[savaytse66]

So...

I racked both of my six gallon batches of apple wine (1 medium and 1 full bodied) today. Both are crystal clear, look great, and the rotten egg smell from the last racking seems to be dissipating quite nicely. It even tastes okay, albeit pretty harsh. However...

I just realized that I added too much potassium metabisulfate to both batches. Like somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 - 5x too much. I misread the instructions and added 1/4 tsp per gallon instead of 1/4 tsp for the 5-6 gallons remaining after racking. I added 2-1/2 tsp of sorbate at the same time as the k-meta. I know better than this, but my mind must have been somewhere else at the time.

So what's going to happen? My gut tells me that it's going to have to bulk age a little longer before bottling or add an extra racking or two into the schedule. I'm sure all hope is not lost, but I'm a little concerned.

Any ideas?

[Runningwolf]

Are you able to test it for sulpher? I believe what your going to need to do is splash rack the wine several times but wait for the experts to step in for sure.

[surlees]

You can splash rack or aerate the wine to dissipate some of the SO2. Also, given enough time it will dissipate with aging. Ideally, you should invest in a SO2 test kit or instrument to know when the SO2 level has decreased enough without overdoing it and leaving the wine under protected.

Fred

[JasonH]

Atleast now you probably know why you had stinky egg smell.

[savaytse66]

Originally Posted by JasonH

Atleast now you probably know why you had stinky egg smell.

Ha. No, I actually had the rotten egg smell after the first racking and then to a slightly lesser degree after the second. This was my third racking.

[Wade E]

Ye, you are going to have to splash rack and bulk age this awhile.

[savaytse66]

Originally Posted by surlees

You can splash rack or aerate the wine to dissipate some of the SO2. Also, given enough time it will dissipate with aging. Ideally, you should invest in a SO2 test kit or instrument to know when the SO2 level has decreased enough without overdoing it and leaving the wine under protected.

Fred

I think an SO2 test kit is my next purchase, and soon. Is it safe to leave the airlock off the carboy with maybe a towel draped over it in order to help the gas dissipate faster, or am I asking for trouble by introducing even more unwanted stuff, like O2?

Also, since my wine is free of sediment and crystal clear, and since I just racked it, could I give the carboy a good shaking or degass to speed up the SO2 dissipation, or am I stuck actually having to rack? If I need to splash rack, would you recommend doing this now, or wait a month or so?

[winemaker_3352]

A good splash racking and aging will do the trick.

[Wade E]

Vacuum degassing wont work much but stir mixing will work somewhat.