I have searched on the group for this and so I know I stuffed up quite
badly, it's just a matter of how much...

I bottled a beautiful smelling batch of strawberry wine a few days ago
and rinsed the bottles with a sulfite solution before I filled them
with wine. Obviously after rinsing the 36 bottles, most of the rinse
was left over - and - I drained all of the bottles for a few seconds
each holding them upside down till no more drops came out, but I made
the rinse way, waaaaaay too strong. I used a teaspoon of sulfite in a
wine-bottle filled with water so it was 1 teaspoon to 750ml. There
were no residual crystals in the rinse. I don't know why I went so
extreme with the rinse, I'd normally use that much in a gallon for a
rinse solution. I realised while bottling but figured since the
bottles were drained that not too much harm could have occured.

While trying to enjoy a post bottling drink of the wine though I
realised what a terrible mistake I had made. The wine was supposed to
be -in part - for gifts at Christmas, but the taste of sulfite in the
wine was very strong and overpowered the lovely strawberry smell.

I know this won't be ready for Christmas now, but am I likely to ever
have a decent flavour from this wine? Am I panicking too soon?
Eeeeek!

Jim

Jim,
I wouldn't worry about that.
1 tsp per 750 ml is approx. 8 grams/liter sulfite solution. I use a
much stronger sulfite solution (25 grams/liter) for rinsing botles
before bottling and I have no problems (5 years already).
raananh

On Oct 15, 7:36*pm, wrote:
Jim,
I wouldn't worry about that.
1 tsp per 750 ml is approx. 8 grams/liter sulfite solution. I use a
much stronger sulfite solution (25 grams/liter) for rinsing botles
before bottling and I have no problems (5 years already).
raananh

That's great to hear thanks. Presumably then, we are talking about a
certain amount of time passing before the insidious smell/taste
passes

Jim

On Oct 14, 11:55*am, jim c wrote:
I have searched on the group for this and so I know I stuffed up quite
badly, it's just a matter of how much...

I bottled a beautiful smelling batch of strawberry wine a few days ago
and rinsed the bottles with a sulfite solution before I filled them
with wine. *Obviously after rinsing the 36 bottles, most of the rinse
was left over - and - I drained all of the bottles for a few seconds
each holding them upside down till no more drops came out, but I made
the rinse way, waaaaaay too strong. *I used a teaspoon of sulfite in a
wine-bottle filled with water so it was 1 teaspoon to 750ml. *There
were no residual crystals in the rinse. *I don't know why I went so
extreme with the rinse, I'd normally use that much in a gallon for a
rinse solution. *I realised while bottling but figured since the
bottles were drained that not too much harm could have occured.

While trying to enjoy a post bottling drink of the wine though I
realised what a terrible mistake I had made. *The wine was supposed to
be -in part - for gifts at Christmas, but the taste of sulfite in the
wine was very strong and overpowered the lovely strawberry smell.

I know this won't be ready for Christmas now, but am I likely to ever
have a decent flavour from this wine? *Am I panicking too soon?
Eeeeek!

Jim

this is the third test to see if i can read the stupid cheracters in
order to post a reply.
I will stop posting unless this annoyance is
corrected !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, some thoughts:
First I don't sterilize new or used bottles.
wash the cooties and spiders out.

wine at over 11 % kills most any thing in the bottle.
Forget the book recommendations as they probably are beer makers on
the side.

If you drained the bottles, until no drops came out , this will not
cause a sulphite smell /taste in the bottled wine..

IF you improperly sulphited your wine during the process from crush to
bottle, this will account for a "suphhite: smell / taste as you have
made a mistake
..
About 50 ppm per gallon of sulphites is a modest application of
sulphites in fermentation, perhaps 20ppm at botteling
..
It is not possible that properly rinsed 750 ml bottles would retain
any significant amount of sulphites.
IE:
2 TBLS of KMS + 1 cup water, equals a solution that provides:
1tsp=50ppm of sulphite into one gallon of wine.
1 tsp (1/6 TBL) added to one cup of water = about 6 ppm per tsp in one
gallon of wine.

