Yeah, this is bad advice. Ascorbic acid has no effect on yeast, and as
mentioned if you have no Free SO2 it actually accelerates oxidation
(especially if you have any residual copper in solution).

Wineries add ascorbic as an anti-oxidant (strange I know with whats written
above) but always with plenty of Free SO2.

Rob L

"Joe Sallustio" > wrote in message
m...
> I thought that odd too. I'm not sure how ascorbic acid can arrest
> fermentation at any reasonable level. I'm wondering if the sweetener
> was sugar or 'wine conditioner'. I have seen bottles of that and it's
> usually a combination of a sugar and sorbate. I have heard of people
> using ascorbic acid in place of sulfite, but do not understand the
> reasoning given. I do not do that; I sweeten, filter and sorbate
> whites that are going to have any residual sugar. (My filtering setup
> is far from sterile, it's a minijet.)
>
> Regards,
> Joe
>
>
> (David C Breeden) wrote in message
>...
> > Mike Eaton ) wrote:
> > >Our local brewshop owner suggested using ascorbic acid rather than
> > >sorbate or potasium metabisulfate as a means to stop yeast. We've done
> > >more than a dozen wine kits, half requiring sweetening prior to
> > >bottleing, and have had no problems.
> >
> > >The ascorbic acid he had on hand was used in beer brewing, and he
> > >recommended using the same quantities as were recommended for beer.
> >
> >
> > Hmm. Ascorbic acid, vitamin C, doesn't stop or prevent
> > fermentation. It will, however, oxidixe your wine if you don't have
> > adequate levels of SO2.
> >
> > Maybe the shop owner got confused by the linguistic similarity
> > between sorbate and ascorbic?
> >
> >
> > Dave
> >
************************************************** **************************
> > Dave Breeden