Raise PH in a week??

[AbruzziRed]

I have a Red Zinfandel with a PH of 2.8. ABV around 12%. This was made from juice from Costa (California juice) started October 2019 with natural fermentation.
The third rack was in April and I have not touched it since. It has a sharp taste to it.
I don’t think reds should have such a low PH.
Is there anything I can do to get it balances out? I was hoping to use this a a Christmas gift wine.

 

[NoQuarter]

The best way to raise P.H. at this point is to blend with a higher P.H. wine;
otherwise the standard method is to use potassium carbonate or potassium bi-carbonate.
There are most likely products at your local wine-shop that will remove any guesswork though.
Getting the must adjusted correctly before fermentation is always the best option.

 

[Rice_Guy]

pH of 2.8 is extremely low (post doesn’t mention pH issue in the must or stuck yeast) therefore I would be guessing that you are looking at a wine with lots of CO2 dissolved in it.
The standards for gas are 1) warm the carboy since CO2 will be easier to remove at room temp or even slightly above, use one of the degassing techniques as wine whip> wait> whip> wait> whip: or vacuum rack (AIO does 24 inch vacuum); or if you don’t have a pump suck with a vacuum cleaner for a day (vacuum cleaner does a 5 inch vacuum); or a hand brake bleeder lots of times.
The background FYI is warmth and time work well but that is for next batch. Yes you could do potassium bicarbonate, calcium is slow so I wouldn’t use it today and then bottle today. ,,, and if you do add a bicarbonate you are adding CO2 so again degassing would be useful.

 

[AbruzziRed]

pH of 2.8 is extremely low (post doesn’t mention pH issue in the must or stuck yeast) therefore I would be guessing that you are looking at a wine with lots of CO2 dissolved in it.
The standards for gas are 1) warm the carboy since CO2 will be easier to remove at room temp or even slightly above, use one of the degassing techniques as wine whip> wait> whip> wait> whip: or vacuum rack (AIO does 24 inch vacuum); or if you don’t have a pump suck with a vacuum cleaner for a day (vacuum cleaner does a 5 inch vacuum); or a hand brake bleeder lots of times.
The background FYI is warmth and time work well but that is for next batch. Yes you could do potassium bicarbonate, calcium is slow so I wouldn’t use it today and then bottle today. ,,, and if you do add a bicarbonate you are adding CO2 so again degassing would be useful.

Thanks!
I have did not check PH in the must last year. Actually there was a lot I didn’t do so I am in recovery mode for this one. This one dis
I have learned a ton over the past year and the next batches will be better.
I have the AIO and will rack it. Will a normal vacuum rack before bottling work or should I do the splash rack? I think splash rack is better to get CO2 out correct? (Just got the AIO a few months ago).
Also if I did potassium bicarbonate today, would it possibly work in 5-6 days or does this need more time. I have started reading up on this so still learning.

 

[Rice_Guy]

* the potassium reaction is essentially instantaneous, once it is mixed it is done and the solubility is excellent, ,,, five days? no five minutes/ mixing time
* if your pH was way out of line (TA would also be high) and the grower could taste it and would say YUCK! wait another couple weeks, ,,, also the birds and bugs would have said YUCK! and never touched the crop. pH was likely mid 3s if it tasted good.
* a easy flavor check is microwave about 100ml (two oz) for 45 to 60 seconds, stir to get the gas out, cool, then retaste the wine
* removing CO2 is endothermic (absorbs energy) the first thing I would do is warm the carboy to the mid 70s F, any technique you do will work better, ,,, this also goes for barcarbonate addition
* splash racking is theoretically instantaneous with warm wine since we can assume a thin film reaction. Pulling a vacuum on a carboy only produces a reaction on the surface of the wine in the carboy. The wine whip mixes the surface so the reaction will continue. (Henry’s law, ,, something else to read on) Solubility is linear with the back pressure (percent CO2 in the head space), a static vacuum removes the back pressure, but mainly on the surface.

I have the AIO and will rack it. Will a normal vacuum rack before bottling work or should I do the splash rack? I think splash rack is better to get CO2 out correct? (Just got the AIO a few months ago).
Also if I did potassium bicarbonate today, would it possibly work in 5-6 days or does this need more time. I have started reading up on this so still learning.

 

[salcoco]

this wine has been bulk aging for almost a year I doubt if it need degassing. as I recommended elsewhere suggest a bench trial with some sugar syrup to balance the acid. it will not make it sweet. at least you can have some for Christmas . make the syrup two cups sugar to one of water. m ix in a blender. take 1/4 cup sample of wine add 1/4 tsp. of syrup to first, twice this to second , three time this to thirds etc. fined the one you like, take a batch and make it for holiday. other solutions can be used on the remainder.

 

[AbruzziRed]

this wine has been bulk aging for almost a year I doubt if it need degassing. as I recommended elsewhere suggest a bench trial with some sugar syrup to balance the acid. it will not make it sweet. at least you can have some for Christmas . make the syrup two cups sugar to one of water. m ix in a blender. take 1/4 cup sample of wine add 1/4 tsp. of syrup to first, twice this to second , three time this to thirds etc. fined the one you like, take a batch and make it for holiday. other solutions can be used on the remainder.

Thanks I will try that this weekend. This will be my first time making syrup. Do I need to boil the water then blend or is tap water at room temp fine?
also should I add potassium or are to the wine as well to prevent restart of fermentation?

 

[my wine]

Warm water will dissolve the sugar faster. But the warmer the water the longer it takes for the syrup to cool. I make gallons of it for my bees so I use a large pot on the gas stove.

 

[VinesnBines]

Heat it slowly - not quite to the boil and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Boiling will make it crystalize. Neither wine nor bees do well with crystals.

 

[salcoco]

add potassium sorbate and k-meta to the final batch once sugar syrup added.