Question:
I’ve got you beat: my local supplier was a militant who was probably thrown out of the Klan for being too mean. His favorite brew was a double bitter beer that made my socks roll up and down. I eventually ended up driving 180 miles round trip to Jacksonville, fla. to a brew shop down there. Jim L.
Response:
Like, from and evolutionary standpoint?
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve got you beat: my local supplier was a militant who was probably thrown out of the Klan for being too mean. His favorite brew was a double bitter beer that made my socks roll up and down. I eventually ended up driving 180 miles round trip to Jacksonville, fla. to a brew shop down there. Jim L.
Response:
This is supposed to be fun and now it is starting to be a pain in the butt!
Not at all. We’re having a lot of fun 
Don’t forget that, if you’re successfull at fermenting the must, and if, by whatever means you used to get rid if the SO2, the resulting wine is too oxydized, you can always modify your plan and think of turning it to a tawny port-style wine. Just a thought. Gorak
Response:
As Scott and Tom S. have said, you should be able to salvage this batch. Do 2-3 splashing rackings and see if you can still smell the SO2. I would do this at least twice (two sets of 3 rackings a couple of hours apart) before adding any yeast starter to the must, and if it doesn’t show life after the first addition of starter do another set of 3 rackings before adding more. This, I am sure, is salvagable. BTW, I would tell your supplier in Little Rock to start carrying Lalvin yeast or lose my business. If he isn’t bending over backwards to compete with online suppliers, then he is being foolish. Yeast is really very cheap and you should keep a variety in the refrigerator. No need to feel foolish. If you make wine a while you will do something foolish. Just consider yourself in good company and learn from your mistakes (which I can tell you have done). In the not too distant future you’ll be sipping that elderberry wine and laughing at the whole episode. Chin up and good luck…. Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page, http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/1172/ Before you buy.
Response:
My supplier is well…a jerk. I have asked for Lalvin and he said he cant get lalvin, his supplier can’t get it….Well I said find another supplier…..I asked for a Sod titeration kit. he said you don’t need that !!! Your too Anal!!! Well anal I may be…I will do my business over the net from now on, and just get supplies from him that I have to have TODAY!!!!! thanks for the support , If I can’t get it going I will just get some canned stuff. Craig – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – As Scott and Tom S. have said, you should be able to salvage this batch. Do 2-3 splashing rackings and see if you can still smell the SO2. I would do this at least twice (two sets of 3 rackings a couple of hours apart) before adding any yeast starter to the must, and if it doesn’t show life after the first addition of starter do another set of 3 rackings before adding more. This, I am sure, is salvagable. BTW, I would tell your supplier in Little Rock to start carrying Lalvin yeast or lose my business. If he isn’t bending over backwards to compete with online suppliers, then he is being foolish. Yeast is really very cheap and you should keep a variety in the refrigerator. No need to feel foolish. If you make wine a while you will do something foolish. Just consider yourself in good company and learn from your mistakes (which I can tell you have done). In the not too distant future you’ll be sipping that elderberry wine and laughing at the whole episode. Chin up and good luck…. Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page, http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/1172/ Before you buy.
Before you buy.
Response:
My supplier is well…a jerk.
Arkansas, This seems to common in many home wine-brewing supply stores….They seem to cater more to home beermakers instead of winemakers….They probably make more money from beermakers because winemakers tend to make their wines from fresh fruits instead of canned stuff….So once a winemaker has his initial equipment–fermenters,straining supplies,bottling equipment,etc. he usually only buys a few chemicals and yeasts,while a homebrewer usually buys his ingredients,too….Few homebrewers grow their own hops and malt their own barley,it’s just too dadburn difficult….My nextdoor neighbor was turned off by a deadbeat supplier and we now drive 20 miles further to a better behaved brewshop. SouthernWine Before you buy.
