So we started making a strawberry wine yesterday and after we already got going on it I realized I only had a very little bit of acid blend. The recipe calls for one tsp per gallon. I think I got about 2 tsp into it on a 5 gallon recipe. Unfortunately we don't have much of a LHBS near us and the one about an hour away is closed today. Any advice? I am planning on just proceeding with adding my sugar and yeast today and order some acid blend to add later. Will adding it after fermentation is started and/or complete upset the balance of things?
Wine screw up, advise please.
- Thread starter BigLoad
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meatcleaver
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many wine makers, myself included, wait until waaaay after primary fermentation to add things like tannin & acid blend so no worries.
pumpkinman2012
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To be honest, I won't add any acid to any wine without first testing it, if you don't have any way of testing the must - taste it.
I usually make any adjustments prior to fermentation, but if you don't have any way of testing the must use your taste buds:
If the must tastes good, I'd wait, the acidity in strawberries comes mainly from citric acid which comprises about 88% of the acid content - I wouldn't add an acid blend, you don't need tartaric or malic acid in your strawberry wine.
I make a berry wine that everyone seems to really enjoy, everyone has been asking for it - I use strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, I tasted the must before fermentation, I was surprised that there was absolutely no acidity to the wine, it tasted really sweet; I went looking for my citric acid but thank God that I couldn't find any....after the wine started to ferment and breakdown the berries, the natural acidity in the fruit came through and I was surprised at how acidic the wine became!
Wait until the wine starts fermenting, taste the wine, if you feel that you still need to add acid to the wine, you may want to add the acid in steps, maybe add half once fermentation gets underway, taste again the following day and add the rest if you still need to.
I hope that this helps.
I usually make any adjustments prior to fermentation, but if you don't have any way of testing the must use your taste buds:
If the must tastes good, I'd wait, the acidity in strawberries comes mainly from citric acid which comprises about 88% of the acid content - I wouldn't add an acid blend, you don't need tartaric or malic acid in your strawberry wine.
I make a berry wine that everyone seems to really enjoy, everyone has been asking for it - I use strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, I tasted the must before fermentation, I was surprised that there was absolutely no acidity to the wine, it tasted really sweet; I went looking for my citric acid but thank God that I couldn't find any....after the wine started to ferment and breakdown the berries, the natural acidity in the fruit came through and I was surprised at how acidic the wine became!
Wait until the wine starts fermenting, taste the wine, if you feel that you still need to add acid to the wine, you may want to add the acid in steps, maybe add half once fermentation gets underway, taste again the following day and add the rest if you still need to.
I hope that this helps.
pumpkinman2012
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No problem, keep us updated, I'm sure that it'll be great!
Yeah the basic testing for acid is your own taste buds but the home test kits use phenolphthalein (pH indicator) and a base (you use a calculation based on how much base needed to neutralize the acid to figure out how much acid you had).. and that is similar to how wineries can test acids
