Potassium sorbate good or bad

[Cjacobs]

Ok so i have seen alot of mixed answers about this topic is potassium sorbate going to hurt my cider. Now i know i made 2 very good batches of hard cider at 7% out of store bought apple juice with potassium sorbate in it after being told that its just vitamin c and is not harmfull. What is yall opinion on potassium sorbate and has anyone run into problems with it.

 

[RPh_Guy]

As you've already read, there is not a consensus.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[agrazela]

Potassium sorbate is not vitamin c

 

[Cjacobs]

Potassium sorbate is not vitamin c

I appologize you are correct i was thinking ascorbic acid is vitamin c and is ok thank you for correcting me

 

[applescrap]

do you mean for health? cause I am curious about that too, as for fermentation I have read to much where people have had no problem with additives. A cider made from strongly sorbated juice might be different, but I know yeast is a hearty lot surely.

 

[Maylar]

I appologize you are correct i was thinking ascorbic acid is vitamin c and is ok thank you for correcting me

Which are you asking about, then? Vitamin C is fine - potassium sorbate or sodium benzoate are not.

 

[Needles]

I mistakenly started a batch of cider with juice that had K+ sorbate in it. I started to throw it out when it didn't start fermentation, then I found a comment by an older hand at brewing, so I tried it. What you have to do is treat it with plain bread yeast. Potassium sorbate interferes with the yeast's reproduction cycle. Apparently bread yeast is more resistant to it than brewer's yeast. Mine started fermentation after I added the bread yeast. It was slow, not like the churning fermentation I'd expect from say, champagne yeast, but it was steady. That lasted at least three weeks. Then I put in some more brewer's yeast. The fermentation continued, still fairly slowly, for another three weeks. I think It's almost ready to bottle. The bread yeast will chug through the K+ sorbate, which gets weaker in its ability to affect the yeast--- at least that's how it seems. It can be done, but it's S-L-O-W.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I mistakenly started a batch of cider with juice that had K+ sorbate in it. I started to throw it out when it didn't start fermentation, then I found a comment by an older hand at brewing, so I tried it. What you have to do is treat it with plain bread yeast. Potassium sorbate interferes with the yeast's reproduction cycle. Apparently bread yeast is more resistant to it than brewer's yeast. Mine started fermentation after I added the bread yeast. It was slow, not like the churning fermentation I'd expect from say, champagne yeast, but it was steady. That lasted at least three weeks. Then I put in some more brewer's yeast. The fermentation continued, still fairly slowly, for another three weeks. I think It's almost ready to bottle. The bread yeast will chug through the K+ sorbate, which gets weaker in its ability to affect the yeast--- at least that's how it seems. It can be done, but it's S-L-O-W.

Yeah, it can be done, but does it produce a quality cider?

 

[z-bob]

I think you can ferment sorbated juice okay if you pitch a massive amount of yeast. I read somewhere that sorbate doesn't kill the yeast, it just prevents it from reproducing. I would use the entire slurry from a batch of beer.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I don't use sorbate, as it has a bitter taste I don't like; and yes, I can taste it in white wine at recommended the recommended amount. I like my wine/mead/cider fairly dry, so I really have no use for it anyway.
Regards, GF.