Response:
My supplier is well…a jerk. I have asked for Lalvin and he said he cant get lalvin, his supplier can’t get it….Well I said find another supplier…..I asked for a Sod titeration kit. he said you don’t need that !!! Your too Anal!!! Well anal I may be…I will do my business over the net from now on, and just get supplies from him that I have to have TODAY!!!!!
Well, if you’re not at least _somewhat_ anal-retentive, you’re going to make crappy wine! A good online resource for supplies is The Wine Lab. I order chemicals, ML culture, yeast and the like from them. They also offer lab services, but I’ve never used them. Their major clients are wineries, so they’re a pro outfit. They have a toll-free number, but I don’t remember it. Ask directory assistance. Tom S
Response:
Craig, I’d go online and order enough supplies for the next decade, then send a hard copy of the order to the jerk in Little Rock with a short note…"Now who is anal?" Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page, http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/1172/ Before you buy.
Response:
Ah, the beauty of living in a small state! He is the only wine shop close to my home. The other wine shop is about 2 1/2 hours away. I can’t piss him off totally, because I never know when I will need a new air lock or a hydrometer that may get broken. BUT I did place an oreder today for chemicals and corks and yeasts from Presque Isle. At least they are friendly!! This supplier is just plain LAZY and he doesn’t like to see anyone make a better wine then his. SO he doesn’t want to stock good materials and supplies. HE doesn’t believe in making wine from fruits and grapes…WHY? Because then he would lose business on his kits and concentartes. Another thing is he is high on the bigger items like crushers and pressers. Speaking of being lazy I offered a couple of years ago to make and maintain a web-site for him to sale wine supplies. I just asked for payment in wine supplies. He said " I don’t wan’t to fool with shipping items across the country, I make enough without that kind of work." WORK!!!!! the work would have been making the site and maintaining it for the cost of supplies! Good thing he said that, now I don’t have to fool with him! Craig, I’d go online and order enough supplies for the next decade, then send a hard copy of the order to the jerk in Little Rock with a short note…"Now who is anal?" Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page, http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/1172/ Before you buy.
Before you buy.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I forgot to mention that after I realized that I was adding So2 instead of Acid that I quickly grabbed a pan and scooped out what so2 powder was on the surface of the must….SO I don’t think I have added 4 tbls. exactly to the must. BUt Like I said I have NO IDEA how much is in the must. When I get my nose down in the must I gte a somewhat faint smell of SO2, I do smell more of the elderberry fruit than the so2! Well, you didn’t tell us that before! You may not be in as bad a shape as I thought. The fact that you can smell the fruit over the SO2 is very encouraging. If you can get the fermentation to actually _start_, it might be OK. BTW, was it ever mentioned whether you used level or heaping tablespoons or, for that matter, what _kind_ of tablespoon? They aren’t all the same. An actual measuring spoon is bigger than most dinner-setting soup spoons, which are commonly referred to as "table spoons".
OK I used a level tablespoon! one for making cakes….not for dinner. #2 That’s the problem, I have no idea how much I got out or how much I got in the must!!!!! IOW, I don’t know the basis for – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ed’s 20 gram number. Just for fun, I did a few measurements: Level measuring tablespoon = 18 grams Heaping measuring tablespoon = 32 grams Level soup spoon = 10 grams Heaping soup spoon = 22 grams I used dry potassium metabisulfite for all of these, which should have about the same bulk density as sodium bisulfite or metabisulfite. It seems that depending on your actual spoon, as well as how you use it, there is as much as a factor of three+ variation possible in the measurement! Of course, since you did bail out an unknown amount of the sulfite when you realized what you had done, that diminishes the total by an unknown amount. I hope you can get this batch to go. It will have been a good learning experience for you! :-) Lessons learned: 1 – Keep different chemicals in different colored or shaped
containers. YES YES…I went to wal mart and now have containers ,different colors and MARKED VERY CLEAR!!!!! see my problem was I normally use campden tablets, so I had a brain fart!! and grabbed my So2 in powder form thinking it was Acid blend. 2 – If you’re going to be a serious amateur winemaker, you need some of the same tools as professional winemakers: a balance, so that you can measure your chemicals accurately to a resolution of 0.1 gram, a graduated 10 ml. pipette and the appropriate reagents for measuring sulfite, and I’d recommend that you invest in and learn how to use a good pH meter.
