On Jan 17, 6:14*pm, Wildbilly > wrote:
> In article
> >,
>
> wrote:
> > I just use 1/4 tsp of Potassium Metabisulfate per 5 gals of wine for
> > approx. 50ppm of SO2. Seems to work fine.
>
> I'm glad it works for you, but can you define "fine"? I have never seen
> a commercial winery add potassium metabisulfate powder directly to wine
> (grapes, yes; wine, no). It is always hydrated first. Maybe they are all
> just dumb.
>
"I have never seen
a commercial winery add potassium metabisulfate powder directly to
wine
(grapes, yes; wine, no). It is always hydrated first. Maybe they are
all
just dumb. "

Maybe they are. I know there is oxygen dissolved in water and I also
know the amountr can vary. If you make a SO2 solution some of that SO2
can bind with the SO2 in the water and become less effective. By
putting the SO2 in the bottom of the carboy before I rack and then
slowly swirl the SO2 into the wine , whatever oxygen that binds with
the SO2 is oxygen in my wine, not in the water I used to make the
solution before I add it to the wine.


> Why would anyone want to add 50ppm SO2 to their wine?
>
> Besides being bacteriostatic, SO2 will bleach your wine, so you always
> want to use the minimum. At around 100 ppm, it will give you a sever
> head ache. For sensitive people, it may give them an asthma attack in
> the suggested 30 - 40 ppm range.
>
> But if it works for you. Go for it.
> --
> When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist.
> -Archbishop Helder Camara
>
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