I have made many fruit wines with the same processes, and found a supplier
for many different grape wines. I never really learned the why's behind my
processes, and very rarely check ph and such because i was not taught to
make wine that way.. i am 26 years old and really enjoy this winemaking
stuff.. if anyone has a good link or guide to why the processes are done the
way they are i would really appreciate it. it may help for me to describe
how i make wine, or should i say... how i duplicate the processes that
someone has shown me. so here goes... i typically sterilize my equipment,
crush my berries, add water on a 1/5 ratio.. for example 30 pounds of
raspberries to 6 gallons of water., add sugar to reach 1.080-1.090 on the
hydrometer. add yeast nutrient according to manufacturer label, i very
seldom adjust for acidity. add campden per instruction. mix everything
thoroughly and crush as many berries as i can. pull about 3/4 gallon into 1
gallon jug and add yeast, then add another pack of yeast to the primary.
the next morning, typically the 1 gallon jug is fermenting well and add the
1 gallon jug back to the primary and the primary starts very quickly then if
not already started. check sg in progression until it reaches about 1.030
and put in secondary with fermentation lock until no bubbles present for 2
weeks or so. rack, rerack, and rerack, then add potassium sorbate to
stabilize and add sugar to sweeten.. i usually use red star premiere curve.
now i know how to do this because someone showed me, not why im doing theses
processes... and now i would like to make wine from juice and want to know
what my acidity should be and how to test it and adjust for it and
soforth... any help would be appreciated.. thanks

Jim