I do have a good pH meter, thats what happened….I was using my pH meter to determine how much acid I needed. See I thought I was adding the acid and then I was going to test my pH and see how the acid was bringing the pH down when I discovered OH CRAP I am using meta instead of acid….good thing I didn’t stir the meta into the must yet, so I pulled several cups from the must!!! Sorry I didn’t explain that, I actually didn’t remember doing it until last night. I was panicing 
The Hanna Piccolo is a nice one, and will make a nice birthday or
Christmas I have my eyes on several things for Christmas ha ha. Before I got married (may 19, 2000) I went out and bought myself a refractometer and a pH meter. Like I have stated I just had a brain fart and screwed this up just being negligent! gift. Start dropping hints now! Tom S
Before you buy.
Response:
That’s what I will do! I will start my yeast today and then in the morning I will add 1/4…at noon…add a 1/4…in the evening…add a 1/4 and in the morning add a 1/4. If it isn’t bubbling by Tuesday evening then it probally wont (i would think) Then I can always get a concentrate and make 5 gallons. I just went to wal mart and bought several conatainers that I can clearly mark which additive is in it!!!!! yesterday , I just had the chemicals in a clear bag. I should have been more careful but hey Sh#T happens It won’t happen again…atleast this mistake!!!! This is the first screw up I have made in 3 years of winemaking!!!!! A first time for everything…and I am sure not the last. When it is the last mistake I will probally be dead Thanks Craig – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Actually with this new information, you may be more OK than you realize…also add to the fact that it wouldn’t be longer than Tuesday anyway to get this thing going…I truly wouldn’t dump the batch if I were you…It will serve as a good reminder to you than not every mistake is disasterous, and you will have that much more appreciation for this batch of wine than if you had gone and bought a puree to make 5 gallons… Make a large yeast starter splash you must around and 4 hours later spalsh it around again and add 1/4 of your starter. In the morning, add another 1/4 of your starter, and again in the after noon and the next morning again…By that time I cannot see a reason why the must would not already be working. — -Scot Mc Pherson -Gardener, Beekeeper, Winemaker and Fishkeeper I forgot to mention that after I realized that I was adding So2 instead of Acid that I quickly grabbed a pan and scooped out what so2 powder was on the surface of the must….SO I don’t think I have added 4 tbls. exactly to the must. BUt Like I said I have NO IDEA how much is in the must. When I get my nose down in the must I gte a somewhat faint smell of SO2, I do smell more of the elderberry fruit than the so2! I may give this big batch a few more days of severe splashing, and then try to get it going using a started batch of yeast. The smell of so2 is not so bad that it BURNS your nos ewhen you take a big wiff, but you know it is in there! Thanks Arkansas Any progress with your faux pas? I don’t think I’d dump it yet, but hey – that’s just _I_! Tom S Arkansas, Tom, et al.: Tom: Unfortunately, I think that you _under_estimated the amount of free SO2 which Arkansas added. One Tbsp of metabisulfite weighs almost exactly 20 grams. Therefore, 4 Tbsp is 80 g. Hence, Arkansas has added: Therefore, Arkansas has added: ppm free SO2 = (g sodium meta X 650) / L of must ppm free SO2 = (g X 650) / L ppm free SO2 = (80 X 650) / 56.78 ppm free SO2 = 52000 / 56.78 ppm free SO2 = 916 !!! Arkansas: As Tom says, free SO2 can be driven off with hydrogen peroxide. This can be accomplished through the addition of 3% H2O2 (drug store hydrogen peroxide). The addition of 0.7ml per USGallon will reduce SO2 by 10 ppm. Instead of adding huge amounts of H2O2 all at once, you might want to consider a racking with extreme aeration