Ph too high-no calcium carbonate on hand

Hi. I made some cranberry wine not knowing the PH was going to turn out too high for the yeast. I really don't want drive all the day to the brew store to pick up some calcium carbonate. Can I throw in some Tums? or any other anti-acid that you find in your medical cabinate?


**** whoops I ment pH is too low

What is the ph? And why is it too high?

Don't put Tums or anything else like that in your wine!

Cranberries are tartness comes from their acidity. I don't have any pH papers on hand so I can not tell you the pH level. But fermentation is going REALLY REALLY slow. So slow that I fear a nasty bug might take over the vat and produce some off flavors before the yeast has time to reproduce. So I went online and found this link

I know the main ingrediant in Tums is calcium carbonate. I don't think the other lesser incrediants are gonna effect it.

PCasey said:

Cranberries are tartness comes from their acidity. I don't have any pH papers on hand so I can not tell you the pH level. But fermentation is going REALLY REALLY slow. So slow that I fear a nasty bug might take over the vat and produce some off flavors before the yeast has time to reproduce. So I went online and found this link

I know the main ingrediant in Tums is calcium carbonate. I don't think the other lesser incrediants are gonna effect it.

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Well, grapes are also pretty acidic, too. I make all kinds of wines, and only used calcium carbonate in two of them, and in the catawba, I'm sorry I did. If you don't know much about ph, I don't recommend adjusting it until the wine is finished and if it's too acidic. Otherwise, you'll reduce the acid by raising the ph (you mentioned your ph was too high- that would make it alkaline, not acidic) and then have to turn around and add some acid blend to lower the ph because the wine will be "flabby". Also, when you use calcium carbonate, you could do some cold stabilization after fermentation, and the tartaric acid will precipitate out as crystals which form at the bottom. Acid adjustment is interesting, but usually not necessary for "country" wine makers and will probably make your problems worse. Cranberry wine is a great wine, and doesn't require acid adjustments.

Actually, a low ph is good for making wine. A ph higher of 4 is not good at all- it won't inhibit microbe growth. Most people actually ADD acid to must, to decrease the ph and give wine a depth of flavor.

If fermentation is progressing, then the must is not too acidic. If it's slow, that could be due to many factors, probably NOT too low of a ph. Some yeasts are naturally slow fermenting, low foaming yeasts. Sometimes it's temperature dependent (wine yeasts LOVE 80 degrees). Just adding something for the sake of adding something might really screw it up.

YooperBrew said:

Well, grapes are also ........ ..Sometimes it's temperature dependent (wine yeasts LOVE 80 degrees). Just adding something for the sake of adding something might really screw it up.

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Well thats the best advice I've seen all day. I am useing a brand new yeast that I have never used before. Hopefully it doesn't explode in a violent never ending fermentation like my current batch is doing. Its on week 5 of its primary fermentation and shows no sign of slowing down.

I've decided the problem was that I didn't shake the carboy long enough to get oxygen in there. Its going slow now but starting to pick up.

Yooper said:

Actually, a low ph is good for making wine. A ph higher of 4 is not good at all- it won't inhibit microbe growth. Most people actually ADD acid to must, to decrease the ph and give wine a depth of flavor.

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Hey Yooper!

Going off what you said there, is a low PH of approx. 3.0 to 3.1 bad int he long run? I have a must of elderberry waiting top be inoculated right now, and it currently has that PH.

Based on my past experience, Im not too concerned, but wanterd your perspective. I made a batch of elderberry a couple years that was very acidic (did not measure PH at time, newb mistake) but it mellowed out to a very great drinkable, albeit bright tasting wine.

I guess what I am asking is should I adjust the PH if its 3.1 and I want a dry red at the end of it?