Hi
I am just getting into making my own wine, and had pretty good success
with my first attempt with a white zinfandel kit. So now I thought I
would try some apple wine from some recipes I got online. But I think I
screwed up when I used potassium metabisulfite instead of campden
tablets. Like, I think I used too much. I pitched the yeast 24 hours
ago, but there isn't much activity there. Now what should I do? Add
more yeast or pitch the whole thing? I live in a rural area and the
nearest winemaking shop is 50 miles away and I don't have more yeast
right now. Help!
Thanks,
Liz

Liz:

1) Don't panic, be patient

2) Potassium metabisulphite & campden are the same.

3) How much potassium metabisulphite?

4) In fact let's have the entire recipe.

5) What is the specific gravity & temperature of the must?

6) Buy a couple of spare packs of yeast. Shouldn't be more than a $1
each.

7) With some wines, 24 hours isn't long enough.

Steve

On 25 Jan 2007 19:22:28 -0800, wrote:

>Hi
>I am just getting into making my own wine, and had pretty good success
>with my first attempt with a white zinfandel kit. So now I thought I
>would try some apple wine from some recipes I got online. But I think I
>screwed up when I used potassium metabisulfite instead of campden
>tablets. Like, I think I used too much. I pitched the yeast 24 hours
>ago, but there isn't much activity there. Now what should I do? Add
>more yeast or pitch the whole thing? I live in a rural area and the
>nearest winemaking shop is 50 miles away and I don't have more yeast
>right now. Help!
>Thanks,
>Liz

Great advice has already been given, also make sure the area isn't too
cold too as mentioned, wine likes average room temperature but not much
less than 65F to start.

Joe

Steve:
Thanks for the advice. I answered your questions below, and will try to
be patient.
Liz

Steve wrote:
> Liz:
>
> 1) Don't panic, be patient
ok
>
> 2) Potassium metabisulphite & campden are the same.
i knew that
>
> 3) How much potassium metabisulphite?
>
> 4) In fact let's have the entire recipe.
1 gallon apple juice
1 lb sugar
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/8 tsp pectic enzyme
1 1/2 tsp acid blend
1/4 tsp wine tannin
1 campden tablet (memory is fuzzy here - I think I used 1/2 tsp meta)
1 pkg Lalvin EC-1118 yeast

I mixed everything but the yeast in primary fermenter and let sit 24
hours. Then I added the yeast which I used according to the package
directions for prep.
>
> 5) What is the specific gravity & temperature of the must?
sg 1.092 temp 70F
>
> 6) Buy a couple of spare packs of yeast. Shouldn't be more than a $1
> each.
will do from now on
>
> 7) With some wines, 24 hours isn't long enough.
>
> Steve
>
> On 25 Jan 2007 19:22:28 -0800, wrote:
>
>> Hi
>> I am just getting into making my own wine, and had pretty good success
>> with my first attempt with a white zinfandel kit. So now I thought I
>> would try some apple wine from some recipes I got online. But I think I
>> screwed up when I used potassium metabisulfite instead of campden
>> tablets. Like, I think I used too much. I pitched the yeast 24 hours
>> ago, but there isn't much activity there. Now what should I do? Add
>> more yeast or pitch the whole thing? I live in a rural area and the
>> nearest winemaking shop is 50 miles away and I don't have more yeast
>> right now. Help!
>> Thanks,
>> Liz
>

Joe:
Thanks for the reply. I will follow Steve's advice. Room temp is about
70F.
Liz

On Jan 26, 5:43 am, "Joe Sallustio" > wrote:
> Great advice has already been given, also make sure the area isn't too
> cold too as mentioned, wine likes average room temperature but not much
> less than 65F to start.
>
> Joe

Steve:
I forgot to add that this is a 2 gallon batch and the amount of meta I
added was for the whole batch.
Liz

On Jan 25, 9:45 pm, Steve > wrote:
> Liz:
>
> 1) Don't panic, be patient
>
> 2) Potassium metabisulphite & campden are the same.
>
> 3) How much potassium metabisulphite?
>
> 4) In fact let's have the entire recipe.
>
> 5) What is the specific gravity & temperature of the must?
>
> 6) Buy a couple of spare packs of yeast. Shouldn't be more than a $1
> each.
>
> 7) With some wines, 24 hours isn't long enough.
>
> Steve
>
> On 25 Jan 2007 19:22:28 -0800, wrote:
>
> >Hi
> >I am just getting into making my own wine, and had pretty good success
> >with my first attempt with a white zinfandel kit. So now I thought I
> >would try some apple wine from some recipes I got online. But I think I
> >screwed up when I used potassium metabisulfite instead of campden
> >tablets. Like, I think I used too much. I pitched the yeast 24 hours
> >ago, but there isn't much activity there. Now what should I do? Add
> >more yeast or pitch the whole thing? I live in a rural area and the
> >nearest winemaking shop is 50 miles away and I don't have more yeast
> >right now. Help!
> >Thanks,
> >Liz

Your guees is right - 1/2 tsp for 2 gallons would be a lot. For that
amount of wine, 1/12 tsp gives about 40ppm, which is a reasonable
addition at this stage. You've added 6x more.