in conjunction with several large, but still reasonable, dosages of H2O2 (maybe enough to neutralize 100 ppm with each dosage). I recommend this because the addition of H2O2 is a very aggressive technique which can severely oxidize & damage the must. Anyways, I’m thinking of something along these lines: -Add 7 ml per USGallon (105ml) of 3% H2O2. Stir vigorously -Splash-rack into fresh container. -Add another 7 ml per USGallon (105ml) of 3% H2O2. Stir vigorously -Splash-rack into fresh container. -Allow to sit for several hours at warm ambient temps (warm temps drive-off SO2) -Test for Free SO2 -If the must still reeks of SO2, or tests off of the Titrets, repeat above steps. -When SO2 measures <100 ppm add rehydrated Lalvin K1V yeast at _5_ grams per USGallon (15 packs). Finally, Jack’s idea of dividing the must up among several, smaller containers is an excellent idea, as the increased surface area to volume ration will speed-up the dissipation of the free SO2. Moreover, I would inoculate several small fermentations & then combine them when they started to cook. Good luck & keep us posted. Prosit: Ed — The Viticulture FAQ & Glossary – http://www.itsmysite.com/vitfaq "I like on the table, when we’re speaking, The light of a bottle of intelligent wine." -Pablo Neruda Before you buy.
Before you buy.
Response:
I forgot to mention that after I realized that I was adding So2 instead of Acid that I quickly grabbed a pan and scooped out what so2 powder was on the surface of the must….SO I don’t think I have added 4 tbls. exactly to the must. BUt Like I said I have NO IDEA how much is in the must. When I get my nose down in the must I gte a somewhat faint smell of SO2, I do smell more of the elderberry fruit than the so2!
Well, you didn’t tell us that before! You may not be in as bad a shape as I thought. The fact that you can smell the fruit over the SO2 is very encouraging. If you can get the fermentation to actually _start_, it might be OK. BTW, was it ever mentioned whether you used level or heaping tablespoons or, for that matter, what _kind_ of tablespoon? They aren’t all the same. An actual measuring spoon is bigger than most dinner-setting soup spoons, which are commonly referred to as "table spoons". IOW, I don’t know the basis for Ed’s 20 gram number. Just for fun, I did a few measurements: Level measuring tablespoon = 18 grams Heaping measuring tablespoon = 32 grams Level soup spoon = 10 grams Heaping soup spoon = 22 grams I used dry potassium metabisulfite for all of these, which should have about the same bulk density as sodium bisulfite or metabisulfite. It seems that depending on your actual spoon, as well as how you use it, there is as much as a factor of three+ variation possible in the measurement! Of course, since you did bail out an unknown amount of the sulfite when you realized what you had done, that diminishes the total by an unknown amount. I hope you can get this batch to go. It will have been a good learning experience for you! :-) Lessons learned: 1 – Keep different chemicals in different colored or shaped containers. 2 – If you’re going to be a serious amateur winemaker, you need some of the same tools as professional winemakers: a balance, so that you can measure your chemicals accurately to a resolution of 0.1 gram, a graduated 10 ml. pipette and the appropriate reagents for measuring sulfite, and I’d recommend that you invest in and learn how to use a good pH meter. The Hanna Piccolo is a nice one, and will make a nice birthday or Christmas gift. Start dropping hints now! Tom S
Response:
