PH levels

[Bones6966]

I have been looking around and seen allot of talk about pH levels but no one explaing what you want/don't want and what the effects of being g too far in one direction are.

Is any one able to give me a run down on what I'm looking for please?

Also I just started a 1 gal batch of hard cider. Dose the same apply to it?

If it is something I should be watching I can find a test kit in the Am.

Thanks in advance guys.

 

[EJM3]

Generally yeast that ferment wine/mead prefer a certain pH range, too high & you invite other organisms to flourish, too low & your yeast will stall &/or be damaged.

Generally you want to keep it within 4.2 to 2.5, some yeast/people (more yeast than people) say that it should be no lower than 2.8 pH.

Same for cider, you want no lower than 2.5, or it will be so tart that you will have to add a LOT of sugar to cover it!

Some good old pH test strips are all that you really need, those cost ~$6.99 for 100 of them.

Keep it under 3.6 or so in finished mead, below that is pretty much up to your tastes & the style, if you are going for one.

These are from memory & personal experience, you will have different conditions & requirements. Try some small scale experiments to test things out & get used to it all, then scale up from there.

 

[Masbustelo]

I would say that it is not just pH that you want to monitor. For instance, one could

have five different finished Meads at pH 3.5, each with a different titratable acid content , perhaps varying between .4 to .9. Even though the pH may be the same, the level of tartness would be perceived quite differently, and there would be a possible need to sweeten in order to balance the acid.

 

[Squatchy]

I would also add that you want to keep your mead batches above 3 or it will stall

 

[Bones6966]

Awesome thanks guys.
What can you do to influence the levels in one direction or another?

 

[Masbustelo]

Calcium Carbonate and acids, water and fruit can be used to manipulate pH levels. But you might find that the titrateable acid is more easily affected than the pH. In other words you might have to add so much acid to change your pH that the mead would become undrinkable while not affecting the pH significantly, particularly with Melomels. If your ph is low you can add water, more or less pH 7.0, to raise the pH.