Fermsoft - Winemaking and Brewing Software

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Setting Acid Data

The first thing to do is to select whether you wish to raise or lower the TA of the wine. This is done by selecting either Raise Acidity or Lower Acidity.
Next, the method of raising or lowering acidity must be selected. This is done by selecting the appropriate item from the Using drop-down box. The drop-down box is automatically populated with the available methods depending on whether Raise Acidity or Lower Acidity was selected in the previous step.
If you are raising acidity and "Acid Blend" was selected from the Using box then the three acid blend components (Tartaric, Malic, and Citric) must be entered. They are entered as percentages and must sum to 100%. This information should be printed on your Acid Blend container.
The TA Units must be selected from the drop-down box.

Setting Batch Data

Set your batch size and specify the measurement units. You can choose either, U.S. gallons, imperial gallons, or litres as measurement units.

Entering the Numbers

Enter the existing TA level of your wine.
Enter the desired target TA level.
If you are adjusting TA by blending wine then you will also need to enter the TA of the blend wine.
Numbers can be entered using 2 methods. Numbers can be typed directly into the text fields. This method has a greater level of precision because the text fields will accept decimal numbers as input. Numbers can also be entered by using the up/down arrows beside each text entry field. These arrows will increment/decrement the numbers.

Calculating the Required Addition

Once all the settings have been specified, the addition required to reach the designated target level is calculated by pressing the Calculate button. The program will then validate the input data. The program will display a message if any of the data is unacceptable. If all data is within acceptable parameters, the required addition field will display the addition amount required to reach the target level.

Getting Help

Help information is maintained on the program web site rather than in the software itself. This ensures that the information can be updated as needed, without releasing an upgrade to the software. General information regarding the use of acid in winemaking can be found on the resources page.
The feedback page can be used to contact the author if further help or information is required.

Bugs and Enhancements

The author is always interested in hearing about bugs and ideas for possible enhancements to the software. The current version has no known bugs, but if any bugs are discovered, report them through the feedback page. Bug fixes will be released as soon as possible after discovery.

Examples

1) You have 20 litres of wine and want to raise the TA from 5.2 g/L to 6.0 g/L using acid blend (50% Tartaric, 30% Malic, 20% Citric). How much acid blend should be added? The Acid Calculator screen shot to solve this problem is shown below:

2) You have 5 U.S. gallons of wine and want to raise the TA from 5.0 g/L to 5.5 g/L using tartaric acid. How much tartaric acid should be added? The Acid Calculator screen shot to solve this problem is shown below:

3) You have 23 litres of wine and want to raise the TA from 5 g/L to 6 g/L by blending it with another wine having a TA of 8 g/L. How much of the wine should be added? The Acid Calculator screen shot to solve this problem is shown below: