How Vital is the Addition of Potassium Sorbate?

[Petunia]

I have a recipe for making wine with fresh figs. Since it is now fig season here and I have 5 trees I'd like to try making some. I have everything I need except for the Potassium Sorbate.

Thank you,

Petunia

 

[grnich]

I believe that the Sorbate inhibits further fermentation, making the addition of sweetner for less than dry wines safe in the bottle. If you're making dry wine without a sweetening addition after fermentation, you're probably safe.

 

[Petunia]

Thank you grnich,

The recipe says it makes a very dry wine. Seems a little odd for such a sweet fruit. I have ordered the stuff and will begin picking the fruit. If it makes it here then fine, if not I'll go ahead without it.

Will picking the fruit that is ripe now and holding it in the fridge until more ripens be alright?

Thanks,

Petunia

 

[Yooper]

I don't know anything about figs, so I don't know how long they'll keep in your fridge. I freeze most of my fruits before making wine with them- it helps break up the cell walls and turns the fruit into mush for me.

Most wines finish dry no matter how sweet the fruit is you start with. The reason is that wine is made by yeast "eating" sugars and secreting co2 and alcohol. If you want a sweeter wine when it's finished, you add k-meta (campden tablets) and potassium sorbate to ensure no refermentation before you sweeten it. A great source for winemaking starts here: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/basics.asp

 

[Petunia]

Thank you Yooper Chick, I'll go check out that link.

I like the idea of freezing the fruit to help break it down. I have postponed the fig until I can do the elderberry wine, they have to be picked tomorrow!

Petunia

 

[Smurfe]

Go ahead and make your wine and order some Sorbate. You ought to have it well before it comes time to add it. You don't add the sorbate until secondary fermentation is done.

 

[Thalon]

Disclaimer: I brew beer not wine, so someone with winemaking experience please correct me if I'm wrong.

Yeah since yeast eats the very substance (sugar) of which absence constitutes 'dryness' in a wine, there should be no correlation between how sweet the source fruit is and how dry the wine will be. All other things being equal, the sweeter fruit will produce a stronger wine. Now of course there are different yeast strains that will make drier wines than others, plus other non-fermentable sugars could be present that will contribute to detectable sweetness on the human palate.

 

[Petunia]

Yeah since yeast eats the very substance (sugar) of which absence constitutes 'dryness' in a wine, there should be no correlation between how sweet the source fruit is and how dry the wine will be.

I see that the recipe states to sweeten to taste. Hope it works that way!


Smurfe, thanks. I did order it. Seems like I have about four little orders floating around out there. UPS man is going to love me.

Thank you folks,

Petunia

 

[homebrewer_99]

Disclaimer: I brew beer not wine, so someone with winemaking experience please correct me if I'm wrong.

Yeah since yeast eats the very substance (sugar) of which absence constitutes 'dryness' in a wine, there should be no correlation between how sweet the source fruit is and how dry the wine will be. All other things being equal, the sweeter fruit will produce a stronger wine. Now of course there are different yeast strains that will make drier wines than others, plus other non-fermentable sugars could be present that will contribute to detectable sweetness on the human palate.

You got it right.

If your brew is dry and you want it sweet you'll have to backsweeten (add more fermentables (honey, etc) to make it sweet again, but prior to that you'll need to add potassium sorbate to inhibit the yeast from eating the honey (just for an example) and producing more alcohol.

 

[Smurfe]

That is correct, after you stabilize you back sweeten. You can use honey, make a simple sugar solution (which most do) or use a wine conditioner. One tip is to sweeten a little bit at a time and sample frequently. I always stop just a little bit dryer than where I think is right as as the wine ages the sweetness will develop as the wine ages. One other tip is to not ferment a fruit wine to high of an alcohol level as it will inhibit the fruit flavor of the wine and taste "hot". I shoot for around 12% for a fruit wine.