Apple Wine/Cider I think I was DUMB, did I mess up?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Ho0sier-9

Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2016
Messages
24
Reaction score
3
Location
Indianapolis
I am in the process of making the Caramel Apple Hard Cider that UpstateMike posted.

it was at 0.998,
I added
1/4 tsp Potassium Metabisulfite and
3 tsp Potassium Sorbate.
I started to stir it and there was an eruption...
should I have waited 24 hours or more before stirring?
 
Sounds like you added dry tablets (crushed?) to the cider and the tablets acted as nucleation points for CO2, resulting in carbonation coming out of solution.

In case you didn't do it this time, crush and hydrate the tablets before adding to the cider. You can also swirl the cider to help remove CO2 prior to adding the tablets.
 
Normally you don't stir a finished wine or cider. You crushed the tablets and mix the sorbate with it in a little water or a bit of the finished cider. Add that to a new vessel, and rack the cider/wine into that.

Let it sit a few days and then sweeten to taste with a simple syrup (but again, no stirring). You want to avoid oxygenation at this point, so you will rack "quietly" without splashing or aerating, and when you do sweeten, it's easiest to do it via racking but if you do it in the carboy, you can do so very very gently.
 
Thanks for the responses so far.
The Potassium Metabisulfite looks like really small rice kernels.
The Potassium Sorbate is a powder.
I did not hydrate it before adding to the carboy.
I am wanting this to be similar to a "still Cider" and clear.

At this point should I add more of either? I will be putting in wine bottles with corks. I am not interested in "bottle bombs".:(

I will be making the Caramel described by Upstate Mike and adding when bottling. once again... I am not interested in "bottle bombs".
 
Wines with corks will not cause bottle bombs because the corks will pop well before the glass cracks. You can get gushers though.... Ask me how I know.

Since the final gravity was below 1.000 you're probably fine, but the fact it was still fizzy could mean the yeast was still working. Check the gravity again before bottling. If it is still 0.998 you're probably good. If it has dropped more, you're probably not. You are supposed to rack off the lees (yeast cake) onto the sorbate/kmeta, so that there is a minimum of yeast in the new container. As Yooper has said many times, sorbate/kmeta do not stop an active fermentation, it helps prevent the remaining yeast from going to town if you add fermentable sugar for sweetening.
 
Back
Top