I forgot to mention that after I realized that I was adding So2 instead of Acid that I quickly grabbed a pan and scooped out what so2 powder was on the surface of the must….SO I don’t think I have added 4 tbls. exactly to the must. BUt Like I said I have NO IDEA how much is in the must. When I get my nose down in the must I gte a somewhat faint smell of SO2, I do smell more of the elderberry fruit than the so2! I may give this big batch a few more days of severe splashing, and then try to get it going using a started batch of yeast. The smell of so2 is not so bad that it BURNS your nos ewhen you take a big wiff, but you know it is in there! Thanks Arkansas – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Any progress with your faux pas? I don’t think I’d dump it yet, but hey – that’s just _I_! Tom S Arkansas, Tom, et al.: Tom: Unfortunately, I think that you _under_estimated the amount of free SO2 which Arkansas added. One Tbsp of metabisulfite weighs almost exactly 20 grams. Therefore, 4 Tbsp is 80 g. Hence, Arkansas has added: Therefore, Arkansas has added: ppm free SO2 = (g sodium meta X 650) / L of must ppm free SO2 = (g X 650) / L ppm free SO2 = (80 X 650) / 56.78 ppm free SO2 = 52000 / 56.78 ppm free SO2 = 916 !!! Arkansas: As Tom says, free SO2 can be driven off with hydrogen peroxide. This can be accomplished through the addition of 3% H2O2 (drug store hydrogen peroxide). The addition of 0.7ml per USGallon will reduce SO2 by 10 ppm. Instead of adding huge amounts of H2O2 all at once, you might want to consider a racking with extreme aeration in conjunction with several large, but still reasonable, dosages of H2O2 (maybe enough to neutralize 100 ppm with each dosage). I recommend this because the addition of H2O2 is a very aggressive technique which can severely oxidize & damage the must. Anyways, I’m thinking of something along these lines: -Add 7 ml per USGallon (105ml) of 3% H2O2. Stir vigorously -Splash-rack into fresh container. -Add another 7 ml per USGallon (105ml) of 3% H2O2. Stir vigorously -Splash-rack into fresh container. -Allow to sit for several hours at warm ambient temps (warm temps drive-off SO2) -Test for Free SO2 -If the must still reeks of SO2, or tests off of the Titrets, repeat above steps. -When SO2 measures <100 ppm add rehydrated Lalvin K1V yeast at _5_ grams per USGallon (15 packs). Finally, Jack’s idea of dividing the must up among several, smaller containers is an excellent idea, as the increased surface area to volume ration will speed-up the dissipation of the free SO2. Moreover, I would inoculate several small fermentations & then combine them when they started to cook. Good luck & keep us posted. Prosit: Ed — The Viticulture FAQ & Glossary – http://www.itsmysite.com/vitfaq "I like on the table, when we’re speaking, The light of a bottle of intelligent wine." -Pablo Neruda
Before you buy.
Response:
Actually with this new information, you may be more OK than you realize…also add to the fact that it wouldn’t be longer than Tuesday anyway to get this thing going…I truly wouldn’t dump the batch if I were you…It will serve as a good reminder to you than not every mistake is disasterous, and you will have that much more appreciation for this batch of wine than if you had gone and bought a puree to make 5 gallons… Make a large yeast starter splash you must around and 4 hours later spalsh it around again and add 1/4 of your starter. In the morning, add another 1/4 of your starter, and again in the after noon and the next morning again…By that time I cannot see a reason why the must would not already be working. — -Scot Mc Pherson -Gardener, Beekeeper, Winemaker and Fishkeeper
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I forgot to mention that after I realized that I was adding So2 instead of Acid that I quickly grabbed a pan and scooped out what so2 powder was on the surface of the must….SO I don’t think I have added 4 tbls. exactly to the must. BUt Like I said I have NO IDEA how much is in the must. When I get my nose down in the must I gte a somewhat faint smell of SO2, I do smell more of the elderberry fruit than the so2! I may give this big batch a few more days of severe splashing, and then try to get it going using a started batch of yeast. The smell of so2 is not so bad that it BURNS your nos ewhen you take a big wiff, but