Strawberry Melomel #2 - Update (pH problem...)

Aerated the must with the sanitary filter bubble wand for 20 minutes this afternoon.  Measured the SG @ 1.078.  The problem was the pH.  Its dropping quickly, today it was 3.3.  pH is a problem for the yeast if it drops to 3.2 or lower.  So I added 1 teaspoon of Asian Lye water that had been mixed into an 8oz glass of water.  I stirred it in gently and was surprised to see quite a bit of foam come out of the must.  This was after aeration after all so I didn't think there would be that must dissolved CO2 still...

Anyways, I'll give it a few hours then check the pH again.  I see how much that teaspoon of lye water moved the pH and make a proportional addition if need to bring the pH back to 3.4.

I tasted the pH sample and it was still very clean, still sweet, but quite a bit of acid bite to it.  Tasted like strawberries and honey still.  The alcohol hasn't become much more noticeable but it must be there.  So for it has dropped 34 points and that means about 4.7% abv.

Speaking of points, it occurs to me this is just about to the 1/3 break.  I'm going to add 2.5g of Fermaid-K tonight for the occasion!  Really though, since I over shot the fermaid-k at the last addition I'll cut back on the 1/3 break amount.  I've update the recipe to reflect the nutrient addition schedule changes...


Update: 3:00PM - Measured the pH and it is now at 3.4  So I am going to let it be for now but I'll be checking frequently to ensure this doesn't drop below 3.2.  I also punched the fruit cap.