Did you sulphite the wine before you bottled it ?
Look there for the problem..

wino in Ca

On Nov 13, 9:24*pm, wino wrote:
On Oct 14, 11:55*am, jim c wrote:



I have searched on the group for this and so I know I stuffed up quite
badly, it's just a matter of how much...

I bottled a beautiful smelling batch of strawberry wine a few days ago
and rinsed the bottles with a sulfite solution before I filled them
with wine. *Obviously after rinsing the 36 bottles, most of the rinse
was left over - and - I drained all of the bottles for a few seconds
each holding them upside down till no more drops came out, but I made
the rinse way, waaaaaay too strong. *I used a teaspoon of sulfite in a
wine-bottle filled with water so it was 1 teaspoon to 750ml. *There
were no residual crystals in the rinse. *I don't know why I went so
extreme with the rinse, I'd normally use that much in a gallon for a
rinse solution. *I realised while bottling but figured since the
bottles were drained that not too much harm could have occured.

While trying to enjoy a post bottling drink of the wine though I
realised what a terrible mistake I had made. *The wine was supposed to
be -in part - for gifts at Christmas, but the taste of sulfite in the
wine was very strong and overpowered the lovely strawberry smell.

I know this won't be ready for Christmas now, but am I likely to ever
have a decent flavour from this wine? *Am I panicking too soon?
Eeeeek!

Jim

this is the third test to see if i can read the stupid cheracters in
order to post a reply.
I will stop posting unless this annoyance is
corrected !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, some thoughts:
First I don't sterilize new or used bottles.
wash the cooties and spiders out.

wine at over 11 % kills most any thing in the bottle.
Forget the book recommendations as they probably are beer makers on
the side.

If you drained the bottles, until no drops came out , this will not
cause a sulphite smell /taste in the bottled wine..

IF you improperly sulphited your wine during the process from crush to
bottle, this will account for a "suphhite: smell / taste as you have
made a mistake
.
About 50 ppm per gallon of sulphites is a modest application of
sulphites in fermentation, perhaps 20ppm at botteling
.
It is not possible that properly rinsed 750 ml bottles would retain
any significant amount of sulphites.
IE:
2 TBLS of KMS *+ 1 cup water, equals a solution that provides:
1tsp=50ppm of sulphite into one gallon of wine.
1 tsp (1/6 TBL) added to one cup of water = about 6 ppm per tsp in one
gallon of wine.

Did you sulphite the wine before you bottled it ?
Look there for the problem..

wino in Ca

The post is completely legible to me And I completely agree with
your theory, but it doesn't seem born out by my results, I know that
something is awry. Thanks for the useful info though, it is
appreciated.

I don't usually sulfite wines apart from 1 campden tablet/gallon in
the must and a rinse in the bottles at bottling time. I usually add
nothing even to reds (I tried half the minimum recommended in a recent
batch I am maturing for comparison). I am pretty dilligent with
cleaning and sanitising and don't make any wine under 11.5%ABV. I
tasted this batch before bottling it and have tried 3 bottles since, 1
left over bottle at bottling time and 2 sealed.

Happily the sulfite taste in the last bottle was less agressive than
at bottling time, but it still sits a little high in the mix for my
liking. As far as rinising it goes, my regime is thus:

Clean out all bottles with detergent and water and use bottle brush as
necessary. Rinse with clean water at least 3 times, agitating heavily
to make sure there are no suds or bubbles formed or left in the
bottles. Use a sulfite rinse to swirl around the bottle, then tip it
out again, bittle held upside down until no rapid drips emerge. While
bottling, as I fill the current bottle, I invert the next bottle to
be filled so the last few drops of rinse can escape.

