PH, TA and Brix

[Earldw]

Reading Through the recipies, I noted that few gave a recommended Brix level for must, instead recommending a standard amount of sugar. Same with acid blend/citric acid/etc. Is there a reason for this? My thinking is that if I pick extra sweet or extra sour fruit the recommended additions could be way off. Thanks.

 

[Rice_Guy]

The sugar on a crop can be very far off of 1.090/ 11% alcohol.

My guess is that recipes are for cooks who don’t know how to cook. , , and just reheat grocery store ingredients.
The good news in the end is that wine is quite forgiving, it is a family of beverages.

 

[winemaker81]

Old recipes typically call for a set amount of sugar, acid, etc -- because those amounts worked. This doesn't mean the wine produced was great, but it worked.

With the availability of cheap hydrometers (in many areas) the need to blindly add sugar is eliminated -- as @Rice_Guy said, brix can vary greatly from year to year, or even patch to patch. Add sugar to hit your target.

When preparing to make a wine, read a bunch of recipes and compare them. Some recipes are what worked while others are the result of years of practical experience. You may find yourself mixing-n-matching. I suggest posting an intended recipe for feedback -- we've got a lot of experienced fruit winemakers who can offer insight and guidance.

 

[BernardSmith]

Not so sure I agree. Most dessert fruit has around a pound of fermentable sugar in every gallon of juice. (1.045 - 1.055) BUT when wine makers use about 3 lbs of fruit the amount of available sugar is negligible. You are adding two pounds (more or less to hit 1.090. Can't speak so much to the acidity - but I never understand why a recipe calls for the addition of acid blend or lemon juice or ??? BEFORE you taste the wine after it's second racking. The problem is rarely pH (which if too low will halt fermentation. Too high , I have yet to hear yeast complaining. The PROBLEM is with TA - not pH. TA is measurable with a pH meter, but the BEST tool is your taste buds. Only YOU can know if the wine tastes too bitter or too bland. And that is often in relationship to the perceived SWEETNESS of the wine. Until you TASTE it you have no idea whether that wine wants to have 6g/L of acid or 6.5g/L or 7g/L. pH is a measure of the STRENGTH of the acids.. TA is a measure of the AMOUNT of acids in solution.

 

[Raptor99]

I think that pH and TA are important for different reasons:

pH is important to the wine chemistry. You want to give the yeast a healthy environment. If the pH is above 4.0 or below 3.0 the yeast might not be happy. pH is also important to prevent spoilage, both during fermentation and aging. I consider pH 3.4 to 3.6 to be an optimal range.

TA is related to pH, but there is not a simple relationship. TA is most useful to adjust the taste of the wine. For that reason, I don't measure TA. I adjust the final acid balance by taste.

Brix along with SG are ways to measure the amount of sugar in the must. They are unrelated to pH and TA. The initial sugar will determine the final ABV. If you don't want a completely dry wine, you can stabilize and backsweeten before bottling. A more sour (acidic) wine might taste better with a little backsweetening. Normally I do this by taste rather than measuring the SG.

The "standard" recipes are based on a guestimate about the amount of sugar and acid in a certain type of fruit. Not completely accurate, but hopefully in the ballpark. They are useful when you are learning about wine making. If you change the amount of fruit per gallon, it will also change the needed amount of added sugar and acid. Once you gain more experience, measuring SG/Brix and pH will produce more reliable results.