pH Test Stripes

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pete1325

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Are pH test stripes accurate? I have these pH test strips from Precision Labs, Inc. (pH 4662) and used one to test my 2015 Cab (from grapes) and it read 6.2....the highest color range. Could this be right? If so, what can I do to bring it back to a proper/acceptable pH range? What is a proper pH?
 
Well as far as accuracy a lot depends on your eyes and the impact of the wine color on the papers color change. They work fine with white wines but the darker colors can cause issues reading them. I purchase strips that would read a limited range and therefore I pretty much knew that if it matched almost any of my reading colors I was in the ball park. But again a red wine in going make that reading more difficult.

And acceptable range for a fruit wine is between 3.4 and 3.6 for a cabernet closer to 3.4 is often considered the target number.

You would probably find a pH meter to be much easier to use. Initial cost between $15.00 to $75.00 for a decent one. You will hear a some say you need to avoid the low cost ones but I have not found ANY issues with mine. Depends on your budget for wine making I guess. Before trying to get your wine at the right range I would double or triple check that reading - seems very very high.

Good news is that it's not that terribly hard to increase the acidity (lower the number).
 

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