K-Meta question....smell??

[capecodbob]

Hello All,
1st time wine maker trying to follow instructions to the letter. Thought today would be a good day to launch. Cleaned everything and then got to the sanitize part and the Potassium Metabisulphite. Added the amount requiredinto a gallon jug of water. Mixed and smelled.


NO SMELL.


My guess is the chemical is no good.


What do you experienced people think?

Bob

 

[dz-015]

Try closing the lid of the jug for 10 to 20 minutes. When you take off the lid, smell the solution by waving the fumes toward your nose with your hand (don't stick your nose directly above the jug). You should then notice a smell...

 

[grapeman]

Frshly mixed solution does not have much of a smell. It will still work alright, but the smell will get stronger after a few days. Also make sure the water is warm when you first mix it up and it will get stronger faster.


Welcome to the forum.

 

[Wade E]

If using it immediately you really should use citric acid along with just the amount you are going to use at the moment. The proper dosage is 3 tbls of kmeta per gallon and also 3 tbls of citric acid per gallon. The citric acid helps the kmeta release its gases which in turn shortens the shelf life of the solution on hand. You will be fine as I have done exactly what you have just done many times before I learned that.

 

[capecodbob]

Thanks all for the help.
I do have some C-Brite Cleanser that I find out can be used to clean AND sanitize. Maybe I should use this to clean my hardware now.
ANY thoughts?

 

[Wade E]

That stuff builds up and can leave a residue. Just give the sulfite some time after mixing it before using it and youll be just fine as Im sure you will be this time also. Next time you open that bottle it will knock your socks off so be careful!

 

[Runningwolf]

My k-meta sometimes still doesn't smell after a couple days. But it does come eventually.

 

[capecodbob]

You guys are great. Now the K-meta is smelling. Just had to wait.


I would think these wine making videos would tell you that. I spent over an hour trying to figure out what went wrong. What was wrong was that the wine video/instructionsdo not give you a heads up on this.
The Bentonite doesn't mix very well either.
I will call 1-800-mondial Monday and tell them to alert the newbees so we don't get discouraged and throw the dam kits in the garbage!!!!

 

[Wade E]

Bentonite can be a bear to get in real good unless you have a drill mounted mixer which I highly recommend getting one to degas your wine and easily stir everything up good like fining agents and the such.

 

[grapeman]

To those of us that have been doing this for quite a while, these things all seem like second nature to us and we forget newbies might not understand these simple basics. It is hard to conceive of every possible question that might be had when making instructions or the videos. That is where these forums come in handy. If you have a question on anything, just ask and we will answer.

 

[Wade E]

I agree with appleman. Even while Im trying to explain the task at hand I always find it leads into another subject and if I wasnt trying to be thorough would leave it out just causing anther question to be asked. Im not a big fan of the search features on these forums either so I always tell people to give it a try but spend the whole day trying to find the answer and dont think that a question has been most likely asked 1,000 times here and that we wont answer it again. Its why we are here as we had these same questions years ago and needed them answered and will do the same for you.