There IS still a sulfite taste however that was not present in the
carboy. It's not the worlds worst tasting wine. It doesn't taste
like a book of unstruck matches now, but it does have a chemical
overtone that wasn't there before. I appreciate that this does not
make sense - despite the extra strong sulfite rinse - I am confused
and disappointed enough to report my findings. I bet some of my
friends would still like a bottle of it for christmas and they might
not even recognise the sulfuric taste, but I don't feel comfortable
giving wine away that I wouldn't give to someone with good
tastebuds...

Jim

jim c wrote:
On Nov 13, 9:24 pm, wino wrote:
On Oct 14, 11:55 am, jim c wrote:



I have searched on the group for this and so I know I stuffed up quite
badly, it's just a matter of how much...
I bottled a beautiful smelling batch of strawberry wine a few days ago
and rinsed the bottles with a sulfite solution before I filled them
with wine. Obviously after rinsing the 36 bottles, most of the rinse
was left over - and - I drained all of the bottles for a few seconds
each holding them upside down till no more drops came out, but I made
the rinse way, waaaaaay too strong. I used a teaspoon of sulfite in a
wine-bottle filled with water so it was 1 teaspoon to 750ml. There
were no residual crystals in the rinse. I don't know why I went so
extreme with the rinse, I'd normally use that much in a gallon for a
rinse solution. I realised while bottling but figured since the
bottles were drained that not too much harm could have occured.
While trying to enjoy a post bottling drink of the wine though I
realised what a terrible mistake I had made. The wine was supposed to
be -in part - for gifts at Christmas, but the taste of sulfite in the
wine was very strong and overpowered the lovely strawberry smell.
I know this won't be ready for Christmas now, but am I likely to ever
have a decent flavour from this wine? Am I panicking too soon?
Eeeeek!
Jim
this is the third test to see if i can read the stupid cheracters in
order to post a reply.
I will stop posting unless this annoyance is
corrected !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, some thoughts:
First I don't sterilize new or used bottles.
wash the cooties and spiders out.

wine at over 11 % kills most any thing in the bottle.
Forget the book recommendations as they probably are beer makers on
the side.

If you drained the bottles, until no drops came out , this will not
cause a sulphite smell /taste in the bottled wine..

IF you improperly sulphited your wine during the process from crush to
bottle, this will account for a "suphhite: smell / taste as you have
made a mistake
.
About 50 ppm per gallon of sulphites is a modest application of
sulphites in fermentation, perhaps 20ppm at botteling
.
It is not possible that properly rinsed 750 ml bottles would retain
any significant amount of sulphites.
IE:
2 TBLS of KMS + 1 cup water, equals a solution that provides:
1tsp=50ppm of sulphite into one gallon of wine.
1 tsp (1/6 TBL) added to one cup of water = about 6 ppm per tsp in one
gallon of wine.

Did you sulphite the wine before you bottled it ?
Look there for the problem..

wino in Ca

The post is completely legible to me And I completely agree with
your theory, but it doesn't seem born out by my results, I know that
something is awry. Thanks for the useful info though, it is
appreciated.

I don't usually sulfite wines apart from 1 campden tablet/gallon in
the must and a rinse in the bottles at bottling time. I usually add
nothing even to reds (I tried half the minimum recommended in a recent
batch I am maturing for comparison). I am pretty dilligent with
cleaning and sanitising and don't make any wine under 11.5%ABV. I
tasted this batch before bottling it and have tried 3 bottles since, 1
left over bottle at bottling time and 2 sealed.

Happily the sulfite taste in the last bottle was less agressive than
at bottling time, but it still sits a little high in the mix for my
liking. As far as rinising it goes, my regime is thus:

Clean out all bottles with detergent and water and use bottle brush as
necessary. Rinse with clean water at least 3 times, agitating heavily
to make sure there are no suds or bubbles formed or left in the
bottles. Use a sulfite rinse to swirl around the bottle, then tip it
out again, bittle held upside down until no rapid drips emerge. While
bottling, as I fill the current bottle, I invert the next bottle to
be filled so the last few drops of rinse can escape.

