Acid Blend vs Citric Acid

[DesertDog]

I have made two, 1-gallon batches of mead so far. One was a cherry melomel that used a little Acid Blend. I am going to try a Ginger mead next and it lists Citric Acid. Should I get Citric Acid or would the Acid Blend work as well since it's mostly Citric anyway. On a side note I the other is a traditional mead that has no acid, would adding a little possibly improve the flavor?

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi DesertDog and welcome. I would bench test and taste your trad with added acidity. My bet is that whether you need to add some acidity or not will really depend on how it tastes* without any additions. That said, acid blend also contains tartaric (grape) and malic (apple) acids - so again, depending on what tastes you are looking for acid blend may or may not be what you want to add. Nothing mysterious or magical about wine or mead making - what you get out very much depends on what you put in and what you want to get out depends on what you want to put in...

*wine makers tend to aim for a specific TA (NOT pH) and that TA is about 6.5 g/L of acid. Wines that are significantly below 6.5 g/L tend to taste bland. (TA is about the amount of acid and not the strength of the acid. pH on the other hand is all about the strength of the acids present)... but you can use your own taste to determine whether your mead is bright enough or too bland. If it needs more acidity, a little (known quantity) to a (known size) sample and taste. Repeat until you hit the sweet spot and use that quantity and sample size to determine the total amount of acidity you want to add.

 

[FunkyMunk]

How did you like the acid blend in the cherry melomel? I've seen people bashing acid blend, comparing it to Sweet Tarts, so I haven't used it (actually haven't done any acid adds yet but I picked some tartaric acid up for a traditional). I'd probably go with what the recipe specified, personally.

 

[DesertDog]

How did you like the acid blend in the cherry melomel? I've seen people bashing acid blend, comparing it to Sweet Tarts, so I haven't used it (actually haven't done any acid adds yet but I picked some tartaric acid up for a traditional). I'd probably go with what the recipe specified, personally.

I haven't gotten around to bottling yet. I'll probably add some to the traditional mead, it needs something but the cherry is already tasting pretty good. I think I'll just back sweeten the cherry a bit.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I rather enjoy the citric/malic/tartaric blend of acids in a mead.