Acid, Balanced musts and Mead.....

[fatbloke]

With just about all of my meads, melomels, etc - except the very first ones of course - it's just been a case of following recipes, with occasional modifications (ingredient dependant ones that is), then just testing for pH level, followed by a little acid addition depending on the result.

I tend to keep it about 3.5 pH - well as close as is practical.

Recently I've been noticing a few mentions in respect of acid but measured in grammes per litre (particularly in Bob's "making mead using winemaking techniques - and a couple of mentions by Zeb).

It just so happens that I'm intending to make up 2 batches with some lavender and orange blossom honey that've been waiting for a while.

Now I'm basically intending to use 3lb of honey in the gallon (honey only warmed enough to get it moving - rather than boiling it up), using Fermaid-K for nutrient, probably 71B for the yeast. Oh and I'm thinking of getting some RO water from the aquarium shop as I don't have enough distilled water in at the moment.

I'm not too worried about gravities etc as 3lb of honey per gallon should be Ok to get something that isn't too excessive/high (obviously I'll test and note when the time comes.

Now, as I'm not sure what the difference is, or if there's any correllation between a certain level of pH and a certain number of "grammes per litre" which would be better to follow to see if I can get the mystical "balanced must" ?

Oh, and the acid used will be Ashton & Duncans blend of 2 malic to 1 tartaric (I do like the taste profile that gives ).

So any guidance would be excellent.

regards

JtFB

p.s. Oh and if it transpires that opinion does say to use a certain number of grammes per litre, would I be getting the results from my ritchies test kit, which I believe expresses the result as sulphuric and then converting that number to tartaric or is it just a case of getting the result and going with that ?

[rantan]

HELP, i understand the words, but not the sentences

[lockwood1956]

Adjusting Ph by adjusting the Acid level is a problematic area at best.......

my understanding (from discussions with Ken Schram among others) is that mead makers dont add acid at the start so as not to affect the Ph level too much because of issues with acids present in mead musts (Glyconic? (sp) rings a bell) which drastically alters the Ph during mead ferments, causing problems down the line.


Personally I adjust the acid at the preparation of must stage and then let her rip from there.......I ran this experiment with meads side by side, and the one that had acid adjustments at the start is a much better tasing/looking/smelling mead than the one that had acid added after fermentation


see here

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2155

just my two pennerth

[fatbloke]

Adjusting Ph by adjusting the Acid level is a problematic area at best.......

my understanding (from discussions with Ken Schram among others) is that mead makers dont add acid at the start so as not to affect the Ph level too much because of issues with acids present in mead musts (Glyconic? (sp) rings a bell) which drastically alters the Ph during mead ferments, causing problems down the line.


Personally I adjust the acid at the preparation of must stage and then let her rip from there.......I ran this experiment with meads side by side, and the one that had acid adjustments at the start is a much better tasing/looking/smelling mead than the one that had acid added after fermentation


see here

http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2155

just my two pennerth

Yeah, that was the one I was reading Bob and possibly why I'm getting confused.

Because logic would dictate that if I measured the must (before acid addition) and found that it had X g/l of acid, but wanted to start the must with Y g/l of acid, then ergo, I need to add Z amount of acid.

So surely there's some sort of correlation as to the pH at X g/l, with a lowering at the Y g/l point, though how much I'd actually need to add to know how much is represented by Z is ?????

I mean, I know that it often a bit weird with pH/acids and mead. My batch of heather honey mead from last year showed me that.

I've never made any mead, other than using basic winemaking techniques.

Look like I'm gonna have to get my nose back into Kens book, and loiter over at gotmead as well.......

regards

JtFB

[Pyrosfx]

From the points you raised, and the fact your using mainly malic, does this mean you should convert to Malic g/l rather than tartaric? and does mead have a malolatic second ferment? or will this mead have one?

[fatbloke]

From the points you raised, and the fact your using mainly malic, does this mean you should convert to Malic g/l rather than tartaric? and does mead have a malolatic second ferment? or will this mead have one?

No, it's just that if you use a kit bought in the UK, they tend mostly, to express acids TA as sulphuric acid, whereas in the US, it would seem usual for them to give the results as Tartaric acid.

So it's stuff like whether I'd need to test and then convert to get a handle on this.

Or whether it's enough to just make sure that the pH is within a certain range (it's a much debated subject).

I like to just follow a reasonably simple method, but even then there's certain parts that can become complicated.

Honey does have a few strange properties, that other musts don't - so it's really just trying to follow someone elses method (who've had success) and replicate it.

I mean, if you read up on historic methods of mead making, you can see that "they" used quite simple methods, whereas more modern/up to date recipes still seem simple, but can become complicated.

If you had a read over at gotmead and see what some of "them" do for their meads/melomels etc you'd be surprised. I'm not anal enough to want to have to bother with staged nutrient regimes and twice daily aeration with pure O2 bubbled through an airstone, etc etc (not that I have enough time or resources to do that anyway). I'm just trying to work out whether I'd be better refining my basic method or just keep it as is.

regards

JtFB

p.s. Oh and as far as I can ascertain, MLF is less of a problem/issue/practice with meads. That's not to say it doesn't happen/can't be done though.

[Pyrosfx]

Thanks for that FB, Does make you wonder how we ever learnt to make some of this stuff in the first place. Reading the history of sparkling wines makes me think most wines either tasted uck and had high alcohol and early oblivion or were full of residual sugar and grape flavour but low alcohol,

I think I'll have a pop at a fruit mead. Tinned peach and Mango makes a decent no 1 wine, I'll try it with honey.

[fatbloke]

Thanks for that FB, Does make you wonder how we ever learnt to make some of this stuff in the first place. Reading the history of sparkling wines makes me think most wines either tasted uck and had high alcohol and early oblivion or were full of residual sugar and grape flavour but low alcohol,

I think I'll have a pop at a fruit mead. Tinned peach and Mango makes a decent no 1 wine, I'll try it with honey.

There's no reason why it's shouldn't work fine. Though if you want some actual honey flavour, you might have to reduce some of the fruit elements a bit and use a bit more honey.

I reckon on about 3lb per gallon for a traditional mead, so how much you'd actually need to use to replace the sugar etc in the No 1 recipe will probably be a bit of trial and error. Start with 1lb and check the gravity etc etc

regards

JtFB