Acidification / Deacidification

Use the table below to help you identify suspected likely causes of high/low TA and/or high/low pH, and options or recommended remedial actions. For more information, please consult my book, Modern Home Winemaking.

Before treating an entire batch, be sure to always run bench trials first and double-check all your calculations.

Need help figuring out your acidification or deacidification calculations or running your bench trials? Check out these tools!

Condition	Primary Objectives	Suspected Likely Causes	Options / Recommended Actions
Low TA (low pH)	Increase TA (minimize decrease in pH)	Low tartaric/malic acid Low potassium	No adjustments pre-ferment Re-evaluate post-ferment
Low TA (high pH)	Increase TA (decrease pH)	Low tartaric/malic acid	Acidify with: ► Tartaric acid ► Tartaric/malic blend if no MLF ► Lactic acid for fine-tuning wine ► Citric acid if no MLF Blend with high-TA/low-pH juice or wine
High TA (low pH)	Reduce TA (increase pH)	High tartaric acid	Deacidify with a carbonate salt + cold stabilize Cold stabilize only (pH decreases if less than 3.65) Blend with low-TA/high-pH juice or wine Ameliorate
High TA (low pH)	Reduce TA (increase pH)	High malic acid	Ferment using malic-degrading yeast Perform MLF (style permitting) Blend with low-TA/high-pH juice or wine Ameliorate
High TA and High pH	Reduce pH Reduce TA (if needed)	High tartaric acid, possibly high potassium	Acidify with tartaric acid + MLF + cold stabilize Blend with low-TA/low-pH juice or wine
High TA and High pH	Reduce pH Reduce TA (if needed)	High malic acid, possibly high potassium	Acidify with tartaric acid + ferment with malic-degrading yeast + MLF (style permitting) + cold stabilize Blend with low-TA/low-pH juice or wine