Help needed yeast campden

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zendog3

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This is my first post please forgive me if I am posting in the wrong place or violating some forum protocol.

In the supermarket yesterday I got the bug to make some wine from some Cranberry / Pomogranate juice.
I found a recipe in the Jack Keller site for something close, so I used that recipe. The mistake I made (I always make at least one) was to put the yeast and campden tablet into the juice at the same time. The temperature is fine and everything else is OK but I should have waited 24 hours to add the yeast. Question: Will the campden kill the yeast? Do I have to add yeast again tomorrow? I will look for growing yeast, but that is not always a sure sign.

BTW anyone know if this is going to be any good? The color is not good, nor is the smell. I added 16 ounces of raisons but the flavor with only 1 qt of water to a gallon is very bland at this point.

Thanks for any help you can give. Much appreciated.
 
Did you take specific gravity readings? That may be the only way to recognize fermentation? The yeast will have been stunned by the camden and will be slow to get going. You may wish to pitch another yeast.

Steve
 
If there were any preservatives in the juice you won't get any fermentation. There was probably preservatives on the raisins as well. If you search thru Luc's post, he gives a method for dealing with raisins. That was some of the issues I had with my first try at a cider wine, never could start fermentation. Second try (without preservatives) worked like a champ.
 
If the juice had potassium sorbate as a preservative, you can get around it by making a starter with preservative free juice and then adding it into your original must. Potassium sorbate will inhibit the start of fermentation and will disrupt the yeast from reproducing but it will not stop an active fermentation once it's underway. I just had 6 L of apple wine finish fermenting, and it was made from three containers of store bought apple cider... two with no preservatives and one that contained potassium sorbate. The one with sorbate took awhile to get going, but by adding slowly to the rest of the batch (and using an extra package of yeast!!) it took off after a few days and fermented to total dryness.
 
You have to watch for meta-bisulfite in juices along with Benzoate and the sorbate which was just mentioned in a previous post. Raisins typically are sulfited also like said before. All that being said you most likely will have to add another yeast sachet if pitched along with the sulfites. Stir well bfore adding the yeast packet to rid your wine of any excess sulfites.
 
I'm confused Wade, you say look out for store bought juice that have sulfites, yet almost all recipes I've seen, using store juice, or fresh fruit, ask to infuse sulfites into the must? What gives?
Troy
 
What Im saying is that if they already contain sulfites then adding what is recommend to a juice that already has some may be the difference between your wine fermenting or not. There are lots of juices out there that dont have sulfites and a lot that do, if it already includes it then go lightly on what you add additionally to it or dont add any at all.
 

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