you know it is in there! Thanks Arkansas Any progress with your faux pas? I don’t think I’d dump it yet, but hey – that’s just _I_! Tom S Arkansas, Tom, et al.: Tom: Unfortunately, I think that you _under_estimated the amount of free SO2 which Arkansas added. One Tbsp of metabisulfite weighs almost exactly 20 grams. Therefore, 4 Tbsp is 80 g. Hence, Arkansas has added: Therefore, Arkansas has added: ppm free SO2 = (g sodium meta X 650) / L of must ppm free SO2 = (g X 650) / L ppm free SO2 = (80 X 650) / 56.78 ppm free SO2 = 52000 / 56.78 ppm free SO2 = 916 !!! Arkansas: As Tom says, free SO2 can be driven off with hydrogen peroxide. This can be accomplished through the addition of 3% H2O2 (drug store hydrogen peroxide). The addition of 0.7ml per USGallon will reduce SO2 by 10 ppm. Instead of adding huge amounts of H2O2 all at once, you might want to consider a racking with extreme aeration in conjunction with several large, but still reasonable, dosages of H2O2 (maybe enough to neutralize 100 ppm with each dosage). I recommend this because the addition of H2O2 is a very aggressive technique which can severely oxidize & damage the must. Anyways, I’m thinking of something along these lines: -Add 7 ml per USGallon (105ml) of 3% H2O2. Stir vigorously -Splash-rack into fresh container. -Add another 7 ml per USGallon (105ml) of 3% H2O2. Stir vigorously -Splash-rack into fresh container. -Allow to sit for several hours at warm ambient temps (warm temps drive-off SO2) -Test for Free SO2 -If the must still reeks of SO2, or tests off of the Titrets, repeat above steps. -When SO2 measures <100 ppm add rehydrated Lalvin K1V yeast at _5_ grams per USGallon (15 packs). Finally, Jack’s idea of dividing the must up among several, smaller containers is an excellent idea, as the increased surface area to volume ration will speed-up the dissipation of the free SO2. Moreover, I would inoculate several small fermentations & then combine them when they started to cook. Good luck & keep us posted. Prosit: Ed — The Viticulture FAQ & Glossary – http://www.itsmysite.com/vitfaq "I like on the table, when we’re speaking, The light of a bottle of intelligent wine." -Pablo Neruda Before you buy.
Response:
Any progress with your faux pas? I don’t think I’d dump it yet, but hey – that’s just _I_! Tom S
Response:
Any progress with your faux pas? I don’t think I’d dump it yet, but hey – that’s just _I_! Tom S
Arkansas, Tom, et al.: Tom: Unfortunately, I think that you _under_estimated the amount of free SO2 which Arkansas added. One Tbsp of metabisulfite weighs almost exactly 20 grams. Therefore, 4 Tbsp is 80 g. Hence, Arkansas has added: Therefore, Arkansas has added: ppm free SO2 = (g sodium meta X 650) / L of must ppm free SO2 = (g X 650) / L ppm free SO2 = (80 X 650) / 56.78 ppm free SO2 = 52000 / 56.78 ppm free SO2 = 916 !!! Arkansas: As Tom says, free SO2 can be driven off with hydrogen peroxide. This can be accomplished through the addition of 3% H2O2 (drug store hydrogen peroxide). The addition of 0.7ml per USGallon will reduce SO2 by 10 ppm. Instead of adding huge amounts of H2O2 all at once, you might want to consider a racking with extreme aeration in conjunction with several large, but still reasonable, dosages of H2O2 (maybe enough to neutralize 100 ppm with each dosage). I recommend this because the addition of H2O2 is a very aggressive technique which can severely oxidize & damage the must. Anyways, I’m thinking of something along these lines: -Add 7 ml per USGallon (105ml) of 3% H2O2. Stir vigorously -Splash-rack into fresh container. -Add another 7 ml per USGallon (105ml) of 3% H2O2. Stir vigorously -Splash-rack into fresh container. -Allow to sit for several hours at warm ambient temps (warm temps drive-off SO2) -Test for Free SO2 -If the must still reeks of SO2, or tests off of the Titrets, repeat above steps. -When SO2 measures <100 ppm add rehydrated Lalvin K1V yeast at _5_ grams per USGallon (15 packs). Finally, Jack’s idea of dividing the must up among several, smaller containers is an excellent idea, as the increased surface area to volume ration will speed-up the dissipation of the free SO2. Moreover, I would inoculate several small fermentations & then combine them when they started to cook. Good luck & keep us posted. Prosit: Ed — The Viticulture FAQ & Glossary – http://www.itsmysite.com/vitfaq "I like on the table, when we’re speaking, The light of a bottle of intelligent wine." -Pablo Neruda
