what is the importance of adding acid

[kk1224kelley]

I have seen most recipes say to add an acid blend or something. what is the importance of adding acid? is it a must do?
I currently have a batch of welches 100% juice concentrate(white grape peach) that hasnt shown any activity for about 2 weeks after a very healthy looking fermentation.(i have racked once)
I was going to shrug off the acid thing, but im starting to think i should consider it.
Also, as i am not following any recipe or instructions, i am patient, but am hesitent and unsure about moving onto the next step(Stabilizing). whatd ya think?

Thanx for any comments

 

[robie]

The acid adds structure; offsets affects of sweetness (and alcohol). It helps all these things be in balance. Also helps balance the PH. Otherwise, your wine would taste like grape juice with a kick.

Here is an experiment you can do with your favorite grape wine, if you have some acid blend:

Take a nice taste of your favorite wine. Remember the taste. Wait less than ten seconds or so; then take a big sip of a solution of 1/4 teaspoon acid blend, which has been dissolved in a full cup of cool water.

As soon as the acid blend solution is swallowed, immediately take another taste of your favorite wine. Immediately compare the taste to the first taste of the wine.

Because the acid blend solution is so strong, it will overwhelm your taste buds, causing you to have no sense of the taste of acid for a period of several minutes, which will result in your not being able to taste the smaller amount of acid in your wine. So what you will taste is your favorite wine as though it had no acid in it at all.

The result should give you a sense of what wine tastes like if it has little or no acid in it... that would be the wine you are making without the proper amount of acid.

You can do this same experiment with tannins, sugar, and oak.

 

[grapeman]

First things first. Without your recipe all is a guess. What was the starting specific gravity- and current specific gravity? Could it be that it stopped because it was done? Fermentation can finish in a week or two with these juice recipes.

 

[DasK]

I was doing a little research on this very subject a few days ago and came across this link with some very interesting tidbits about acid levels in wine making. http://www.eutechinst.com/techtips/tech-tips42.htm

Basically, a acid does several things for the wine. In addition to adding taste characteristics, it stabilizes the color, it provides a hostile environment for bacteria, mitigates oxidation, and much more.

Within reason, yeast is not too affected by acidity levels.

 

[Wade E]

Nicely put DasK! It is so needed to kepp the scales in check. Too much and your wine will be way too tart, to little and it will taste flat and bacteria canset in quickly. The right range for most wines is between .55 and .75 but there will be certain wines where that can be hogher and be very good, usually whites where the grapes are grown in colder climates.

 

[wjdonahue]

Great answers from everyone. Basically acid is used to balance the residual sugar content in the wine, and the other beneficial things that they do are secondary. Basically....grapes that are picked at low Brix will be more acid, and those at higher brix will be deficient in acid. Because grapes grown in cooler climates will have a lower Brix, then they will be more acidic to start with. We can now add (and even subtract) to get the acid we want, but many countrys don't allow this....so if it starts highly acidic, it ends up that way. But some grapes from warmer climates are also highly acidic, IE>Pinot Grigio. Enough of the prostelitizing....
What I mean to say is that acid/sugar balance is a matter of taste to the drinker. Some acid is always necessary for balance, but it depends on palate. This is why some people love Reisling, some don't....some like Viogner, some don't. The recipes that you see are usually based on averages. If it call for acid you should add somewhere around what it says, but not always exactly. You need to know what tastes balanced to you, or whoever is going to drink it. If you don't know....then use the average.
I do a demonstration where I use polypropylene beads to actually remove acid from wines. People can then take a wine that is overly acidic, and then slowly adjust the acidity down so that they can taste the same wine at different acid levels. Amazing the different levels that people consider balanced.
If you don't add any acid, however, don't even bother to ferment it.....just add some alchohol and drink it (grin)

 

[closetwine]

I beg to disagree... while acid is important. most new winemakers can make decent wine without it. I have and continue to do so. Expand into acids when you are comfortable with the rest of the process.

 

[Julie]

I beg to disagree... while acid is important. most new winemakers can make decent wine without it. I have and continue to do so. Expand into acids when you are comfortable with the rest of the process.

Most new winemakers are doing kits, where the acid is balanced or using concentrates where normally there is a right amount of acid. Just because you do not test your acid does not mean that acids in your wine are not important.

 

[wjdonahue]

Well said Julie. Very rarely do you ever see a wine turn out well when made from grapes when acid levels aren't titrated and adjusted. In kit wines, you don't have to worry about acid content (both TA and pH) because the kit maker has already done that for you. The fact that it has already been done simply means that YOU don't have to do it. Amazingly, however, if you do titrate your kits, sometimes they are off. Enough said.
The other thing that hasn't been covered here, and can be hard for even long term wine makers to understand, is that pH and TA are not the same. pH levels should be adjusted first, then TA to ensure that the TA is where it should be. Won't go into the chemistry of why, but other minerals that affect the pH , magnesium, phosphates, potassium, etc. can affect the pH and lower it even though the TA is totally inadequate.
If you are making a kit, you NORMALLY don't have to worry about the TA, but if using grapes, juice, fruits, etc. and you don't "worry about acids" then you probably will have a disaster.
Bill

 

[closetwine]

I'm not saying it's not important. I'm just saying that this "If you don't add any acid, however, don't even bother to ferment it.....just add some alchohol and drink it" was a little overboard.

