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Titratable acidity can be expressed in terms of different acids. In wine, TA is generally expressed in terms of tartaric acid (molecular weight of 150.09). In sour beer, TA is expressed in terms of lactic acid (molecular weight 90.08). To express TA in terms of a specific acid, the molecular weight of the specified acid is used in the TA calculation. In the [[Titratable_Acidity#Example|example below]], we express the TA value in terms of lactic acid. See [http://www.awri.com.au/wp-content/uploads//TN14.pdf appendix 1 in this paper] on how to convert the titratable acidity value for different acids. Note that this is NOT a measurement of how much lactic acid or tartaric acid there is, it is an expression of measurement like how feet and meters are two different expressions of measurement for the same thing (distance). For example, a TA of 3.0 measured in units of tartaric acid is equal to a TA 3.6009 measured in units of lactic acid. Therefore, an argument can be made that TA measurements should always be specified as to which acid was used in the calculation.
The equation for TA in units of lactic acid is as follows:
[[File:TA Formula.gif|center|500px|Titratable Acidity Example]]
===Example===