Citric acid instead of a malic acid to increase acidity

[Jan]

Hi,

It took me a while to press the last batch of apples, and now the juice has pH 3,96. I never used malic acid before, and to order one will take about a week. What do you think about using citric acid instead?

What would you choose?

1) Use synthetic citric acid

2) Use lemon juice

When using malic accid, would you strictly go with the L- version or it does not matter what enantiomer to use.

Thank you

Jan

[Dick Dunn]

On Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 07:22:10AM -0800, Jan wrote:
> It took me a while to press the last batch of apples, and now the juice has
> pH 3,96. I never used malic acid before, and to order one will take about a
> week. What do you think about using citric acid instead?

Don't do it, if there's any chance you could get a malo-lactic
fermentation. ML bacteria can convert citric acid to acetic acid.

--
Dick Dunn rc...@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA

[Andrew Lea]

On 23/01/2014 15:22, Jan wrote:

>
> When using malic accid, would you strictly go with the L- version or it
> does not matter what enantiomer to use.

In terms of acidity, it is fine to use the mixed DL-racemate which is
the normal commercial form. I think you will find the pure L-enantiomer
is much more expensive.

It is generally believed that only the L-form is subjected to
malo-lactic bacterial change to lactic acid. Therefore the DL racemate
may only half convert, if you get MLF happening in your ciders.

If you want a really stable acid to add to your cider, you might
consider adding lactic acid instead of malic. At least one large UK
cidermaker does this. Some people talk of using tartaric acid but that
can cause problems by precipitation of potassium tartrate, so is best
avoided.

Andrew


--
near Oxford, UK
Wittenham Hill Cider Portal
www.cider.org.uk