Sulfur dioxide in Apricots.

Hi, was planning to make an Apricot wheat last weekend, fortunatly my grain "didnt" arrive as planned

Problem is that I was planning on using some preserved Apricots (semi dried) rehydrating them, bledning them, heating them, then adding to the fermenter.

I read in forums a few threads about the possible problem with Sulfer dioxide causing problems with the beer, lots of people that did it and were worried, but noone came back to the threads and said what happened in the end.

Did it need more time fermenting?
Did the S02 kill the yeast?
Did it taste like farts?

Im interested to know whats going on with that before I possibly ruin a batch of beer

so, whats the deal? bad thing to put in beer?

Sulfur dioxide has some degree of inhibitory affect on all yeast; however, the
yeast strains that are used by winemakers for alcoholic fermentation are much more resistant to it than “wild” yeasts are. Wild yeast is the term used for a number of non- Saccharomyces species of ambient yeast that are present on grapes and in the winery cellar.

A molecular SO2 level of 0.4 ppm (equivalent to a free SO2 level of 20 ppm @ 3.50 pH) will kill wild yeast without adversely affecting Saccharomyces.

The inhibitory effect of sulfur dioxide on malolactic fermentation is much greater than it is for the alcoholic fermentation that is performed by Saccharomyces yeast.

Interesting old timers quote regarding cider making:

“Lay brimstone on a rag, and by a wire let it down into the cider vessel, and there fire it; and when the vessel is full of the smoak, the liquor speedily pour’d in, ferments the better”

They used to intentionally add it to Cider to get rid of wild nastrys. No mention of taste

So, Ive figured out on my own that it wont kill my yeast, perhaps stress it a little, but I can deal with that (ill just chuck a bag of bakers yeast in the boil to make em happy).

Would still love to know if there is any adverse sulfur smell or taste to this, or if its something that can be lagered or aged away.

I listened to a podcast recently with Shea Comfort talking about the applicability of wine yeasts to beer brewing. He mentioned K1V1116 as producing strong stone-fruit flavors and being able to ferment maltotriose.

It's a "killer" yeast meaning it'll kill any competing yeast, and it's fairly SO2 tolerant.

Don't know if that helps or not, but I intend to try fermenting a wheat wort with it to see if I could make an apricot wheat without any actual fruit.

You can also get non-sulfured apricots. They are significantly browner than sulfured ones, but if you are worried about the sulfur, this would be a pretty easy solution.

Frankly, if noone can tell me for sure that they have used SO2 apricots and the beer turned out bad Im gonna do it just so we can find out for sure.

Assuming the sulfer smell ferments off/out if its present "at all", then we will know for future reference if its a good idea.

Also just read that if you boil, rinse, boil them a few times you can remove the bulk of the so2. That was advise for people with sulfar allergy. So ill just do that with em as a percaution.

That rinse process, plus a sacrificial bag of bakers yeast in the boil. How bad could it be?

And, what was the outcome? This thread is dead for a while but I am hoping for the OP to be reading this still.
I am sitting here putting a recipe together for a wheat with apricots, and I have also a bag here of 1 lbs dried apricots with sulfur dioxide from Trader Joes.

Your not going to know for another week minimum how its going

But I will update when I know.

Oh sorry I was looking at the join date instead of when you posted! I did not mean to say that about the dead thread. Thanks for replying, Ill wait until you post

Im not offended or anything

But, FYI Im using them in secondary now instead of boil. I have the wit in primary right now, and for 3 days already. After another week or so, depending on how it tastes Ill rack on the fruit for another week.

Im preparing the Apricots by rinsing them 2 or 3 times in Hot, but not boiling water. Rumours are that might remove some of the So2.

Im then going to blend them with a little water and use that slurry, combined with a pack of yeast nutrient in the secondary.

I suspect it will be fine, but your not going to know for i estimate another month with any certainty.

