I've had a lot of trouble finding a quick and easy answer to this question. Wine makers will add these chemical to wine after fermentation to prevent spoilage, and as an antioxidant. You can also add these two ingredients in mead, cider, wine, and beer to stop fermentation in order to hit a final gravity, or back sweeten. Without the use of a SO2 meter, what is a good approximation of how much potassium metabisulfite/Potassium Sorbate I should add to …
I had fermented mango wine weeks back. After a week I did my first racking to remove pulp. The Brix value is not moving down so assuming fermentation is over, I'm planning to bottle it. Initially, after a week, it was very sour then sourness got reduced and it was tasting bitter. Now it tastes flat. Can I add sweetened, thinned homemade mango juice to give it a flavour? Also, can I add metabisulfite and sorbate together? I haven't used …
I had multiple successful wine brewing experiences without sanitizing the bucket with potassium metabisulfite. Is it really necessary? How often should I sanitize the bucket? I know potassium metabisulfite powder should not be breathe-in, and it is irritant to lungs and mucous membranes, so is it safe for human consumption? what will happen if the bucket is not fully dried? Thank you very much!
I was talking with someone who works at Kedem grape juice. He told me that although they put Potassium Metabisulfite in their grape juice by the time the manufacturing process is done and you actually open your grape juice there are only 2-3 parts per million of "free SO2." That number seems incredibly low to me. Is it possible that he's correct or is he for sure wrong? (Note it does say "contains sulfites" which is only necessary if there's …
I recently fermented Kedem brand grape juice (which contains potassium metabisulfite) by only adding rouge red star yeast (and slapping on airlock and leaving it on my kitchen counter). I recently got into a discussion if there is any way to ferment it without adding any ingredients at all - stirring, refrigerating, leaving it outdoors, adding an airlock etc. would be allowed (this may have some applications to an esoteric aspect of Jewish law). Does anyone know if its possible …
I made my first cider 3 weeks ago and the home brew shop gave me sodium metabisulfite as a sanitizer (1tbsp per liter) and anti-oxidant (1/8tsp per gallon). Last week, I did my first beer (5.3 quarts / 5 liters small batch all-grain). I also used metabisulfite as a sanitizer and it seems to have worked. My questions: 1) I have read that metabisulfite is not a strong enough sanitizer for beer, is it true? 2) When I let the …
When adding sulfites to a wine, mead, or cider prior to bottling for oxidation prevention, how long should you wait after adding the sulfites before transferring to bottles? Is there a set amount of time, or are you pretty much good to go immediately? Note, this is not a question about stabilizing.
So I was reading some posts here on the homebrew stack exchange, like I do, and I came across this question. I always use K-meta when bottling because I keep my bottles clean and all I need is to quickly sanitize them when I'm ready to bottle. The thing is, from all the reading I've done up until this moment, I've been under the impression that one absolutely must rinse K-meta when bottling beer, as it can impart off flavours …
I have read a number of sources that recommend the use of potassium metabisulphite or potassium-based campden tablets in preference to their sodium-based equivalents (e.g. Jack Keller states that he doesn't recommend the use of sodium metabisulphite here), but I have been unable to find a clear explanation of why this is. And it seems that most American recipes that specifically call for one or the other suggest potassium. But here in the UK, it is by far easier to …