Countdown to “Boom”. Is there a timer on my bottle bombs?

[ChuckD]

I was just reading a post and when I saw the word “Sorbate” the oh lightbulb lit up!

Saturday I bottled my petite Pearl/Marquette/Verona blend with a touch of back sweetening. It had been aging for 11 months so I didn’t add sorbate… I also bottled a 100% rhubarb with 57ml of simple syrup (2:1) per gallon.

The light bulb was me remembering that I didn’t add sorbate to the rhubarb (which is only 5 months old) either! I ran downstairs and opened a bottle right away. The cork came out real easy like but I wouldn’t say it was fizzy.

I put all 27 bottles in the garage fridge. Do I need to empty , add sorbate and re-bottle? What are the odds they survive if I don’t? What a rookie move!

 

[winemaker81]

The Elderberry I bottled last spring with no sorbate isn't pushing corks, but when I pulled one, it certainly made a pop. Given the light level of backsweetening, I'm probably ok. I'm keeping an eye on those bottles, but so far the corks are not budging. I have 4 left so it's not a huge effort to rebottle.

We added honey by the glass for the bottle we opened, and that worked ok. Unless I decided to rebottle, we'll do that for the remainder.

How lucky do you feel?

If it were me I'd watch the Petite Pearl blend, as it may be ok. Pull a cork in a month and see if you get a pop. If you do, it may need rebottling.

The Rhubarb is highly likely to ferment, so I'd unbottle, stabilize, and rebottle.

 

[ChuckD]

The Elderberry I bottled last spring with no sorbate isn't pushing corks, but when I pulled one, it certainly made a pop. Given the light level of backsweetening, I'm probably ok. I'm keeping an eye on those bottles, but so far the corks are not budging. I have 4 left so it's not a huge effort to rebottle.

We added sugar honey by the glass for the bottle we opened, and that worked ok. Unless I decided to rebottle, we'll do that for the remainder.

How lucky do you feel?

If it were me I'd watch the Petite Pearl blend, as it may be ok. Pull a cork in a month and see if you get a pop. If you do, it may need rebottling.

The Rhubarb is highly likely to ferment, so I'd unbottle, stabilize, and rebottle.

Thanks. With 11 months aging I feel fine with the northern hybrid blend. I purposely skipped the sorbate with that one. The rhubarb I think my brain was thinking it was aged a long time as well. I never even got the sorbate out of the tote.

 

[wood1954]

I added a lot of sugar to my 2021 Marquette when it was about 18 months old, I also added MLB at the time but couldn’t get it to referment . It hasn’t generated a single bubble in over a year.

 

[ChuckD]

Thanks. With 11 months aging I feel fine with the northern hybrid blend. I purposely skipped the sorbate with that one.

Welllll? I mentioned this in a previous post but after a few weeks the wine was carbonated. A week or two later and two corks popped. Last night I opened one and the purple volcano pushed 80% of the volume out of the bottle so I immediately de-bottled all 38 bottles. It’s now back in the carboy.



This was my first experience with the purple volcano! The wine actually tastes quite good when I degass it and add a touch of simple syrup.

 

[winemaker81]

@ChuckD, sorry that I'm laughing, but that picture is a fantastic illustration why we need to stabilize wine! I've saved a copy I've titled "ChuckD's Purple Volcano".

I checked my other 4 bottles of Elderberry -- the corks are not pushing at all. My younger son & wife will be visiting at Thanksgiving, and we'll open one then along with the sorbated Elderberry. I made this wine specifically for my DIL and her mom, as they love Elderberry wine.

 

[ChuckD]

How long should I leave it in the carboys before I attempt to stabilize and back sweeten again?

 

[winemaker81]

How long should I leave it in the carboys before I attempt to stabilize and back sweeten again?

What's the SG? If it's below 1.000 and doesn't change for a week, you should be safe. Sorbate will do its thing.

 

[ChuckD]

What's the SG? If it's below 1.000 and doesn't change for a week, you should be safe. Sorbate will do its thing.

I haven’t checked it. The back sweetening was minimal… about 3/4 cup of simple syrup in 5 gallons. I don’t have time to deal with it for a few weeks anyways.

 

[winemaker81]

I haven’t checked it. The back sweetening was minimal… about 3/4 cup of simple syrup in 5 gallons. I don’t have time to deal with it for a few weeks anyways.

It's probably bone dry and ready for backsweetening again, but check the SG first.

 

[wood1954]

Great photo, I went through that with my first apple wine.

 

[RRRwine]

Welllll? I mentioned this in a previous post but after a few weeks the wine was carbonated. A week or two later and two corks popped. Last night I opened one and the purple volcano pushed 80% of the volume out of the bottle so I immediately de-bottled all 38 bottles. It’s now back in the carboy.

View attachment 106946

This was my first experience with the purple volcano! The wine actually tastes quite good when I degass it and add a touch of simple syrup.

I had this happen but they were already in a decorative rack in the room. One popped, shot across our heads as we were watching tv, and sprayed the room!