Understanding Acidity and others

[Dman]

Hi everyone,



I’m new to this board, have been making spirits for a few years and have only recently felt comfortable enough to try my hand with wine so please forgive the noobie questions.
I’ve played with a few batched so far (Mead, Apricot, Mango, and also an interesting passion fruit wine), but besides the recipes and a bit of vague knowledge I’m fumbling the fine details.
Does anyone know where I can find charts/documentation to get a more accurate understanding of the effect of acidity and other measurable chemicals on the overall taste and mouth feel of the final product?
I have general grasp of chemical to effect, though no clue as to the units/amounts involved.

So far my results have been rather good, though I’d like re remove the luck factor and add some more control.
Thanks,






-Dman

 

[grapeman]

First off I would like to welcome you to the forum. You will find lots of friendly folks here to try to help.


Your question is sort of like asking someone to explain God to you. That is indeed quite a task you ask. You can find some general charts on this site on the main page for Fine Vine WInes.


http://www.finevinewines.com/Wine-Kit-Articles.htm


Jack Keller's site has a lot of info also. There is no simple way to do what you are asking. It generally takes a lot of experience or learning to gather that knowledge. Good luck with it. Maybe someone can give us all a quick summary like you ask.

 

[Dman]

Thanks Appleman, was great finding this forum.
Come to think of it, an explanation of god would be nice as well!

Its good to know I'm at last barking up the right tree. The link you posted seemed quite extensive, I'll have to start reading it through. At the moment I wouldn't even know what to do with my Ph results.

My confusion started with Montrachet yeast, used it for my fruit wines to get a good full fruit flavor. In one of my batches it responded as I expected it to, slow non aggressive fermenter. While in the 2nd wine I'm making it reacted more like a turbo yeast on speed and for the first time, I actually blew an airlock.

I would eventually like to have the ability to record all the factors involved and isolate the culprits. At the moment I'm not fully sure what elements I should be measuring beyond SG and Acidity levels.

If anyone out there can give a noobie some general insight it would be much appreciated

 

[OGrav]

along with those variables you mentioned, I always make it a point to record what the temps are. Some yeasts are more temp driven than others. Residual sugarcan also alter whatyou perceive as an acidic wine or not. So far, I've just used the reccomendations for whites/fruit wines as far as acidity, and have fared pretty well.

 

[Dman]

I try to be quite fanatic when it comes to temperature control. The 2 fruit batches were Mango and Apricot, both high sugar and relatively low acidity fruits. The Apricots are the one that "ran away" on me.
Both started at 1.10 SG and ended at 0.992 after secondary fermentation.

Heat was a bit more of an issue with the Apricots due to the sheer amount of heat the yeast was producing, a wet towel helped a little. But I'm still not sure why it reacted that strongly. Used the same water, gave the same amount of nutrient. Both were treated with SO2 prior to pitching and made a starter for both.

Whats the recommended acidity for fruit wines?

 

[OGrav]

Should be around .6 tartaric

 

[Dman]

Thanks OGray