Please help new wine head sulphite his wine

- N
- northcountry
  
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posted
18 years ago

Mon, May 9, 2005 3:26 PM

Hi all, I have two five gallon carboys of (chokecherry/honey and chokecherry/grape)wine that I initially made last late september. I want to extend its shelf life through the addition of sulphites. Unfortunately, at the LHBS I bought potassium sorbate, instead of metabisulfite. So, what to do now? I am 100 miles from the LHBS now, but see that in the fridge I have campden tablets. A quick google search reveals that these contain sulphites. So, my question now is of course, can I use these tablets to sulphite my wine and in what amounts, I have a digital scale here at the house. And I really want to bottle this wine this week without calling the Store and having them ship just suphites to my house. Thanks for any and all advice anyone can impart. Patrick Oh, I need to sweeten it up a bit, and am wondering what amount of sorbate to add per five gallons to prevent renewed fermention. Thanks again!!!

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- Doug
  
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posted
18 years ago

Mon, May 9, 2005 8:32 PM

Campden tablets are designed for this. Normal usage is one tablet per gallon, I believe. The advantage is that you have them, and adding a crushed tablet per gallon is pretty easy. However, some winemakers have reported getting some sediment in the wine after adding Campden tablets to clear, settled wine. If that is a concern, you might want to add the crushed tablets (along with the sorbate and sweetening) and let the wine sit for another week or two, to let any sediment settle out.

Jack Keller's site recommends 1/2 teaspoon of sorbate per gallon of wine. It's important that you add both the Campden tablets and the sorbate, if you're going to sweeten the wine. The sorbate will prevent yeast from multiplying, and the Campden tablet should prevent malo-lactic bacteria from developing (they can digest the sorbate and produce unpleasant flavors).

Doug

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- Ray Calvert
  
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posted
18 years ago

Mon, May 9, 2005 11:57 PM

Doug's answer is a good and adequate answer. I have read of people having the sediment problem but in numerous uses I have not. It is recommended that you use the sorbate and sulfite a few days before you sweeten. I usually do it at one time.

You said you have a week to do this. I suggest you use the week. I would suggest is that you do a taste test to determine how much sugar to add. Then add 10 or 20% less than you think you need. Put it back for several days or a week. (A month is better but if you can't wait that long then you can't.) Then taste it again to see if it needs the extra sweetening. Sugar should be given time to incorporate with the other tastes of the wine. As it does it will mellow into the wine and may become sweeter than it tasted originally. Doing it this way will help keeping you from over sweetening by trying to do it all in one step. Now if you are only adjusting the sweetness a tiny bit, this is probably not necessary.

Ray