how much sulfite during fermentation
 

I have 1 gal each of dandelion and mango wine that are still slowly fermenting
that I want to rack this weekend. I understand that kit makers add a small
amount of potassium metabisulfite to the kit even before stabilization to
help beat off the wild yeasts and to give the must some protection from
oxidation. I'm wondering whether to add a bit at this rack and if so how
much?

From Jack's site:

Potassium metabisulfite, 1 gram = 150 ppm in 1 gallon, 30 ppm in 5 gallons
Potassium metabisulfite, 1/4 teaspoon = 225 ppm in 1 gallon, 45 ppm in 5 gallons
1 Campden tablet contains 0.55 grams potassium metabisulfite, yielding 75 ppm
SO2 to one gallon of must or wine

It would seem that it must be below 1 campden tablet so I'm thinking 1/16
of a teaspoon for about 55 ppm. I've have a set of cooking teaspoons that
are labeled dash, smidgen and something else, I can easily figure out which
is about equivilent to a 1/16th by couting the measures to fill up a 1/4 tsp.

I'm using powdered pot meta btw and perfer that to a 10% solution.

Don

how much sulfite during fermentation
 

Unless you want a slightly sweet/medium wine my advice would be to allow
your wines to completely finish fermentation, then rack and add one campden
tablet to each gallon - store, then bottle.

If you rack while fermentation is still going and add the tablet now you'll
kill the yeast and end up with a sweet/medium (and possibly low alcohol)
wine - is this what you're aiming for?


"Don S" > wrote in message
om...
> I have 1 gal each of dandelion and mango wine that are still slowly
fermenting
> that I want to rack this weekend. I understand that kit makers add a small
> amount of potassium metabisulfite to the kit even before stabilization to
> help beat off the wild yeasts and to give the must some protection from
> oxidation. I'm wondering whether to add a bit at this rack and if so how
> much?
>
> From Jack's site:
>
> Potassium metabisulfite, 1 gram = 150 ppm in 1 gallon, 30 ppm in 5
gallons
> Potassium metabisulfite, 1/4 teaspoon = 225 ppm in 1 gallon, 45 ppm in 5
gallons
> 1 Campden tablet contains 0.55 grams potassium metabisulfite, yielding 75
ppm
> SO2 to one gallon of must or wine
>
> It would seem that it must be below 1 campden tablet so I'm thinking 1/16
> of a teaspoon for about 55 ppm. I've have a set of cooking teaspoons that
> are labeled dash, smidgen and something else, I can easily figure out
which
> is about equivilent to a 1/16th by couting the measures to fill up a 1/4
tsp.
>
> I'm using powdered pot meta btw and perfer that to a 10% solution.
>
> Don

how much sulfite during fermentation
 

Unless you want a slightly sweet/medium wine my advice would be to allow
your wines to completely finish fermentation, then rack and add one campden
tablet to each gallon - store, then bottle.

If you rack while fermentation is still going and add the tablet now you'll
kill the yeast and end up with a sweet/medium (and possibly low alcohol)
wine - is this what you're aiming for?


"Don S" > wrote in message
om...
> I have 1 gal each of dandelion and mango wine that are still slowly
fermenting
> that I want to rack this weekend. I understand that kit makers add a small
> amount of potassium metabisulfite to the kit even before stabilization to
> help beat off the wild yeasts and to give the must some protection from
> oxidation. I'm wondering whether to add a bit at this rack and if so how
> much?
>
> From Jack's site:
>
> Potassium metabisulfite, 1 gram = 150 ppm in 1 gallon, 30 ppm in 5
gallons
> Potassium metabisulfite, 1/4 teaspoon = 225 ppm in 1 gallon, 45 ppm in 5
gallons
> 1 Campden tablet contains 0.55 grams potassium metabisulfite, yielding 75
ppm
> SO2 to one gallon of must or wine
>
> It would seem that it must be below 1 campden tablet so I'm thinking 1/16
> of a teaspoon for about 55 ppm. I've have a set of cooking teaspoons that
> are labeled dash, smidgen and something else, I can easily figure out
which
> is about equivilent to a 1/16th by couting the measures to fill up a 1/4
tsp.
>
> I'm using powdered pot meta btw and perfer that to a 10% solution.
>
> Don

how much sulfite during fermentation
 

Many people add 50 ppm at the start of fermentation to inhibit wild yeast.
After fermentation you should consider adding it to protect from oxidation.
But there is no reason to add it during fermentation. Wait until you rack
it after all fermentation is ended.

Ray

"Don S" > wrote in message
om...
> I have 1 gal each of dandelion and mango wine that are still slowly
fermenting
> that I want to rack this weekend. I understand that kit makers add a small
> amount of potassium metabisulfite to the kit even before stabilization to
> help beat off the wild yeasts and to give the must some protection from
> oxidation. I'm wondering whether to add a bit at this rack and if so how
> much?
>
> From Jack's site:
>
> Potassium metabisulfite, 1 gram = 150 ppm in 1 gallon, 30 ppm in 5
gallons
> Potassium metabisulfite, 1/4 teaspoon = 225 ppm in 1 gallon, 45 ppm in 5
gallons
> 1 Campden tablet contains 0.55 grams potassium metabisulfite, yielding 75
ppm
> SO2 to one gallon of must or wine
>
> It would seem that it must be below 1 campden tablet so I'm thinking 1/16
> of a teaspoon for about 55 ppm. I've have a set of cooking teaspoons that
> are labeled dash, smidgen and something else, I can easily figure out
which
> is about equivilent to a 1/16th by couting the measures to fill up a 1/4
tsp.
>
> I'm using powdered pot meta btw and perfer that to a 10% solution.
>
> Don

how much sulfite during fermentation
 

> Unless you want a slightly sweet/medium wine my advice would be to allow
> your wines to completely finish fermentation, then rack and add one campden
> tablet to each gallon - store, then bottle.
>
> If you rack while fermentation is still going and add the tablet now you'll
> kill the yeast and end up with a sweet/medium (and possibly low alcohol)
> wine - is this what you're aiming for?

I'm looking to give the must/wine some initial oxidation protection.
Wine yeasts are somewhat sulfite tolerant as opposed to wild yeasts
and I'm looking for how much to add to allow fermentation to continue.
I seem to remember some recipes that had you add 1 campden prior to
adding the yeast.

Don

how much sulfite during fermentation
 

"Don S" > wrote in message
om...
> I have 1 gal each of dandelion and mango wine that are still slowly
fermenting
> that I want to rack this weekend. I understand that kit makers add a small
> amount of potassium metabisulfite to the kit even before stabilization to
> help beat off the wild yeasts and to give the must some protection from
> oxidation. I'm wondering whether to add a bit at this rack and if so how
> much?
>
> From Jack's site:
>
> Potassium metabisulfite, 1 gram = 150 ppm in 1 gallon, 30 ppm in 5
gallons
> Potassium metabisulfite, 1/4 teaspoon = 225 ppm in 1 gallon, 45 ppm in 5
gallons
> 1 Campden tablet contains 0.55 grams potassium metabisulfite, yielding 75
ppm
> SO2 to one gallon of must or wine
>
> It would seem that it must be below 1 campden tablet so I'm thinking 1/16
> of a teaspoon for about 55 ppm. I've have a set of cooking teaspoons that
> are labeled dash, smidgen and something else, I can easily figure out
which
> is about equivilent to a 1/16th by couting the measures to fill up a 1/4
tsp.
>
> I'm using powdered pot meta btw and perfer that to a 10% solution.
>
> Don

Don,
In general, sulfur dioxide should not be added to an active fermentation.
lum

how much sulfite during fermentation
 

> In general, sulfur dioxide should not be added to an active fermentation.

Thanks Ray and Lum,
My concern here is that my mango has about 2" or 3" of gunk
at the bottom of the gallon jug I was going to rack it off that
but it's still very slightly fermenting. I was going to let it
sit under an airlock for another month or two and wanted to give
a very slight protection from oxidation in the racking and until
the CO2 builds up in the headspace again.