Response:
Thanks for all of y’alls advice. This is supposed to be fun and now it is starting to be a pain in the butt! I don’t have a free so2 tester, and I don’t have any Lalvin yeast, My wine supplier in Little Rock wont be open until Tuesday and then he doesn’t carry the kits or that yeast. By the time I order online these items and by the time they get here, I will end up spending say 30-50 bucks. Just for Elderberry wine….Not to mention all the work That will be involved in trying to get this Must to "work". So What I am thinking of doing is going to my supplier on Tuesday and buying a can of Elderberry Puree, and just make 5 gallons of it and dump this 15 gallon batch, and chalk this one up to a really stupid mistake!!! I would have been really upset if it would had been one of my grape wines or some fruit wine that I spent a lot of cash for the fruit but this wine mistake just cost me time and 25 lbs of sugar! I may try to get the 5 gallon batch going and then adding it to another 5 gallons of the over so2ed must. Or do you think that would be too much SO2 to kill off the 5 gall batch I will have going???? Thanks again for your help! I do feel like a fool! Arkansas – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Any progress with your faux pas? I don’t think I’d dump it yet, but hey – that’s just _I_! Tom S Arkansas, Tom, et al.: Tom: Unfortunately, I think that you _under_estimated the amount of free SO2 which Arkansas added. One Tbsp of metabisulfite weighs almost exactly 20 grams. Therefore, 4 Tbsp is 80 g. Hence, Arkansas has added: Therefore, Arkansas has added: ppm free SO2 = (g sodium meta X 650) / L of must ppm free SO2 = (g X 650) / L ppm free SO2 = (80 X 650) / 56.78 ppm free SO2 = 52000 / 56.78 ppm free SO2 = 916 !!! Arkansas: As Tom says, free SO2 can be driven off with hydrogen peroxide. This can be accomplished through the addition of 3% H2O2 (drug store hydrogen peroxide). The addition of 0.7ml per USGallon will reduce SO2 by 10 ppm. Instead of adding huge amounts of H2O2 all at once, you might want to consider a racking with extreme aeration in conjunction with several large, but still reasonable, dosages of H2O2 (maybe enough to neutralize 100 ppm with each dosage). I recommend this because the addition of H2O2 is a very aggressive technique which can severely oxidize & damage the must. Anyways, I’m thinking of something along these lines: -Add 7 ml per USGallon (105ml) of 3% H2O2. Stir vigorously -Splash-rack into fresh container. -Add another 7 ml per USGallon (105ml) of 3% H2O2. Stir vigorously -Splash-rack into fresh container. -Allow to sit for several hours at warm ambient temps (warm temps drive-off SO2) -Test for Free SO2 -If the must still reeks of SO2, or tests off of the Titrets, repeat above steps. -When SO2 measures <100 ppm add rehydrated Lalvin K1V yeast at _5_ grams per USGallon (15 packs). Finally, Jack’s idea of dividing the must up among several, smaller containers is an excellent idea, as the increased surface area to volume ration will speed-up the dissipation of the free SO2. Moreover, I would inoculate several small fermentations & then combine them when they started to cook. Good luck & keep us posted. Prosit: Ed — The Viticulture FAQ & Glossary – http://www.itsmysite.com/vitfaq "I like on the table, when we’re speaking, The light of a bottle of intelligent wine." -Pablo Neruda
Before you buy.
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