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I'm not sure if I've "missed the point" ?
I've noticed recently, a few mentions about testing for acids and/or checking pH etc (no names, no pack drill
).
So at what point should I be doing this kind of testing ?
Yes, I've usually tested when making meads and there seems to be advice about what the pH levels of a must should be i.e. "they" suggest a number - often in the 3.0 to 3.5 range. Though it seems that there's also contradictory advice that at fermentation time, it doesn't matter so much about what the pH is, just as long as there is an "acid environment" for the yeast i.e. that the pH is below 7.0 (neutral), and that any adjustment should be at bottling time. Hence I'm unsure whether it's best to do "micro adjustments" then or whether it's about the pre-ferment stage of making.
Also, is it considered better to be using a test kit to work out "total acidity" of the must (and then maybe adjusting) or just taking pH and adjusting ?
Or not worrying at ferment stage, but then doing one or the other before bottling ?
Also, having read a few of the posts about this (mainly borrowing from Bob's excellent knowledge), is it better to use the dominant acid in the particular fruit ? as I'd guess that that's got a lot to do with the actual flavour of the particular fruit or is there an "equal or opposite" that should be used instead ? Yes I appreciate that tartaric being the dominant acid of grapes is often used to make stuff "more winey", though I'm not sure I actually understand what the "more winey" thing is.
If there is "equal or opposite" for the acids used in a way to affect the actual flavour, rather then covering excess sugar or vice versa, maybe there's a table somewhere that might explain/expand on it ? does anyone have any links ?
Again, sorry if that includes some stupid questions, it's just that I'm "trying to get things right" but I'm not sure of whether I'm asking the right questions or even if I know what the right questions actually are?
regards
JtFB
p.s. Oh, and I know that there might be answers already "out there" but I'm not seeing anything that seems relevant when I do a search - and I'm not sure why that might be !
I've noticed recently, a few mentions about testing for acids and/or checking pH etc (no names, no pack drill
).So at what point should I be doing this kind of testing ?
Yes, I've usually tested when making meads and there seems to be advice about what the pH levels of a must should be i.e. "they" suggest a number - often in the 3.0 to 3.5 range. Though it seems that there's also contradictory advice that at fermentation time, it doesn't matter so much about what the pH is, just as long as there is an "acid environment" for the yeast i.e. that the pH is below 7.0 (neutral), and that any adjustment should be at bottling time. Hence I'm unsure whether it's best to do "micro adjustments" then or whether it's about the pre-ferment stage of making.
Also, is it considered better to be using a test kit to work out "total acidity" of the must (and then maybe adjusting) or just taking pH and adjusting ?
Or not worrying at ferment stage, but then doing one or the other before bottling ?
Also, having read a few of the posts about this (mainly borrowing from Bob's excellent knowledge), is it better to use the dominant acid in the particular fruit ? as I'd guess that that's got a lot to do with the actual flavour of the particular fruit or is there an "equal or opposite" that should be used instead ? Yes I appreciate that tartaric being the dominant acid of grapes is often used to make stuff "more winey", though I'm not sure I actually understand what the "more winey" thing is.
If there is "equal or opposite" for the acids used in a way to affect the actual flavour, rather then covering excess sugar or vice versa, maybe there's a table somewhere that might explain/expand on it ? does anyone have any links ?
Again, sorry if that includes some stupid questions, it's just that I'm "trying to get things right" but I'm not sure of whether I'm asking the right questions or even if I know what the right questions actually are?
regards
JtFB
p.s. Oh, and I know that there might be answers already "out there" but I'm not seeing anything that seems relevant when I do a search - and I'm not sure why that might be !
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