Help needed adjusting pH and acid in pear cider wort

[Forbidden Garden]

Hello. I will be trying to make a pear cider. Now, before fermentation, my wort parameters are:
pH: 4,4
acid: 2,5g/l.
Brix: 11.
I am not sure are those parameters ok to make a good pear cider? Should i improve acid level by adding mixed acid? How much would be ok?

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

You could try adding Malic acid according to your taste preference which is subjective at bottling.

 

[Forbidden Garden]

You could try adding Malic acid according to your taste preference which is subjective at bottling.

Thank You for the answer. I am completely new to cider making (made only beer and wine before). I have read in cider.org.uk some sentences about pH, that made me think that my parameters may not lead to good result. I quote them:
" At higher pH the fermentation will be subject to microbial infection and at pH 4.0 or above this can lead to serious flavour problems. Many traditional bittersweet cider apples tend to be high in pH which is why they need blending with more acid fruit, preferably before fermentation ".
That is why i am worried now..

 

[Maylar]

Never done a Perry, but for cider my orchard juices start at pH of 3.4 and typically 0.5% TA. I will adjust finished product for 0.6% TA. From what I've read, the experts say to always start below 3.8 pH.

 

[Chalkyt]

Same as Maylar I haven't done Perry. My apples are mostly eating and cooking and I typically get low acid juice with pH above 4.0. My last "adjustment" was 5g (about a teaspoon) of Malic Acid per Litre which brought the pH down to 3.7 and a TA of 5g/L (0.5%). Adding acid by taste is a pretty good guide.

 

[ukulele01]

Maylar is correct: used some malic acid to bring the pH down to 3.8 before adding the yeast.

Good luck.

 

[madscientist451]

I've been making cider, wine and beer for 20+ years, don't have a PH meter and don't have a clue what my PH is of anything I make.
Yeah, I know I, should really get around to getting one and get with the modern program, but I just like to keep most things simple.
PH is just a number and by changing that number you are changing other things that you'll notice.
Early on, I tried making adjustments to wine grape juice without really knowing what I was doing and after a few seasons decided to just let the wine/cider be what it is and blend it to taste after fermentation. I've made "perry" without real perry pears and the results weren't all that great.
A good portion of it got used for cooking, but some I blended with cider that was too acidic as it was. I've got some perry pears in the ground now, and I'll probably start getting enough pears when I'm too old to drink anymore. So if you want to make perry, get some land and get those trees planted.
If you have access to real perry pears, then there are some perry makers around, ask them what a good blend of varieties works.
So my 2 cents: Toss in your yeast and let your pear juice ferment and then let it settle and taste it. Make adjustments later, but I would suggest making a cider with some acidic tart apples and using that for blending. If you are concerned about infection, there are other ways to deal with that including adding sugar to bump up you ABV, fortifying the beverage with spirits or using sulfites.

 

[Mutant]

Even though this is an old thread, I thought I'd add to this.

For fermentation of table pears (not perry pears), I use about 1/2 ml of 88% lactic acid per gallon of juice (aiming for a pH of ~3.5). I think the lactic acid provides a smoothness in the final product. For post-fermentation, I prefer a quantity of the following acids to attain a pH of 3.2 to 3.8 (goal ~3.5). The ratio of acids by weight I'm playing with is 63% malic, 7% ascorbic, and 30% citric. I've tried some minimal substitutions for the ascorbic (reduce to 6%) by using no more than 1% succinic and/or fumaric acids (too small of an addition to sense these levels). Another side note: for a pear cider that included about 100g+ of ginger (per gallon) in the fermentation, I needed to increase the percentage of citric up to about 36% - most of that increase was taken from the malic ratio. Most of my batches are in the range of four to five gallons.

The other thing that I find essential is water chemistry. For fermentation, I add a small amount of boiled chalk (~0.75g per gallon of juice) to the juice and also include 0.3g (per gallon) of calcium chloride. These are based on the chemistry of my tap water, so everyone else would need to figure out what is best based on their water source. Occasionally, 0.1g (per gallon) of salt might be added - aka 'a pinch' per gallon.

My testing/sampling process involves using up to a dozen 4-ounce Pyrex measuring cups initially, then ramp up to 8-ounce testing to confirm my final acid additions.

As for tannins, I'd guess that I use about 1/2g of FT Blanc Tannin per gallon in a typical pear cider (in secondary). If I back sweeten, my preference is Allulose.

I also have other acids on hand, as I routinely make unflavored carbonated mineral waters. I also have different chemicals that I use in mineral waters that are not appropriate for beer, mead, cider, etc.