I may just shake the jug abit after racking to release some CO2.

Don

how much sulfite during fermentation
 

"Don S" > wrote in message
m...
> > In general, sulfur dioxide should not be added to an active
fermentation.
>
> Thanks Ray and Lum,
> My concern here is that my mango has about 2" or 3" of gunk
> at the bottom of the gallon jug I was going to rack it off that
> but it's still very slightly fermenting. I was going to let it
> sit under an airlock for another month or two and wanted to give
> a very slight protection from oxidation in the racking and until
> the CO2 builds up in the headspace again.
>
> I may just shake the jug abit after racking to release some CO2.
>
> Don

Don,
Fermentation is a multi-step process. Acetaldehyde is produced in the next
to last fermentation step, just before alcohol. Sulfur dioxide reacts
strongly with Acetaldehyde. When SO2 is added to active fermentations, the
SO2 reacts with the Acetaldehyde. Excessive amounts of Acetaldehyde is
left in the wine, and little or no free SO2 remains in the wine when
fermentation is finished. This is why adding SO2 to active fermentations is
usually not a good idea.
Regards,
Lum
Del Mar, California, USA

how much sulfite during fermentation
 

"Don S" > wrote in message
m...
> > In general, sulfur dioxide should not be added to an active
fermentation.
>
> Thanks Ray and Lum,
> My concern here is that my mango has about 2" or 3" of gunk
> at the bottom of the gallon jug I was going to rack it off that
> but it's still very slightly fermenting. I was going to let it
> sit under an airlock for another month or two and wanted to give
> a very slight protection from oxidation in the racking and until
> the CO2 builds up in the headspace again.
>
> I may just shake the jug abit after racking to release some CO2.
>
> Don

Don,
Fermentation is a multi-step process. Acetaldehyde is produced in the next
to last fermentation step, just before alcohol. Sulfur dioxide reacts
strongly with Acetaldehyde. When SO2 is added to active fermentations, the
SO2 reacts with the Acetaldehyde. Excessive amounts of Acetaldehyde is
left in the wine, and little or no free SO2 remains in the wine when
fermentation is finished. This is why adding SO2 to active fermentations is
usually not a good idea.
Regards,
Lum
Del Mar, California, USA

how much sulfite during fermentation
 

"Don S" > wrote in message
m...
> My concern here is that my mango has about 2" or 3" of gunk
> at the bottom of the gallon jug I was going to rack it off that
> but it's still very slightly fermenting. I was going to let it
> sit under an airlock for another month or two and wanted to give
> a very slight protection from oxidation in the racking and until
> the CO2 builds up in the headspace again.

I'd recommend that you get the wine off of that thick layer of lees and then
lrt it finish its fermentation. You may dodge an H2S bullet that way. If
you insist, save the gunk, let it ferment out and settle and then taste and
smell it to see if you want to add back the clear part to the rest of the
batch.

Tom S

how much sulfite during fermentation
 

If you rack off of a slightly fermenting must, leaving the sediment, you run
the serious risk of sticking the ferment. Most of the yeast is down in that
sediment. If you want you could stir the sediment. This cuts down on the
SO2 that might develop from it. But I would recommend against racking off
the leas. But if it is really worrying you, it is yours so do what you
want. We can only make recommendations based out our experience and many of
us have opposing experience.

Let us know what you decide and how it comes out.

Ray

"Don S" > wrote in message
m...
> > In general, sulfur dioxide should not be added to an active
fermentation.
>
> Thanks Ray and Lum,
> My concern here is that my mango has about 2" or 3" of gunk
> at the bottom of the gallon jug I was going to rack it off that
> but it's still very slightly fermenting. I was going to let it
> sit under an airlock for another month or two and wanted to give
> a very slight protection from oxidation in the racking and until
> the CO2 builds up in the headspace again.
>
> I may just shake the jug abit after racking to release some CO2.
>
> Don
>