Question:
I just stabilized my 5 gallons of blueberry wine with 1 tsp. of potassium metabisulphite and 1 tsp. of potassium sorbate. The recipe calls for 1/4 tsp. of each, oops….. Now the wine smells and taste like sulfite. Did I (……) up or is this normal until the wine settles. Louis..
Response:
I have been successful adding 5 pennies and 2 tsp of yeast nutrient to the carboy to get rid of the So2.
Response:
I have been successful adding 5 pennies and 2 tsp of yeast nutrient to the carboy to get rid of the So2.
Al & Gale You are confusing the elimination of H2S with removing excessive sulphite and sorbate added to wine. Your recomendation will not remove execssive sulphite or sorbate. Other than mixing more of the same wine,(with no sulphites) into the bad wine, you will not make the sulphite smell go away. Murph
Response:
The amount of sobate seems right, 1 gram/gal, or one teaspoon per 5 gallons. The sulphur on the other hand is a real problem. 1/4tsp in 5 gals yields about 40PPM of free sulphur, you have about 200PPM. If the wine is realy hearty, no color problems or paleness, try racking with a lot of agitation. Sulhrur exists as a free gas in the wine and this may blow some of this off. You are adding oxygen so oxidation is a potential problem. If you have access to an inert gas, nitrogen or argon, this can be bubbled through the wine to strip off the sulphurgas. Time may remove the rest….alot of time. Good Luck!
Response:
The amount of sobate seems right, 1 gram/gal, or one teaspoon per 5 gallons. The sulphur on the other hand is a real problem. 1/4tsp in 5 gals yields about 40PPM of free sulphur, you have about 200PPM. If the wine is realy hearty, no color problems or paleness, try racking with a lot of agitation. Sulhrur exists as a free gas in the wine and this may blow some of this off. You are adding oxygen so oxidation is a potential problem. If you have access to an inert gas, nitrogen or argon, this can be bubbled through the wine to strip off the sulphurgas. Time may remove the rest….alot of time. Good Luck!
Naughty naughty. You used the h word…hearty. Apparently you have not been paying attention to your better in this ng who have more or less indicated that nobody knows what that means. TS
Response:
Sulfite will eventually dissipate (long time if left in carboy – longer if bottled) as to the sorbate, you are risking getting a geranium smell in the wine which is basically impossible to remove. If interested, consult the book I describe below where the topic of sorbate and parts per million are very well explained Paul Sorry if the text below offends anyone. I’ve been making wine for over 20 years with much success in competition. I published BETTER WINEMAKING magasine for 10 years and one of my readers JE Underhill sent me his manuscript which, we published after realy working hard to meet the needs of beginning and intermediate vintners. We know we did it right because so many people have picked up a copy. GETTING STARTED WINEMAKING is a 48-page bool written by JE Underhill in 1993. In the two years since I published it, we’ve sold 49,000 copies. As you know, this is Best Seller material in Canada. GETTING STARTED IN WINEMAKING covers all aspects of winemaking from kits, introduces winemaking from juice and grapes and gives recipes for wines from 48 non-grape fruits. Instructions on the use of a hydrometer, acid testing (6 easy steps) calculating parts per million (ppm) – which no other book I’ve seen has done – and proper use of sorbate to stabilize wines is well discussed. Also included are items on how to fix problem wines. The book retails for $5.00, a price that is attrative for people who are trying to save money and make it themselves. MAKES A GREAT X-MAS PRESENT For your copy, send $5.00 to Paul Jean Jr. 28 Otten Dr. Nepean, ON K2J 1J2 Thank you for your patience and good winemaking. P.S. if any of you are interested in distributing in your State, let me know…. Paul – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I just stabilized my 5 gallons of blueberry wine with 1 tsp. of potassium metabisulphite and 1 tsp. of potassium sorbate. The recipe calls for 1/4 tsp. of each, oops….. Now the wine smells and taste like sulfite. Did I (……) up or is this normal until the wine settles. Louis..
Response:
I just stabilized my 5 gallons of blueberry wine with 1 tsp. of potassium metabisulphite and 1 tsp. of potassium sorbate. The recipe calls for 1/4 tsp. of each, oops….. Now the wine smells and taste like sulfite. Did I (……) up or is this normal until the wine settles. Louis..
First, hydrogen peroxide removes sulfite, but use it sparingly. Airation will help remove sulfite gas. Either will possibly promote oxidation. Second, you are correct on 1/4 tsp sulfite per 5 gallons, but unless you have a type of sorbate I don’t know about it should require more sorbate. Check on that. Don delete ** from email address if sending a reply Winemaker, Landlord, Adventurer
Response:
these days I try for Prismatic Luminescence in all my wines.
Oh well then, you might be interested in what one of the wineries here in the Okanagan is doing with pyramids. I should remember the name but for some reason all information about it has been mysteriously erased from my mind. Anyway, you can probably locate it from some distance at night by climbing one of the local hills and looking for the aura. It’s good wine by all accounts. Whether this is due to the pyramids or to something more prosaic like good vineyard management can be left as an open question. I just didn’t want you folks in California to suffer under the illusion that you have the mystical thing completely sewn up. — . o o . Laboratory for Computational Intelligence . v< . University of British Columbia _____mm.mm_____ http://www.cs.ubc.ca/nest/lci
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