19
Jan
Metabisulfites are used in wine making to sanitise fruits and wine musts as well as equipment. Uses of potassium sorbate in wine making as mentioned 0 02 0 04 of potassium sorbate is mixed in the wine before it gets bottled.
In the case of wine kits you would add potassium sorbate prior to adding the f pack grape juice concentrate.
Potassium sorbate wine making. First a little background on potassium sorbate and wine. Potassium sorbate is one of those wine making ingredients that often gets used incorrectly or confused with other ingredients such as sodium metabisulfite. I d like to go over exactly what potassium sorbate will do for your wine and maybe that will clear up how it should be used.
Potassium sorbate does not destroy wine yeast. In the case of wine kits you would add potassium sorbate prior to adding the f pack grape juice concentrate. Usually you wouldn t add potassium sorbate to a dry red wine because the sugars have been completely exhausted and the additive is not needed.
Potassium sorbate should always be used at the same time with potassium metabisulfite. Together they make for a rather inhospitable place for micro organisms. Potassium sorbate should be added to wine that is already stable because it does not combine with any other elements or lose potency.
Campden tablets are essentially metabisulfite and are mostly popular for home wine making. The tablets are used to sterilize wine as well as cider and beer by killing bacteria and preventing mold growth. How to stabilize home made wine using potassium sorbate.
The most common way to stabilize a batch of wine is to add the following ingredients per gallon. 1 2 tsp potassium sorbate. 1 crushed campden tablet.
I ve been using this formula since the begining. However i did have one batch start to referment after sweeting and bottling. Potassium sorbate is used in home brew wine cider and mead making as a fermentation stopper or stabiliser.
Add potassium sorbate at the end of primary fermentation. This forms sorbic acid in the wine cider or mead which is a yeast inhibitor and reduces the risk of what appears to be a finished wine cider or mead continuing to ferment. Potassium sorbate or stabilzer crystals is used in winemaking to stabilize a wine and prevent a renewed fermentation especially when sweetening a wine prior to bottling.
Potassium sorbate does not kill yeast cells but instead inhibits the yeast cell from being able to multiply grow and begin a new fermentation. When added at the end of primary fermentation the wine should already be fairly clear before the sorbate is added. Whenever sorbate is added it is also a good idea to add some.
Gary potassium sorbate does not destroy wine yeast. What potassium sorbate does do is keep wine yeast from increasing in numbers. It stops the wine yeast from reproducing itself into a larger colony so there is no need to wait to bottle the wine.
You can bottle immediately after adding potassium sorbate. In wine production sometimes after fermentation is complete chemicals like potassium metabisulphate kms k 2 s 2 o 5 and potassium sorbate c 6 h 7 ko 2 are used to not only stabilize wine but also to slow oxidation. If anyone that you know is allergic to sulfites their trouble with wine is caused from this practice.
Both chemicals do exactly the same thing but leave either a residual amount of either sodium or potassium. Metabisulfites are used in wine making to sanitise fruits and wine musts as well as equipment. The chemical breaks down into sulphur dioxide which is an antioxidant so metabisulfites will also scrub excess oxygen from wine.
Uses of potassium sorbate in wine making as mentioned 0 02 0 04 of potassium sorbate is mixed in the wine before it gets bottled. For preserving food items such as cheese 0 2 0 3 of the product is sprayed on natural cheese and for processed cheese it is applied directly.