k-stabilization: temp considerations?

[sweetcell]

i'm getting ready to hit my melomel with k-meta and k-sorbate.

does it matter what temp the mead is when stabilizing? is cool/cold better than warm/room temp, vice-versa, or RDWHAHB?

 

[Maylar]

I do it at room temp, but it prolly doesn't matter. Ya, RDWHAHB

 

[cooper]

Do you guys normally use both at the same time or do you k-meta, wait a day, then k-sorbate if you back sweeten?

 

[sweetcell]

Do you guys normally use both at the same time or do you k-meta, wait a day, then k-sorbate if you back sweeten?

both at the same time. apparently there is a beneficial interaction of the two.

 

[cooper]

Thanks! I ask because I was watching a Beersmith podcast with Steve Piatz and he was saying to k-meta, wait a day, then k-sorbate. And only use k-sorbate if you plan to back sweeten. I'm still new to mead making so I'm full of questions.

 

[sweetcell]

Thanks! I ask because I was watching a Beersmith podcast with Steve Piatz and he was saying to k-meta, wait a day, then k-sorbate.

i've seen both together and staggered as suggestions. i decided to go with together since i like the idea of some sort of syngergy between the two, but i suspect both work. i haven't read anything about them together being bad.

i realize this is n=1, but i'm dealing with a suspected wild yeast in my blackberry melomel. some wild bug survived months in the freezer and woke up in my mead. sacch was done but it kept on chugging. added kmeta and sorbate at the same time, within 8 hours all signs of activity ceased. so using them in combo worked for me (thise once).

And only use k-sorbate if you plan to back sweeten.

that is good general advice, but not universal. i've been able to backsweeten without sorbate by pushing the yeast beyond its alcohol tolerance, getting it to give up and hibernate, waiting a few month to ensure no more activity despite there being residual sugars, and then bottling that after backsweetening. did use anything other than kmeta on that batch.

on the flip side, i needed to use sorbate on my current infected batch regardless of my plans to backsweeten.

so i wouldn't recommend that everyone try backsweetening via my "push yeast over the limit then wait" method, nor are infections a common thing, but there are situations when "only use k-sorbate when backsweetening" might not apply...

I'm still new to mead making so I'm full of questions.

you've come to the right place. we're all here to learn

 

[cooper]

Thanks for all the info! I'll probably add them both at the same time as well on the batch I plan to back sweeten. I appreciate you taking the time to answer some questions for me even though this is your thread with your question.

 

[biochemedic]

I add them at the same time, but each individually. I found out the hard way that k-meta and k-sorbate are reactive when mixed together