Hope you can wait, if not you have my prep there

Thanks for the info Priemus. I just downloaded a paper from Journal of Food Science where they incubate dried apricots in H2O2 (peroxide) at different temps. if you pm me your email address Ill forward you the PDF. I dont know if it is that useful, the conclusions were so-so but it does eliminate substantial amounts of SO2. You could add some to one of your water rinses, if you think it would be useful. H2O2 should be available at the local chemist/pharmacy. I just found it by googling a bit. Let me know if you are interested (you might already have prepped them or decide not do) but it might be nice info to have anyways.
-J

5 of 1, 10 of another

Hydrogen peroxide which kills yeast in trace amounts vs The So2 which is a known inhibitor but will not kill brewers yeast.

Interesting, but I think it could be counter productive to the process. By all means try it, but for now Im gonna stick to my current schedual unless someone chimes in with something else (other than replacement fruit )

But thanks for the update.

Sure thing. I might give it a shot, and see. I was planning on doing 10 gals, and then i can split 50/50 and do the test. Ill keep you posted.
J

thats actually what im doing too (cept splitting 6 gallons). Got 3 which will stay as a wit beer and be bottled probably when I rack the other 3 onto the apricots.

to anyone still keeping track.

Added my preserved apicots on Friday Morning. I rinsed under hot water for a minute, then steeped and rinsed them twice (supposed to remove the bulk of the preservatives). I then blended them to a slurry, then realized I hadnt disinfected my blender....so then i steeped the apricot slurry again.

Added to fermenter, racked ontop of it. Added a bag of yeast nurient and 100grams of dextrose (just wanted to give them a headstart). and threw in about 1/5 oz of cascades (not planned, just finished a bag with a few pellets left in it)

Came back after the weekend, the apricot mix is settled on the bottom, there is a kauzen line with the cascade gunk very high on the fermenter, almost didnt leave enough headspace by the look of it.

There is a nice frothy fermentation going on as we speak. Took a smell of the fermenter....Happy to just get a standard C02 burn, and no detectable smell of sulfer/burnt car tires.

Havnt tasted yet, wont for another 2 days or so, not planning to bottle it for another 5.

Bottled yesterday, tasted when i bottled.

No sulfur smell.
No Burnt car tire smell/taste.
Hints of Apricot flavour, but mostly just a "tart" kind of taste.

But, No really bad things in general. Still 2 or 3 weeks till I call it a sucess but basically, If you had to use em tomorrow and couldnt buy fresh, Id bet its fine id you do it the way i did.

Great Priemus thanks for the post.
Ill use mine too.
Jasper

¤alert alert¤

Just opened a bottle today, had it in the fridge since last night, I know its only been a short time, but I always kinda like to test a bottle every week to see how its going.

Zero carbonation, no hiss when opened, no head, slight "off" taste I couldnt put my finger on. Perhaps oxidation onset.

I can only figure at this time that the yeast was killed off. As it turns out I split this batch, one was just a wheat/barley blend with orange and coriander, I tried one of those bottles, lightly carbed, decent head when poured.

So, unless the cap wasnt on properly, which happens almost never, then the yeast was killed in secondary...doh!

So, if its not too late, consider repitching some yeast in your bottling bucket. Meanwhile ive got another bottle in the fridge just in case.

Thanks for the heads-up!

Thanks for all this info! I'm doing an Iron Brewer and Drew dried pineapple and dried kiwis, which looking at the labels on the containers have sulfur dioxide in them. I was going to boil, puree, then add to secondary... Glad I read this so I didn't ruin 5 gallons of beer!

IrishOdell said:

Thanks for all this info! I'm doing an Iron Brewer and Drew dried pineapple and dried kiwis, which looking at the labels on the containers have sulfur dioxide in them. I was going to boil, puree, then add to secondary... Glad I read this so I didn't ruin 5 gallons of beer!

Click to expand...

The OP had plenty of fermentation after the addition of the apricots, indicating that any residual SO2 did not affect the yeast whatsoever.