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Well hello again people, I'm happy to tell everyone that after diluting my over salinated blueberry must(with sodium metibisulfate to stop natural fermentation) and topping up sugar content and adjusting acid levels, I managed to start a culture and pitch it, boy oh boy did it take off. The...

Yes, I'm aware of splash racking, but I need something other than must in order to rack , I have in the past just splashed and let it breath but time could become a factor, I figured alkalinity might be an issue with blueberries as per elderberry but the fruit acid took care of that concern...

Did you read my last post where I corrected my previous errors and even put the chemical compositions of both compounds, I may have not used the correct spelling and if this caused confusion, my bad. I hope it was not too confusing for the pros out there. All and all I believe the issues are...

Yep I've figured it out, I've been using sodium metibisulfate (Na2S2O5) to halt wild fermentation, while this can be a very effective for sterilizing equipment as well as killing off natural yeast fermentation too much will make it almost impossible to start a healthy culture, due to the salt...

@Rice_Guy , your using k s 02? That is where I've screwed up, I've been using,, Crud....and a few other choice words, now I see it...I'll have to dilute it down to lower the salt level or bye bye...

@Snafflebit , the wild fermentation started as soon as the berries were crushed, I had to stop the wild fermentation in order to not have vinegar with s02, I then waited 3 days for the levels to drop but could not get a pitchable culture, and still can't, I suspect I've missed something else...

@Maheesh ,Sorry I missed your question, no special formula it reads total dissolved solids, but does miss sugars as well as others. It uses electrical current to check salt levels in liquid as salts are a mineral that are conductive and provide a greater path for electrical current in water...

Natural temperature drop, had a couple cool nights, and missed it. And the salinity meter I've been using is pretty old so I'm pretty sure the name of it has worn off, but any digital meter would more than likely be sufficient as long as its calibrated properly and not contaminated, make sure...

@mikewatknis727, yes I'm aware of that test method, but I prefer to use an analog salination meter, tough to find these days, but very accurate. Also not effected by temp, As sO2 is a form of salt like sO4, nO3, kh2pO4, ect and normally the only salination found in wines is what is added...

I believe I've found the issue, my digital thermometer was reading incorrectly, probly due to age, it was reading 10 f higher than normal when I checked it with a float thermometer must temp was at 62, brrr too cold for yeast. I did check sulfate ppm level with a ppm meter and it was at 172...

I believe I have over sulfated in order to stop natural fermentation because I'm unable to start a vintners yeast culture in a separate vessel with whats been removed to pitch into my wort/must, culture is responds well initially then sinks and no activity is realized, I'm going to test ph...

Ya we are pretty close, I started on the front with 90lbs of blueberries a 25 gallon primary, nominal yield of aprox 20 gal. 0.15 gpg mbs and it was not enough to stop wild fermentation, kept hitting it with .05gpg and wound up at 0.35 gpg before it stopped, I didn't pitch yeast yet...but now...

I've been home brewing beer and wine for 30 plus years. For the last 14 years I've been growing my grapes for wine, as well as acquiring fruit for making wines in large primarys (25gal+) over the last few years I've had issues when sterilizing on the front end, I've used sodium metabisulfate...