There IS still a sulfite taste however that was not present in the
carboy. It's not the worlds worst tasting wine. It doesn't taste
like a book of unstruck matches now, but it does have a chemical
overtone that wasn't there before. I appreciate that this does not
make sense - despite the extra strong sulfite rinse - I am confused
and disappointed enough to report my findings. I bet some of my
friends would still like a bottle of it for christmas and they might
not even recognise the sulfuric taste, but I don't feel comfortable
giving wine away that I wouldn't give to someone with good
tastebuds...

Jim
Is it possible that you had some undissolved KMBS crystals that got left
behind in the bottles? They might not 'drip' out, and would dose the
filled contents. Just a thought.

Gene

On Nov 15, 2:38*am, gene wrote:
jim c wrote:
On Nov 13, 9:24 pm, wino wrote:
On Oct 14, 11:55 am, jim c wrote:

I have searched on the group for this and so I know I stuffed up quite
badly, it's just a matter of how much...
I bottled a beautiful smelling batch of strawberry wine a few days ago
and rinsed the bottles with a sulfite solution before I filled them
with wine. *Obviously after rinsing the 36 bottles, most of the rinse
was left over - and - I drained all of the bottles for a few seconds
each holding them upside down till no more drops came out, but I made
the rinse way, waaaaaay too strong. *I used a teaspoon of sulfite in a
wine-bottle filled with water so it was 1 teaspoon to 750ml. *There
were no residual crystals in the rinse. *I don't know why I went so
extreme with the rinse, I'd normally use that much in a gallon for a
rinse solution. *I realised while bottling but figured since the
bottles were drained that not too much harm could have occured.
While trying to enjoy a post bottling drink of the wine though I
realised what a terrible mistake I had made. *The wine was supposed to
be -in part - for gifts at Christmas, but the taste of sulfite in the
wine was very strong and overpowered the lovely strawberry smell.
I know this won't be ready for Christmas now, but am I likely to ever
have a decent flavour from this wine? *Am I panicking too soon?
Eeeeek!
Jim
this is the third test to see if i can read the stupid cheracters in
order to post a reply.
I will stop posting unless this annoyance is
corrected !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, some thoughts:
First I don't sterilize new or used bottles.
wash the cooties and spiders out.

wine at over 11 % kills most any thing in the bottle.
Forget the book recommendations as they probably are beer makers on
the side.

If you drained the bottles, until no drops came out , this will not
cause a sulphite smell /taste in the bottled wine..

IF you improperly sulphited your wine during the process from crush to
bottle, this will account for a "suphhite: smell / taste as you have
made a mistake
.
About 50 ppm per gallon of sulphites is a modest application of
sulphites in fermentation, perhaps 20ppm at botteling
.
It is not possible that properly rinsed 750 ml bottles would retain
any significant amount of sulphites.
IE:
2 TBLS of KMS *+ 1 cup water, equals a solution that provides:
1tsp=50ppm of sulphite into one gallon of wine.
1 tsp (1/6 TBL) added to one cup of water = about 6 ppm per tsp in one
gallon of wine.

Did you sulphite the wine before you bottled it ?
Look there for the problem..

wino in Ca

The post is completely legible to me *And I completely agree with
your theory, but it doesn't seem born out by my results, I know that
something is awry. *Thanks for the useful info though, it is
appreciated.

I don't usually sulfite wines apart from 1 campden tablet/gallon in
the must and a rinse in the bottles at bottling time. *I usually add
nothing even to reds (I tried half the minimum recommended in a recent
batch I am maturing for comparison). *I am pretty dilligent with
cleaning and sanitising and don't make any wine under 11.5%ABV. *I
tasted this batch before bottling it and have tried 3 bottles since, 1
left over bottle at bottling time and 2 sealed.

