The Selection International - Australian Shiraz kit I started calls for
the first racking Step 2) at 1.01 or less SG. Today was the day and
everything went fine. The numbers we

Temperature 76°F
SG 1.001
pH 3.27
TA 0.5%

I know that pH and TA are meaningless when doing a kit like this and I
have no intention of deviating from the provided instructions. I did the
measurement for my own curiousity. That, and perhaps for future reference if
I go off the deep end and do something without a kit. I'm a long way off
from that, since this is my third go at making wine.
I am speaking there of wine from grapes. My 2-gallon batch of
pomegranate will be bottled by next weekend. Stand by for a report on that.
Right now I'm studying the fine art (or craft) of back-sweetening. Anybody
have a suggestion for an SG (or TA) for a slightly sweet wine? Hmmm, what
if I went to the market and picked up a bottle of Muskat Cannelli -- my wife
likes the sweetness of that.... or perhaps a Chardonay??
You will note in the numbers given above I included pH and TA. I have to
thank someone on this forum who's name escapes me now for the tip on using a
pH meter in conjunction with the acid titration kit. My original problems
were the super-subjectivity required for determining "when the color stops
changing" when doing the titration, combined with my total ignorance having
never done it nor seen it demonstrated before.
I used up a lot of titration chemicals playing with the scheme. The kit
suggests diluting red wines with distilled water to make the color change
easier to note. I used a number of dilution ratios of water to wine with the
pH meter and to my surprise, the end results were the same up to and
including 20::1. That is as far as I went.
So, whoever my mystery benefactor is -- Thanks, I owe you a bottle of
Mojave Spirits, Pomegranate Wine.

Happy cellaring,

Casey

Casey,
Those are good numbers, i think that will turn out fine. As a point
of information I rarely rack until the wine is dry; 1.001 is still a
bit sweet for a red. Keep the temperature up so it finishes and make
sure it's topped.

As to back sweetening, it is a bit of an art; you described both ends
of the spectrum with the whites you chose. I go in 1% increments; I
sweeten until I notice the acid 'bite' is reduced and then I play
around at 0.5% increments. 100 ml samples are great for this kind of
testing and the good part is you get to drink your mistakes....
After I find what I like I make up a 375 ml bottle of that and let it
sit for a few days. If I still like it warm I know I will like it
chilled so the rest of the bottle is chilled and re-tasted. (Chilling
softens the acid bite also.) That is what I do. Muscats can be
anywhere from 3% on up as a point of reference; Chardonnay is almost
always made with less than 0.5% RS..

Joe

"Joe Sallustio" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Casey,
> Those are good numbers, i think that will turn out fine. As a point
> of information I rarely rack until the wine is dry; 1.001 is still a
> bit sweet for a red. Keep the temperature up so it finishes and make
> sure it's topped.
>
> As to back sweetening, it is a bit of an art; you described both ends
> of the spectrum with the whites you chose. I go in 1% increments; I
> sweeten until I notice the acid 'bite' is reduced and then I play
> around at 0.5% increments. 100 ml samples are great for this kind of
> testing and the good part is you get to drink your mistakes....
> After I find what I like I make up a 375 ml bottle of that and let it
> sit for a few days. If I still like it warm I know I will like it
> chilled so the rest of the bottle is chilled and re-tasted. (Chilling
> softens the acid bite also.) That is what I do. Muscats can be
> anywhere from 3% on up as a point of reference; Chardonnay is almost
> always made with less than 0.5% RS..
>
> Joe

Thanks, Joe....