So i decided to spend the time to make a one gallon batch of dandelion wine. I picked all the flowers, pulled all the petals off, steeped as my recipe called for, strain and filtered (twice) added the sugar, and then proceeded to put almost 4 tablespoons of acid blend in (recipe calls for 4 teaspoons) i only got 3 in before i realize that im using tablespoons instead of teaspoons! F#@*! Thats 9tsp! I tasted it before pitching the yeast and now it taste like lemonade tea from the gas station. There goes the delicate flavors! Im still fermenting in hopes that it is somewhat drinkable. Im just glad that its only one gallon! Sad part is ive used acid blend for hundreds of recipes in the past years. I feel like an idiot! Anyone else ever add too much acid blend by mistake? How did it turn out?
Dandelion wine/acid blend goof
- Thread starter Krausen89
- Start date
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You could try using potassium carbonate or calcium carbonate to drop out some of the acid, so it doesn't taste so tart.
This is a cut and paste from Jack Keller's great site, from this page: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/acid.asp
Calcium carbonate reacts preferentially with tartaric rather than malic acid, so one should not try to reduce acidity more than 0.3 to 0.4% through its use. A dose of 2.5 grams per gallon of wine lowers TA about 0.1%. After its use, the wine should be bulk aged at least 6 months to allow calcium malate, a byproduct of calcium carbonate use, to precipitate from the wine. The wine should then be cold stabilized to ensure tartrate crystals do not precipitate out after bottling.
Potassium bicarbonate is used to deacidify a wine with a low pH (below 3.5), but should not be used to reduce acidity more than 0.3%. A dose of 3.4 grams per gallon of wine lowers acidity by about 0.1%. After use, the wine should be cold stabilized, as up to 30% of the potential acid reduction occurs during cold stabilization. It will cause a greater rise in pH than calcium carbonate for an equivalent reduction in acidity.
Finally, potassium bitartrate (a.k.a. Cream of Tartar) is used as a catalyst to help promote cold stabilization. It promotes the formation of tartrate crystals and is used at the rate of 2 to 5 grams per gallon, followed by vigorous stirring. Its use results in better and quicker stabilization, and these benefits will occur at slightly higher temperatures than without it.
