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How do I overcome sourness?

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JamesB

JamesB

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Oct 6, 2003
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A raspberry mead I brewed a few months ago with fresh-frozen raspberries has turned out a bit on the sour side. Currently, a guava mead (made with guave juice concentrate) is fermenting on my sunporch. When I tried a taste yesterday, the sourness was noticeable. Is there any way to balance out the sour taste? ???
 
Are we talking acidic sourness or infected sourness or disgruntled with the world sourness? If it's acidic sourness, you can add....I'm drawing a blank here (someone help out, please). If it's infected, then it's a lost cause.

Phil
 
Acidic sourness

Of the options given, acidic sourness seems to be the culprit. I guess fruit like raspberry or guava contain a lot of acid. Any ideas? ??? ??? ??? ???
 
calcium carbonate

Phil,
How much calcium carbonate should I use, say, for a 15 gallon batch? Also, does this chemical work immediately, or is it better to put it in and wait for a few weeks? :-/
 
You'll be adding the calcium carbonate to taste. For a fifteen gallon batch, I would suggest mixing three or four tablespoons in a cup of water and add a few ounces at a time. Use pH test strips to record the results.

You can add the misture, gently stir it (avoid aeration) and taste it. It neutralizes the acid pretty fast.


Phil
 
Does adding calcium carbonate have any effect on the fermentation process? Or should I plan on adding it strictly at bottling time?
 
IIRC, the proper pH for mead yeast is about 3.4 (I don't have my books around me right now). If the batch is too acidic, you can kill the yeast off. Correct pH will actually improve fermention.


Phil
 
JamesB said:
A raspberry mead I brewed a few months ago with fresh-frozen raspberries has turned out a bit on the sour side. Currently, a guava mead (made with guave juice concentrate) is fermenting on my sunporch. When I tried a taste yesterday, the sourness was noticeable. Is there any way to balance out the sour taste? ???
Click to expand...


If this is an acid/sourness, maybe adding more sweetness would balance it out. This will depend on your finishing gravity. If it's dry, the some additional sweetness will definitely help. Establishing a good flavor by balancing acid taste with sweetness will work much better than calcium carbonate.

If you do decide to use calcium carbonate, don't add any until you find out what the pH is. Too much calcium carbonate will lend flavors to the mead that you don't want. You need to be careful with this.
 
The problem with counteracting acidity with honey is that you'll sweeten the mead. If you want something dry and less acidic, cc is the way to go.


Phil
 
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