Can Apfelwein oxidize????

I have a batch of apfelwein that has been in a fermenter for nearly a year. I want finally take it out of the fermenter and bottle it. I will likely not try to carbonate it as there is probably almost no yeast in suspension.

My question is can the apfelwein oxidize from the transfer of the fermenter to bottling bucket then into the bottles. Since no new CO2 will be formed in the bottle there will be some O2 in the bottle leading to possible oxidization. Should I be concerned or should I add some sort of campden tab of sulfite in the bottling bucket. I would rather not do that since I believe that I have a slight sulfite allergy. I get very flush and red after a single glass of a red wine.

DirtyPolock said:

I have a batch of apfelwein that has been in a fermenter for nearly a year. I want finally take it out of the fermenter and bottle it. I will likely not try to carbonate it as there is probably almost no yeast in suspension.

My question is can the apfelwein oxidize from the transfer of the fermenter to bottling bucket then into the bottles. Since no new CO2 will be formed in the bottle there will be some O2 in the bottle leading to possible oxidization. Should I be concerned or should I add some sort of campden tab of sulfite in the bottling bucket. I would rather not do that since I believe that I have a slight sulfite allergy. I get very flush and red after a single glass of a red wine.

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Yes, it certainly can! If you don't want to use sulfites (although I don't believe you're allergic, because they are also naturally occuring and not just in red wine), that's fine. Just rack very "quietly" without splashing and gently bottle it.

You could get a small container of carbon dioxide and put an inch or so in each bottle before you bottle if you're concerned with oxygen in the head space of the bottles.

Yooper said:

Yes, it certainly can! If you don't want to use sulfites (although I don't believe you're allergic, because they are also naturally occuring and not just in red wine), that's fine. Just rack very "quietly" without splashing and gently bottle it.

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So if I were to use campden tabs, what would be the best way to use them. The little blurb from my LHBS says to use 1 tab per gallon. So I would need 5 tabs for the whole batch. Do I need to dissolve the tabs in water before I add it to the bottling bucket? Do I have to use 5 tabs, what would happen if I use 2 or 3 tabs for the whole 5 gallons? I really have no idea about home wine making so I am pretty clueless as to sulfite process.

Campden protects against O2? I use sodium metabisulfite in my water to de-chlorinate, but I've never heard of the O2 protection. I thought wine people used it to kill the yeast.

This is the blurb that is from my LHBS

Use one tablet per gallon to sanitize must and at racking to prevent oxidation

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It seems like it is essentially a measured dose of potassium metabisulphite.

DirtyPolock said:

So if I were to use campden tabs, what would be the best way to use them. The little blurb from my LHBS says to use 1 tab per gallon. So I would need 5 tabs for the whole batch. Do I need to dissolve the tabs in water before I add it to the bottling bucket? Do I have to use 5 tabs, what would happen if I use 2 or 3 tabs for the whole 5 gallons? I really have no idea about home wine making so I am pretty clueless as to sulfite process.

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You can crushed them, and dissolve them in some water (1/4 cup is fine) and then pour that into the bottling bucket and rack the cider into it. I stick my crushed campden tablets and water in the microwave for a few seconds, as it helps them dissolve.

ksbrain said:

Campden protects against O2? I use sodium metabisulfite in my water to de-chlorinate, but I've never heard of the O2 protection. I thought wine people used it to kill the yeast.

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Campden, potassium metabisulfite, does NOT kill yeast. It is used in the must to kill stray bacteria and wild yeast, but wine yeast is very tolerant of sulfites- that's why they are used. K-meta is primarily used as an antioxidant/preservative in wines as the S02 will bind to the wine so that oxygen can't. It disipates with some time so it's added on several different occasions, and at bottling.

Sulfites are natually occurring products of fermentation anyway, but when we talk about S02, we're generally talking about the added sulfites. There really isn't any such thing as a "sulfite free wine" anyway, since the occur naturally. Even sulfite-free wines mean "no added sulfites".

DirtyPolock said:

This is the blurb that is from my LHBS



It seems like it is essentially a measured dose of potassium metabisulphite.

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Yep. Instead of 1/16th of a teaspoon for a gallon of the powdered stuff, you'd use one campden tablet per gallon. Same thing, but in a more convenient form for adding to wine/cider/mead.

Thanks for the help Yooper. I'm surprised that you are still finding time to answer easy questions like mine with all that you have going on with the competition.