Anyone use a pipette for acid testing? Or do I need a burette
 

Just wondering?

Pipette seems cheaper and less equipment.
I am just a home winemaker who makes 5 gal batches.

I am not satisfied with the cheap acid kits they sell

Pipettes are cheap but slow unless you open up the tip. I have several
and use them once in a while.

I use a calibrated 10 ml glass syringe for the sample size and a
nalgene 10 ml self leveling burette for titrating, I got it from Fisher
for around $40 US a few years back.

Joe

"Fishhead" > wrote in message
...
> Just wondering?
>
> Pipette seems cheaper and less equipment.
> I am just a home winemaker who makes 5 gal batches.

I have a nice 50 ml burette with a teflon stopcock on a ringstand. I never
use it anymore. Too much hassle to set up and clean, and I don't need to be
able to read it to 0.01 ml for wine analysis. I use either 1, 5 or 10 ml
graduated pipettes or a 50 ml nalgene graduate for all lab volumetric
measurements. That's plenty accurate, and easy to use in the field if
necessary.

Tom S

In article >, Fishhead
> writes
>Just wondering?
>
>Pipette seems cheaper and less equipment.
>I am just a home winemaker who makes 5 gal batches.
>
>I am not satisfied with the cheap acid kits they sell

Could somebody explain the subtle difference between dryness and acidity
in wine please. Which of them is corrected by sweetening, and which is
measured as PH?
--
Alan Gould. North Lincolnshire, UK.

Dryness related to the lack of sugar in wine and marginally to tannin
content...You correct that by sweetening if you do not like dry wine)

Acidity refers to the concentration of acid int the wine, you measure
that in pH (and/or TA, titraytable acidity). You can balance out a
wine that is too acidic by sweeting as well. That may be where your
confustion comes from.

"Fishhead" > wrote in message
...
> Just wondering?
>
> Pipette seems cheaper and less equipment.
> I am just a home winemaker who makes 5 gal batches.
>
> I am not satisfied with the cheap acid kits they sell

I always use pipettes for TA and SO2 measurements at Belle Marie Winery.
Pipettes are faster and cheaper but a bit less accurate than a burette.

Lum
Del Mar, California, USA

I suggest that you "grape" vintners listen to Tom -- he is a sound source
of good information -- being a real vintner -- not like most of us!!!!
"Tom S" > wrote in message
m...
>
> "Fishhead" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Just wondering?
>>
>> Pipette seems cheaper and less equipment.
>> I am just a home winemaker who makes 5 gal batches.
>
> I have a nice 50 ml burette with a teflon stopcock on a ringstand. I
> never use it anymore. Too much hassle to set up and clean, and I don't
> need to be able to read it to 0.01 ml for wine analysis. I use either 1,
> 5 or 10 ml graduated pipettes or a 50 ml nalgene graduate for all lab
> volumetric measurements. That's plenty accurate, and easy to use in the
> field if necessary.
>
> Tom S
>

Lum wrote:
> "Fishhead" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>Just wondering?
>>
>>Pipette seems cheaper and less equipment.
>>I am just a home winemaker who makes 5 gal batches.
>>
>>I am not satisfied with the cheap acid kits they sell
>
>
> I always use pipettes for TA and SO2 measurements at Belle Marie Winery.
> Pipettes are faster and cheaper but a bit less accurate than a burette.
>
> Lum
> Del Mar, California, USA
>
>

They must be more accurate then my plastic plunger I am using...

In article . com>,
Droopy > writes
>Dryness related to the lack of sugar in wine and marginally to tannin
>content...You correct that by sweetening if you do not like dry wine)
>
>Acidity refers to the concentration of acid int the wine, you measure
>that in pH (and/or TA, titraytable acidity). You can balance out a
>wine that is too acidic by sweeting as well. That may be where your
>confustion comes from.
>
Thanks. I don't have any means of measuring PH yet, is there a
preferable type to buy?
--
Alan Gould. North Lincolnshire, UK.

The best inexpensive one in my opinion is Hanna's pHep5; they are
international. The best price in the States seems to be from
Grainger.com at around $60 US.

You need buffer solutions to calibrate it so keep that in the back of
your mind, the meter needs calibrated before each use. They are worth
having if you are into winemaking for the long term. Mine is used
often it's probably the item I use most (besides taste and smell)to
make decisions about the wine.

Joe


Alan Gould wrote:
> In article . com>,
> Droopy > writes
> >Dryness related to the lack of sugar in wine and marginally to tannin
> >content...You correct that by sweetening if you do not like dry wine)
> >
> >Acidity refers to the concentration of acid int the wine, you measure
> >that in pH (and/or TA, titraytable acidity). You can balance out a
> >wine that is too acidic by sweeting as well. That may be where your
> >confustion comes from.
> >
> Thanks. I don't have any means of measuring PH yet, is there a
> preferable type to buy?
> --
> Alan Gould. North Lincolnshire, UK.

"Fishhead" > wrote in message
...
> Lum wrote:
> > "Fishhead" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >
> >>Just wondering?
> >>
> >>Pipette seems cheaper and less equipment.
> >>I am just a home winemaker who makes 5 gal batches.
> >>
> >>I am not satisfied with the cheap acid kits they sell
> >
> >
> > I always use pipettes for TA and SO2 measurements at Belle Marie Winery.
> > Pipettes are faster and cheaper but a bit less accurate than a burette.
> >
> > Lum
> > Del Mar, California, USA
> >
> >
>
> They must be more accurate then my plastic plunger I am using...

Yes. I find the accuracy of a pipette to be more than adequate for TA
measurements.