The best way to deal with the problem is adjusting the recipe to make a
bigger batch if you can - for example, making 6 gals instead of 2
without adding any more sulfite would bring the level to 80ppm (less
really because some would have already combined with oxygen and other
stuff in the must) - EC1118 would have no problem starting then,
especially if you build up a starter.

Pp


On Jan 26, 9:52 am, wrote:
> Steve:
> I forgot to add that this is a 2 gallon batch and the amount of meta I
> added was for the whole batch.
> Liz
>
> On Jan 25, 9:45 pm, Steve > wrote:
>
>
>
> > Liz:
>
> > 1) Don't panic, be patient
>
> > 2) Potassium metabisulphite & campden are the same.
>
> > 3) How much potassium metabisulphite?
>
> > 4) In fact let's have the entire recipe.
>
> > 5) What is the specific gravity & temperature of the must?
>
> > 6) Buy a couple of spare packs of yeast. Shouldn't be more than a $1
> > each.
>
> > 7) With some wines, 24 hours isn't long enough.
>
> > Steve
>
> > On 25 Jan 2007 19:22:28 -0800, wrote:
>
> > >Hi
> > >I am just getting into making my own wine, and had pretty good success
> > >with my first attempt with a white zinfandel kit. So now I thought I
> > >would try some apple wine from some recipes I got online. But I think I
> > >screwed up when I used potassium metabisulfite instead of campden
> > >tablets. Like, I think I used too much. I pitched the yeast 24 hours
> > >ago, but there isn't much activity there. Now what should I do? Add
> > >more yeast or pitch the whole thing? I live in a rural area and the
> > >nearest winemaking shop is 50 miles away and I don't have more yeast
> > >right now. Help!
> > >Thanks,
> > >Liz- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -

> Your guees is right - 1/2 tsp for 2 gallons would be a lot. For that
> amount of wine, 1/12 tsp gives about 40ppm, which is a reasonable
> addition at this stage. You've added 6x more.

I saw the same thing, I would have suggested 1/4 teaspoon for 5 gallons
so come up with pretty much the same conclusion. If growing the batch
to 10 gallons is not an option maybe splashing the heck out of it might
work. The risk is dark colored wine (this time). It has become common
practice for a lot of white wine makers to not add sulfite before
fermenting and letting the wine brown initially and that color drops
out at the end of fermentation. I can't say that will happen with
apple, but it could work. Two things will happen, the wine will be
aerated which is good for the yeast and the aeration will consume free
sulfite which could be the reason it won't ferment. I would make sure
the must is at least 70 F, then pour it back and forth from one
container to another several times and see what happens. It's not a
good suggestion but it 'could' work... If you can get more yeast
before you do this I might do that; if I poured it back and forth 10
times and nothing happened in 1/2 a day i would add more yeast.

Joe

I was going to say stirring the must in the primary. I believe that
encourages some to come out of solution.

Splash racking and pouring back & forth (both already mentioned) would
probably also help.

Steve

wrote:
> Steve:
> Thanks for the advice. I answered your questions below, and will try to
> be patient.
> Liz
>


> 1 gallon apple juice
> 1 lb sugar
> 1 tsp yeast nutrient
> 1/8 tsp pectic enzyme
> 1 1/2 tsp acid blend
> 1/4 tsp wine tannin
> 1 campden tablet (memory is fuzzy here - I think I used 1/2 tsp meta)
> 1 pkg Lalvin EC-1118 yeast
>
> I mixed everything but the yeast in primary fermenter and let sit 24
> hours. Then I added the yeast which I used according to the package
> directions for prep.
>> 5) What is the specific gravity & temperature of the must?
> sg 1.092 temp 70F
>> 6) Buy a couple of spare packs of yeast. Shouldn't be more than a $1
>> each.
> will do from now on
>> 7) With some wines, 24 hours isn't long enough.
>>
>> Steve
>>

Hi, Lilibet,

Another newbie here also, and this may be a stupid question too.
Concerning your juice, is it preservative free? Check your label. Any
preservatives will give you big problems.

Abby


>


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