 

[Julie]

I'm not saying it's not important. I'm just saying that this "If you don't add any acid, however, don't even bother to ferment it.....just add some alchohol and drink it" was a little overboard.

He is entitled to his opinion and to express it. He explained nicely enough and that is what we always ask member to do.

 

[closetwine]

He is entitled to his opinion and to express it. He explained nicely enough and that is what we always ask member to do.

If you say he's being nice Julie, I'll leave it be. Maybe I misread his intention.
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I don't want anyone to get the impression that if you have wine made without testing acid that it is garbage. People made wine for centuries (and still do) without testing acid. You may not have gold medal winners, but you can have decent wine.

 

[Wade E]

I know a few people who make great wines by just winging it by taste as far as adding acid blend or a specific acid. Thats fine and dandy, just know that it may not stand the test of time on the shelf when cellaring if levelos arent high enough especially if you dont check sulfite levels also. .

 

[closetwine]

I know a few people who make great wines by just winging it by taste as far as adding acid blend or a specific acid. Thats fine and dandy, just know that it may not stand the test of time on the shelf when cellaring if levelos arent high enough especially if you dont check sulfite levels also. .

I don't plan on aging for more than a year at this point. Eventually sure... Eventually i'll test acid and use corks. I've never had anyone spit my wine out though... lol

 

[wjdonahue]

Don't think it's overboard at all. Too little acid it is vapid, with the taste of grape juice, if too acidic it borders on undrinkable. Either way.....why bother.
I'm not going to bother talking about organoleptic qualities, etc. Cause that is only a discussion of someone who wants to make GOOD wine better. I hope that we all want to make wine that tastes good. Since acid base balance is the primary necessity for even mediocre tasting wine, it is a steop that just can't be ignored, no matter what the base of your wine is. If you don't make sure that it's right......the end product is always a crap shoot. What I meant was if acid balance is way off.....then it would probably taste better by just adding the alcohol, and not even bother with the fermentation.

 

[wjdonahue]

Wade...we have another winery owner here that can just do that.....kind of like a magician. He does all balancing by taste and adjusts the 3 acids onlyby repeated tastings of a sample. His wines are superb. Wish I could do that too, but alas I still need my pH meter and Titration kits. Maybe in the nest life!!!!!!!! (Grin)

 

[Julie]

If you say he's being nice Julie, I'll leave it be. Maybe I misread his intention.
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I don't want anyone to get the impression that if you have wine made without testing acid that it is garbage. People made wine for centuries (and still do) without testing acid. You may not have gold medal winners, but you can have decent wine.

I believe the impression most on here are trying to convey, is acid testing is very important to winemaking. Yes people have made wine for centuries without testing for acid and I know they have thrown more wine away because of this. Also, if you talk to any old timers about wine making in their own way, they do test, they do it by taste.

Our winemaking today has evolved from centuries of winemaking to a more precise degree. Which will give you a better chance of making a good wine everytime.

 

[closetwine]

Agree to disagree?
While I will start adjust acid at some point in the near future, I know pwoplw who've made wine for 50+ years and never adjusted acid. They swear they've never dumped a batch or gotten many complaints. I'm just saying, I don't think it's "life or death" in winemaking.

Everyone does things differently... what's important to some, isn't at all to others.

 

[sly22guy]

I say that i have to agree with Julie on this point. There are a million different ways to do this both with test kits and by taste, but it in a sense it is still tested. Id have to say that closetwine has just been lucky so far.

Kits are all pretty much setup no adjustments needed, and they make an decent wine.

Making wine from fruits is much more of a challenge as no fruit will have the same levels from year to year or plant to plant. Everyone will have different ph levels and sugar levels , acid etc. Even Juice will vary. Take multiple bottles of apple juice and test them id bet money each one will be different. So id say yes testing is very impotent, whether it be by taste or lab.

 

[Sirs]

I think what CW was going after wasn't so much that acid wasn't important but that the use of chemicals were not needed to tell if a wine was to acidy or not enough. I may be wrong but from what I know most really good wine makers go more by taste than anything, sure you can use the chems if you feel it isn't right but if you know what you want the wine to taste like you don't have to use the chems. You got the best tester in your mouth it is way more sensitive (your tongue) sure once you get really into making wine get the acid test and learn to use them but it is a good thing to learn by taste. As far as I'm concerned it is the best way to start learning.