Acid blends give wines their slightly sharp, crisp taste and balance the sweetness and bite of the wine. A good acid blend can make a wine, but a bad blend can leave you with a vinegary mix. Wine fruits, like grapes, are usually full of acids. Some wines, however, require an acid blend to help balance their flavors. Strawberries, blueberries and cherries fall into this category. If you aren’t a big fan of sharp wines or simply don’t have the budget for specialized blends, you can substitute lemon juice for your acid blend. Just be careful to get the proportions right.
Read your wine recipe (if you have one) to find out how much acid blend you need. Substitute 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for every teaspoon of acid blend. Lemon juice is less concentrated than acid blend, so you’ll need more. If you don't have a recipe, use about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice per gallon of wine.
Cut your lemons in half with a sharp knife. Place a sieve over the mouth of your measuring cup. A sieve with a lip around the edge comes in handy here. Make sure everything is balanced; you don’t want your measuring cup to tip over with your lemon juice in it.
Hold a lemon half over your sieve. Push the tip of your spoon into the lemon’s flesh and turn the spoon. Twist the spoon back and forth, digging into the lemon and squeezing it with your other hand. The juice should drip into the sieve and into your measuring cup. Use one lemon for every 2 tablespoons of juice you need.
Press down gently on the lemon pulp in your sieve with the back of your spoon. This releases any excess juice in the pulp. Remove the sieve and discard the pulp.
Scoop up some lemon juice with a tablespoon measuring spoon. Pour the juice into your fully blended wine mixture. A blended wine mixture already contains all the fruit, sugar, water and other flavorings you need. Cap and shake your blending container.
Tip
Substitute lemon juice for acid blend only with fruits that pair well with lemons, like those mentioned in the introduction. Watermelons, apples, peaches and apricots also go well with lemons. For grape wines, use an acid blend if you can.