.5) The cranberry is at the low edge of OK, if the TA is high, ,, above 0.8% it will require back sweetening to balance and you could adjust up, mainly for the purpose of decreasing the TA. CB is high acid and sometimes the yeast gets stuck.

NO’ the BB has a high TA since you run a high juice to water ratio and you would like to minimize the sugar needed to balance after it’s finished, and you plan on drinking within a year so long shelf life doesn’t matter. The cranberry is so close to normal it isn’t worth the effort and if the yeast stop early you wanted to back sweeten so that is OK.

I live and die by the pH meter to build a combination of high fruit flavor (high fruit to water), pH target, TA, and reasonable back sweetening, ,,,, ie style

Great answer! Thanks.

I'm not set up for TA measurement yet - the next step in my learning.
 
Strange pH for Blueberry - remarkably high number. Most 100% blueberry juice wines come in well below 3.5 in most cases and I've had one or two around 3.20 or lower.
Keep in mind that the commonly recommended starting pH range for Fruit wine is 3.40 to 3.60 Below that (higher acidity is not risky if the yeast will work and as long as it's not lower than 3.20 you will probably be OK. If the pH is above 3.6 you get into the realm of flabby wines and the danger of spoilage from lack of acidity. (Remember Ascobic Acid is a common preservative for foods)
 
Strange pH for Blueberry - remarkably high number. Most 100% blueberry juice wines come in well below 3.5 in most cases and I've had one or two around 3.20 or lower.
Keep in mind that the commonly recommended starting pH range for Fruit wine is 3.40 to 3.60 Below that (higher acidity is not risky if the yeast will work and as long as it's not lower than 3.20 you will probably be OK. If the pH is above 3.6 you get into the realm of flabby wines and the danger of spoilage from lack of acidity. (Remember Ascobic Acid is a common preservative for foods)

Thanks Scooter! I was surprised with the reading as well. Here's the story:

This is the 6th batch of Blueberry I have made, but the 1st one I have had a ph reading for. The other 5, I made mostly from the recipe from the EC Kraus page. That calls for only 13# of berries for a 5 gal batch and adds 2 TBS of acid blend. They were all delicious to my taste and very popular with family and friends and I had no trouble with the ferment. I used frozen berries from Walmart.

After reading here that this was pretty light on the fruit, I wanted to see what more juice would do so I made this with one of the 1/2 gallons of concentrate from that Home Winery place we have been discussing lately. This was supposed to make 4-5 gallons of juice so I added 9# of frozen berries and brought the volume up to 6 gal. This is what that 3.77 ph reading came from. I was afraid (because of what I have read here) that the reading would be too acidic but I guess it kinda shows how much of that concentrate is grape juice.

I just pitched the yeast. If I wanted to bring the ph down a bit by adding acid blend, would it be better to do it right away, or wait until after the ferment?
 
two examples of blueberry
Michigan 2019, pH 2.83, TA 1.31%, SG 1.050
Peru 2020, pH 3.43, TA 0.89%, SG 1.060
,,, was the gravity high?, would indicate extremely ripe, ,,, by the way I run TA with a pH meter and 0.2N sodium hydroxide ($5), ie you have 95% of what you need.

ALWAYS run primary at target pH, the reason is that pH is involved in chemical reactions and pH will totally exclude many families of microorganisms.
Strange pH for Blueberry - remarkably high number. Most 100% blueberry juice wines come in well below 3.5 in most cases and I've had one or two around 3.20 or lower.
. . . (Remember Ascobic Acid is a common preservative for foods)
ascorbic acid is not an effective pH control chemical, industry uses it primarily as an anti oxidant and secondarily as a marketing claim for how much vitamin C Tang drink mix or Kool Aid will provide.
The two main acids in BB are citric and quinic acid.
 
Ok I think we know now why that pH was so 'high' (low acid) That blueberry concentrate was probably mostly grapes juice with enough blueberries (or blueberry extract) to get you a good blueberry flavor. That or possibly they balanced (?) the juice when the made it.
Rice_Guy's notes provide you a good sample of what pure blueberry juice will look like as far as pH and perhaps sugar if they are really sweet and fully ripe berries. His comments on getting TA with pH meter are also very good as well. I personally don't track the TA but I have done it once or twice and a pH meter makes it very easy as far as running the actual test and getting accurate results.
 
Ok I think we know now why that pH was so 'high' (low acid) That blueberry concentrate was probably mostly grapes juice with enough blueberries (or blueberry extract) to get you a good blueberry flavor. That or possibly they balanced (?) the juice when the made it.

Yep. I doubt they balanced it, but with their labeling we'll never know. I doubt I will ever buy their juice again.
 
You have inspired me to purchase this tester.... Today is Prime Day so it's also on sale.
Got mine for $58, plus I have $21 in discover rewards so I only paid $37 for mine.

I have no previous experience with ph testers so I hope you will be happy with this model. It did seem to me to have the most important qualities of the more expensive testers but it was a little more expensive than the cheap ones.

I guess I should have waited a week to buy it. :slp
 
This is Ally Spring Mill near Eminence, MO. It is the 7th largest spring in MO and puts 81 million gallons of water a day into the Jack's Fork River. Arguably the most photogenic Spring/Mill in the State.

This is looking at the spring from the mill._DSC0282-Edit.jpg
 

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