Accidental Sparkling Dandelion Wine (Despite trying to stop fermentation)

[Stephen Crimmins]

Hello,

For my first homebrewing experiment, I've made a Dandelion Wine. I bottled a few weeks ago after adding Sorbitat K and Potassium Metabisulfite (because there are residual sugars--don't ask how much, this is my first time homebrewing and I don't have the equipment to check). Despite that this morning one of the corks flew out and I found I had some nice bubbly in one of the bottles.

My question is why and what should I do?

I have a couple guesses about why:
1. Since I bought the Sorbitat K and Potassium Metabisulfites on Amazon it's possible that I wasn't adding what I thought I was adding.
2. I didn't add enough - since I don't know how much sugar was left and I really don't know the alcohol content this seems possible, especially after reading this site: http://www.fermentarium.com/homebre...ng-you-know-about-potassium-sorbate-is-wrong/
3. Something else

It seems like at a minimum I should uncork and recork (and rebottle if that is necessary) the other bottles in case any of them have fermented more.
Should I put them back in the fermenter, add more Sorbitat K and Potassium Metabisulfite? Is the fermentation over know (it seems like what spilled out of the bottle still had sugar based on stickiness, but I'm not sure).

Any other thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[Yooper]

First, sorbate and campden (sulfite) don’t stop an active fermentation. They will only “work” in a completely finished wine that is clear and is no longer dropping lees (sediment).

The way to use it is to let the wine finish dry (and yes, you need a hydrometer). Once it’s clear where you can read a newspaper through it, and no longer dropping ANY lees at all in the carboy, it can be racked into a new carboy and sorbate and campden added to it. It should sit a few days, and then it can be sweetened to taste. If no new fermentation starts at that point, then a few days later it can be bottled if it still remains clear and no new lees are dropping.

Definitely uncork and put into a carboy and let it ferment out to avoid bottle bombs. The corks should give first, but if not you’ll have bottle grenades that can be very dangerous.

Once it’s fermented out, you can stabilize properly with sorbate and campden/sulfite and then sweeten and bottle.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Stephen Crimmins - and welcome. Not nearly enough information for anyone to say more than what Yooper said. We need to know the starting gravity and the gravity at which you bottled. If you bottled before the wine had stopped fermenting then you will have bottle bombs on your hands. Stabilizing can only be effectively done once all fermentation has ended and there is virtually no yeast cells in solution - usually after repeated racking over a period of a few months...