Brewing when tired is bad while handling Tart Acid

Brewer's Friend 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
thegirafferider

thegirafferider

Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2014
Messages
10
Reaction score
1
Hi thanks for viewing, I do hope you can help me :)

This is the most technical brew if made within my first month of brewing. I even misread the article where I got my recipe from as it listed the whole procedure start to finish then below wrote in with the ingredients that you need to simmer the berries which I didn't do... oopsadaisy!

My issue is I have added 4 tspns, way too much, Tartaric Acid into my 5 gallon Elderberry must as I did my acid test wrong. Can this be rectified or do I av exceedingly tart wine now?
I av no room to add more sugar water as it needs space, 4" left at top, for it to foam.

It tastes nice n sweet so I added my burgundy red yeast last night (17hrs ago) n popped lid n airlock on (Is putting airlock on correct).. still waiting for a reaction.

Feeling hopeful that this will work........ fingers crossed :)
Thanks in advance x
 
thegirafferider said:
Hi thanks for viewing, I do hope you can help me :)

This is the most technical brew if made within my first month of brewing. I even misread the article where I got my recipe from as it listed the whole procedure start to finish then below wrote in with the ingredients that you need to simmer the berries which I didn't do... oopsadaisy!

My issue is I have added 4 tspns, way too much, Tartaric Acid into my 5 gallon Elderberry must as I did my acid test wrong. Can this be rectified or do I av exceedingly tart wine now?
I av no room to add more sugar water as it needs space, 4" left at top, for it to foam.

It tastes nice n sweet so I added my burgundy red yeast last night (17hrs ago) n popped lid n airlock on (Is putting airlock on correct).. still waiting for a reaction.

Feeling hopeful that this will work........ fingers crossed :)
Thanks in advance x
Click to expand...

If you added too much acid, it may not ferment but otherwise it should be ok. After fermentation is over, you can put the wine somewhere cold to get the excess tartaric acid to precipitate out.

Sit it a couple of days per day, and see if it gets going. That will be the thing to watch- make sure it's not too acidic for the yeast to get going.
 
Hi Yooper

Yooper said:
Sit it a couple of days per day, and see if it gets going. That will be the thing to watch- make sure it's not too acidic for the yeast to get going.
Click to expand...

Say again I'm a bit puzzled :/

Should I leave the lid off for now then?

Cheers
 
thegirafferider said:
Hi Yooper



Say again I'm a bit puzzled :/

Should I leave the lid off for now then?

Cheers
Click to expand...

You don't need a lid right now, but cover it with a clean towel or something to keep fruitflies and other critters (and in my case, dog hair!) out.

Yeast don't do well when the acidity is too much, but it can do fairly well in a fairly acidic must. If the yeast can get going, you should be ok.

You could check the acid again, to see where you're at.
 
Ok I will wait a couple of days.

I read this and thought adding a kit would help get it fermenting and also reduce acid levels:
A lot of acid can keep a wine from going through malolactic fermentation as the malolactic bacteria prefer an environment with a pH of at least 3.5. Ironically, malolactic fermentation actually is a de-acidification process, but the bacteria won't be happy unless the pH is above a certain point.

If nowt happens I'm thinking about starting an elderberry kit, get it fermenting and then mix it with my Must.

http://www.brew2bottle.co.uk/defini...kSfZTwevsco1fpGO_VXAq6stwzL_SQ7AN0aAiHS8P8HAQ

Fingers crossed either way!!!
 
Hi Bob, Yes I'm following this recipe below:

http://honest-food.net/2012/08/19/elderberry-wine-recipe/comment-page-2/#comments

In answer to your question, When I did my acid test properly the 2nd time (Sodium Hydroxide, Acid Indicator) I had to put in at least 40ml of Hydroxide to get the solution to change colour and it barely did but I knew at this point that I was now wasting Hydroxide as it was clear it was excessively acidic. My instructions say that the ml of Hydroxide added is equal to the acidic level so therefore mine is 40ppt.
The recipe calls for between 6 & 10 Total Acidity.
So either I'm missing something or I'm brewing tarty wine.

GOOD NEWS! IT IS FERMENTING AS THE HYDROMETER READING WENT FROM 1.100 to 1.070 SO YEAST'S Eating,Farting & Pissing :D THE TEMPERATURE HAS ALSO INCREASED 5'C :)

Any help will do x
 
Wow 40 mL! That's 4% is that even possible? What is the concentration of NaOH in your kit?

Glad it's fermenting. I think there is something is wrong with the numbers, and the must is fine. I'll typically get .3% total acidity with my elderberries (3mL NaOH with my kit), and add acid until its 0.6% or so.
 
Bob_wv said:
Wow 40 mL! That's 4% is that even possible? What is the concentration of NaOH in your kit?
Click to expand...

I don't understand this comment, 40ml is 4% of a litre yes but what are you correlating that with? I added 40ml of NaOh into 5ml of must into a test tube. I have a 114ml bottle with no % on it so no idea. Branded Ritchies.

The instructions say make mixture of 5ml of must with a touch of water to take it to 2" in test tube, add 3/4 drops acid then add NaOH drop by drop.... I gave up dropping after 4ml & squirted in 2ml at a time...
 
Sorry about that my kit is very different. I meant 40 ppt = 4% that's alot of acid. I got home and looked at my numbers for a batch that is now fermenting.

I added 59 g of acid blend that is about 11.5 tsp for 6 gallons. Jack Keller suggests 2 tsp/gallon so that's about right. That gave me .6% TA, which is good for a fruit wine.

You added 4 tsp for 5 gallons. That should give you roughly .4% TA. You could have added 10 tsp. I think you are off a factor of 10 with your acidity kit, and the acidity is fine.

At bottling when I back sweeten, I add a little citric acid to taste. If you're low on acid you can bring the fruit a little more forward.

Glad it's going well sorry about confusion in the last pot. It ought to smell great by now! All you have to worry about now is how to get rid of the yellow goo :)
 
I see it.... a ring around the inside of bin....:ban:

"if there's something strange in your fermenting bin who ya gonna call? Goobusters!!!" Di di di di.. I ain't afraid of no goo!
 
Well I checked SG and it was down to 1.02 So it all got racked into demijohns. Rack again in a month. Happily bubbling away. Yellow goo washed off fairly easily too. Just a lot of patience and a bit of luck now....
 

Similar threads

S
Apple pie mead
Replies
1
Views
373
DBhomebrew
DBhomebrew
monkmith
first time brewing and working with blackberries.
Replies
3
Views
2K
bernardsmith
bernardsmith
CallMeKiupid
My First Brews .... what should I look out for?
Replies
10
Views
1K
CallMeKiupid
CallMeKiupid
G
Fermentis BR-8 dry Brettanomyces Experiences
2
Replies
62
Views
7K
Miraculix
Miraculix
4_Sons_Brewing
12 Beers of Christmas - 2023 Edition
11 12 13
Replies
512
Views
20K
passedpawn
passedpawn
Williams Brewing 300

Latest posts

Back
Top