Counteract metabisulfite and sorbate

[imp81318]

Help!!! Ive been brewing beer for a few years now with great success so I decided to try my hand at winemaking. Unfortunately, while making my first kit tonight I got distracted and accidentally added the potassium metabisulfite and sorbate to the juice mixture before pitching the yeast. Is there anything I can do to save this wine and get it to ferment properly?

 

[jgmillr1]

The sulfites, no prob. But the sorbate (assuming like 200ppm), you're pretty much screwed man, sorry.

 

[JimRausch]

Aerate the must to get rid of the metabisulfate. Sorbate works by stopping yeast budding. I have successfully overcome sorbated cider by building up a large starter and pitching it when active. Might work. Good luck.

 

[bernardsmith]

You might also simply toss in about a half dozen or more packs of yeast. A huge starter might be effective as , I think, the sorbate, bonds to the yeast cells and if you have enough cells then you have neutralized the sorbate but I don't know that you need to go through the effort of creating a starter - simply pitch pack after pack of the same yeast that you intend to pitch to ferment the must.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Call the manufacturer and explain what you did. They might help or might send you a new kit for a reduced price.

 

[imp81318]

Thanks for the ideas, all. I made a yeast starter with 2 cups water and sugar. Let that go for about 24 hours, then pitched it along with 8 more packets of yeast at 10:30 last night. At this point, I have a nice active fermentation. Air lock is bubbling away, and there is a nice kraussen forming. Here’s to hoping it ferments all the way through!

 

[bernardsmith]

Sounds promising.

 

[imp81318]

Still have lots of activity in the air lock. How long do wines typically take to ferment dry?

 

[bernardsmith]

Depends on many factors but active fermentation can last about 2 weeks to about 2 months although with wine kits my understanding is (I have only ever made one batch of wine from a kit ) that the two week period is most common. Forget bubble activity. You want to measure changes in SG and also the actual SG. What is the SG your hydrometer reads? And is that SG still dropping?

 

[SportsNSuds]

Thanks for the ideas, all. I made a yeast starter with 2 cups water and sugar. Let that go for about 24 hours, then pitched it along with 8 more packets of yeast at 10:30 last night. At this point, I have a nice active fermentation. Air lock is bubbling away, and there is a nice kraussen forming. Here’s to hoping it ferments all the way through!

 

[SportsNSuds]

How many gallon batch are you working with. I have a gallon batch of mead started. I used apple cider. Got if fresh from an orchard, thinking it would be free of preservatives. I must have thought wrong. 1 pack of mead caused a lot of foaming but after 3 weeks no change on the hydrometer. So I put in a packet of of EC-1118. I get 1 bubble about every 10 minutes. Will add more but wondering how many packets to add.

 

[Midway Island]

How many gallon batch are you working with. I have a gallon batch of mead started. I used apple cider. Got if fresh from an orchard, thinking it would be free of preservatives. I must have thought wrong. 1 pack of mead caused a lot of foaming but after 3 weeks no change on the hydrometer. So I put in a packet of of EC-1118. I get 1 bubble about every 10 minutes. Will add more but wondering how many packets to add.

I discovered apple cider is only 15 brix I added 2 cups granulated dissolved sugar to get 22 brix then starter nutrient and a packet of 71B, started up nicely, racked after 3 weeks, cant wait until March for 2nd racking