How To...

[Fly*guy]

How to cold stabilize....

I'm making a 3 gallon batch of wild raspberry wine and it finished at .992 was there for 2 days, I added 1/4 tsp Kmet and 3/4 tsp K Sorbate, and back sweetened to taste, Degassed and then added Kieselsol and Chitosan to clear it.

this was around 10 PM Tuesday, by 5 AM Wednesday it was refermenting

Can I expect the fermentation to halt permanently now that I have put the carboy in the coldest refrigerator that I have?(45F)

It has stopped working at this point ... at least visibly

I don't want it to get to hot by fermenting out to dry again, but not sure what the next move should be

 

[grapeman]

I would expect it to stop now and stay that way, but, how old was the sorbate? Next time you do this, let it sit for a couple days before sweetening. That gives the k-meta and sorbate plenty of time to integrate into the wine before adding the sugar or other sweetener.

 

[Wade E]

I would leave it in there for a few weeks and then rack off any sediment immediately and filter with a fine filter to hopefully extract any more viable yeast. I could be wrong and maybe your sorbate is stronger (?) but the recommended dosage is usually 1/2 tsp per gallon so you only added 1/2 the amount needed. So Id add another 3/4 tsp while its in there cold. 1/4 tsp is also a little more then used per 3 gallon batch as thats usually what we add for a 6 gallon batch but youll be fine and just stir it some out dissipate that once you have it under control or let it age a little longer.

 

[grapeman]

You are right Wade. I read that as 3/4 tablespoons the first time. 3/4 teaspoons is not enough sorbate for 3 gallons.

 

[Fly*guy]

I would expect it to stop now and stay that way, but, how old was the sorbate? Next time you do this, let it sit for a couple days before sweetening. That gives the k-meta and sorbate plenty of time to integrate into the wine before adding the sugar or other sweetener.

HMMM ! Sorbate.... to old? good question

didn't think that a 'preservative' could be to old??

What do I use to preserve the preservative?

OK, enough ! !
Is really possible to have the K Sorbate be to old as to be less or non-effective?

 

[Wade E]

Absolutely! There is pretty much a shelf life for everything and each one is different and we as consumers really should beat up the companies to find out what these dates are on everything.

 

[Fly*guy]

Thanks Wade. do you know what the shelf life would be for K Sorbate or K met?

I , at this time, have an unlimited supply of the K Sorbate, I use it daily at my day job

I don't have any reason to believe what I'm using in my wines is "bad" sinse I get a fresh supply regularly

 

[Wade E]

Ok so it was just the fact that it just wasnt enough then. What do you do that you use K sorbate? I would say about a year for sorbate as its a semi dry solid and a few yars on the k-meta as its a true solid.

 

[hannabarn]

Ihave found that raspberries are very touchy and can referment when you least expect it! I just had 1 bottle out of a batch that refermented and blew out the cork. Only 1 out of thirty!! I can't figure that out!!

 

[Fly*guy]

My business right now is working with Sugars and Molasses.

We make many different syrups and Molasses blends for clients all over the country, plus our own blends under the golden Barrel label.
So we use Sorbate in many of the pancake syrups to extend there shelf life.
That's the beauty of this hobby right now as I have access to all the major sugars.... corns syrups, fructose, sucrose, invert sugars, etc. and flavorings as well.
If I decide to do this as a side job, which we are working towards, I can even take my wines to the shop over the weekend and cap and label them for no charge.

 

[Fly*guy]

I had the same problem with my blueberry from last year as well, lost 1 bottle out of that batch to re-fermentation in the bottle. Never quite figured that out either. My wine room is at or below 65F all year round and I have not lost any other bottles in 2 years, even ones that I experimented with, like used beer bottles that I put beer caps on, so I didn't have to open larger bottles and let them go bad after a week of sitting while I finished others off first.

 

[Wade E]

Well beer bottles are designed for carbonation unlike wine bottles. Ive had a batch where only 2 of 30 went off but found the others slightly carbonated. Have you opened any of the others at all?

 

[ArdenS]

Regarding shelf-life, I read on Jack Keller that K-sorbate has a shelf life of only about 6-8 months even stored in a dry place out of direct sunlight.

Similarly, he recommends replacing K-meta at least every 18 months & store in a dry place.