Happily the sulfite taste in the last bottle was less agressive than
at bottling time, but it still sits a little high in the mix for my
liking. *As far as rinising it goes, my regime is thus:

Clean out all bottles with detergent and water and use bottle brush as
necessary. *Rinse with clean water at least 3 times, agitating heavily
to make sure there are no suds or bubbles formed or left in the
bottles. *Use a sulfite rinse to swirl around the bottle, then tip it
out again, bittle held upside down until no rapid drips emerge. *While
bottling, *as I fill the current bottle, I invert the next bottle to
be filled so the last few drops of rinse can escape.

There IS still a sulfite taste however that was not present in the
carboy. *It's not the worlds worst tasting wine. *It doesn't taste
like a book of unstruck matches now, but it does have a chemical
overtone that wasn't there before. *I appreciate that this does not
make sense - despite the extra strong sulfite rinse - I am confused
and disappointed enough to report my findings. *I bet some of my
friends would still like a bottle of it for christmas and they might
not even recognise the sulfuric taste, but I don't feel comfortable
giving wine away that I wouldn't give to someone with good
tastebuds...

Jim

Is it possible that you had some undissolved KMBS crystals that got left
behind in the bottles? *They might not 'drip' out, and would dose the
filled contents. Just a thought.

Gene

It is possible, though after mixing sulfite rinse I always leave and
throw the bottm bit and watch to try to avoid such. Is there any hope
that the sulfite taste will diminish further with time?

Jim

On Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:54:39 -0800 (PST), jim c
wrote:

It is possible, though after mixing sulfite rinse I always leave and
throw the bottm bit and watch to try to avoid such. Is there any hope
that the sulfite taste will diminish further with time?

The taste may mellow with time, as many flavors do. I would give it a
chance.

Have you considered using a bottle rinser like the one in the link
below and using an iodophor solution, 12.5 ppm, which is no-rinse at
that concentration?

http://www.ebrew.com/Products_B/bottle_rinser.jpg

Taste tests have shown this level to not affect taste and you don't
have to drain the bottles. The rinser in the link sprays the solution
well around inside the bottle. I use it in beermaking. The solution
comes out pretty quickly and is used again for the next bottle.

If you wish, you can also use a bottle draining tree like the one
below but I don't know that it will handle regular wine bottles. It is
designed to hold regular 12 or 16 ounce beer bottles. The rinser above
can clip onto the bottle tree, by the way, or be used separately.

http://www.ebrew.com/Products_B/80_p...ttle_drain.jpg

Don

On Nov 15, 1:57*pm, Donald wrote:
On Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:54:39 -0800 (PST), jim c

wrote:
It is possible, though after mixing sulfite rinse I always leave and
throw the bottm bit and watch to try to avoid such. *Is there any hope
that the sulfite taste will diminish further with time?

The taste may mellow with time, as many flavors do. I would give it a
chance.

Have you considered using a bottle rinser like the one in the link
below and using an iodophor solution, 12.5 ppm, which is no-rinse at
that concentration?

http://www.ebrew.com/Products_B/bottle_rinser.jpg

Taste tests have shown this level to not affect taste and you don't
have to drain the bottles. The rinser in the link sprays the solution
well around inside the bottle. I use it in beermaking. The solution
comes out pretty quickly and is used again for the next bottle.

If you wish, you can also use a bottle draining tree like the one
below but I don't know that it will handle regular wine bottles. It is
designed to hold regular 12 or 16 ounce beer bottles. The rinser above
can clip onto the bottle tree, by the way, or be used separately.

http://www.ebrew.com/Products_B/80_p...ttle_drain.jpg

Don

Yeah, that's my bottle rinser right there I use that one with
sulfite solution. I don't know about iodophor solution - I will look
up what it is. The rinsing deviceis very effective... You'd think
though that there'd not be much left in after a few seconds draining.
Perhaps the problem is that the strawberry has a mild enough flavour
that the sulfite is more easily detectable - though it seems unlikely
to me. I don't have a bottle tree/yet though I might consider one
bearing in mind my recent issue!

Thanks for the suggestions,

Jim