Color question.

[Chriscpr84]

Okay so I have been making wine for a while now and something that really bugs me to no end is the color change issue I have been happening. I just started a blueberry/strawberry wine yesterday. It was super dark and beautiful. Well I added my potassium metabisulphite, tannin, yeast nutrient, and a little acid blend. Well as soon as I start mixing it I could see it go from an awesome purple color to a brown clear crap looking color. Any help would be greatly appreachiated. Thanks in advanced.

 

[Bigfly]

The same thing happened to me when I made a rhubarb wine. It was a beautiful pale rose color and when I added K Meta it made it white. If you let it sit long enough the yeast will consume all the sugar and you don't have to add K Meta.

 

[theDREWery]

K meta prevents oxidation, so it's not a matter of the sugar being gone. The color change is only temporary, and the k meta will help to prevent the wet cardboard flavor that oxidation brings.

 

[jgmillr1]

Metabisulfite is known to bleach color from wine, however you must use some to prevent oxidation and spoilage. It always lightens my strawberry and cherry wines too. There is a nice discussion about it here:
https://www.practicalwinery.com/janfeb09/page2.htm

To minimize the color loss, you can add the correct amount in smaller doses over time rather than in one large dosing. Also, if you have a pH meter, you can tailor the amount of meta added to be exactly what you need. You need less when the pH is low and more when it is high. There are plenty of charts and calculators out there such as:
https://www.accuvin.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/How-SO2-and-pH-are-Linked.pdf