Topping off with sorbated mead/wine?

Using sorbate in unsulifted mead creates nasty flavors.

I have 5 gallons of sweet traditonal mead that has been sulfited and sorbated.

Can I use this to top off other meads out of primary or will the sorbate produce off flavors?

WIMARIPA said:

Using sorbate in unsulifted mead creates nasty flavors.

I have 5 gallons of sweet traditonal mead that has been sulfited and sorbated.

Can I use this to top off other meads out of primary or will the sorbate produce off flavors?

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Not sure where you got the first conclusion from.

Either way, there's nothing that should cause an issue for using the sorbated/sulphited mead to top up with.

I've done that many a time, with no problems.

regards

fatbloke

I was mostly thinking about geraniol with sorbate. Is that not a risk?

WIMARIPA said:

I was mostly thinking about geraniol with sorbate. Is that not a risk?

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No, not normally. That requires a specific set of conditions.

The quote below is taken from here

8. Geranium character.

Description. A strong resemblance to geranium leaves in aroma and flavour.

Cause. Malolactic bacteria acting on potassium sorbate can produce 2,3 ethoxy, 3,4 hexadiene.

Prevention. Adequate levels of sulphite when sorbate is added to prevent yeast activity in an off-dry/sweet wine act synergistically to suppress both yeast and ML activity. Winemakers should not attempt MLF in kits that may contain sorbate.

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Yes, that alludes to wine kits, but the basic principle applies. Hence topping up with sulphited and sorbated mead isn't really an issue (handy to know about of course......)

regards

fatbloke

If you are topping up with a wine/mead that contains sorbate, it is a good idea to make sure the batch to which you are adding it has adequate sulfite to make sure that MLF cannot occur. So I would not top up with a sorbated mead unless I had added enough sulfite to make sure lactic acid bacteria will remain suppressed.

This tends to be less important with traditional meads, but when you start adding fruit, it is much more important.

Medsen