Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
acids available, as well as an acid blend composed of equal
parts of all three. The only place I can see acid blend being
used is in meads (honey wine) that have no fruit component.
Otherwise, what I recommend is the use of acids based upon
the nature of the fruit.
Earlier in this chapter is a table that lists, in order of influence
on taste, the primary organic acids present in a variety of
fruits. For some fruits, the primary acid is malic, for others it
is citric or tartaric. When correcting the acidity of a must
whose primary character is that of a particular fruit, you
should use the two most important acids for that fruit in a 2:1
ratio.
For example, if I am making an apple wine, the primary acids
are first malic and then citric acid. When I add acidity to the
must, I will add a blend of acids composed of two parts malic
acid and one part citric acid.
Determining how much acid to add is straightforward. If I
want my must to have 6.5g/L acidity and it only has 5.0g/L of
acidity, then I need to add 6.5g/L−5.0g/L = 1.5g/L of acid.
Converting that to gallons simply requires multiplying the
result by the number of liters in a gallon, which is 3.79. So to
increase the acidity of 5.5 gallons of must from 5.0g/L to
6.5g/L I would need to add 1.5g/L X 3.79 L/gallon X 5.5
gallons = 31.3 grams of acid. In even numbers, then, I would
add 20 grams of malic acid and 10 grams of citric acid.
There is a school of thought that citric acid should never be
used in wine musts. The reason is because citric acid can
promote acetification (i.e. the process of turning wine to
vinegar) or can contribute to the development of diacetyl
