k-meta taste

[appleweld]

i just got done bottling my second and third batch of wine. the first two were a dry pear and the third was a summer breeze wild berry zinfindel. i tasted a hint of k-meta in the first pear, so i rechecked the recipie and done another.it tastes the same like its got something wrong in it. its not undrinkable, but theres definatley a k-meta chemical taste in there. i got the same result with the summer breeze kit, and it was done exactley to specs. is there a chance im doing something wrong in the sanitizing stage before bottling? what i do is pour a bit of solution in each bottle, then run some through all the hoses and pump on the bon vino mini jet, rinse all tools etc, pour some in the carboy that i'll filter to and bottle from. then i dump out bottles into a bucket, dump carboy, and add corks to float in this bucket and cover for later use. ill add the 1/4 tsp k-meta to empty carboy, then filter, and gravity feed into bottles, and put in corks.
im sorry this is long, but i wanted to tell everything im doing, because im obviously doing something wrong because my wine is really pretty, but doesnt taste too good. the soltion i use is k-meta and water mixed accoring to package. is the residual solution in the bottles and hoses the culprit? please help.

 

[grapeman]

You are probably not doing anything wrong. It all sounds good. The wine is bound to have a slight off taste with a bit of sulfite, since this is freshly bottled. What is the total addition you have added per batch of k-meta and how long have the batches been going total? The taste will lessen with just a bit of time.

 

[appleweld]

the pear wine recipe called for 1 tsp added to 6 gallons. i measured the packet of k-meta that came with the summer breeze kit and it was also 1 tsp. however when i was looking up this info just now, i noticed the bottles of k-mets powder said to add 1/4 tsp per 6 gal.to kill wild yeast. whick is the right amount. how much does it actually take? the first batch of pear has been bottled for a month. i havent opened one of the aged bottles yet to taste because im not sure how long to let it age. what do you reccomend. the pear wines from start to finish were 3 months. the kit was 32 days.

 

[Wade E]

1 tsp is surely more then needed. 1/4 tsp is what is used, I never measured what was in the packets when included with a kit but maybe they are of lesser strength as Ive never really taste sulfite from a kit wine.

 

[grapeman]

1 teaspoon is definetly more than required and will allow you to taste it. Recheck your recipe. If you measured the packet, I bet you measured the k-sorbate, not k-meta, or is a different strength than what we all buy. These wines will take quite a while to get rid of some of the extra sulfite. I would bulk age wines if this happened to one and wait to bottle.

 

[appleweld]

the k-sorbate was 3 tsp in the recipie for pear, and in the kit packet as well. when you say quite a while to age, how long do yopu mean?

 

[grapeman]

It will likely take 6 months to get levels down if you keep it in the carboy. If you bottle or have bottled, don't ever expect it to drop down enough. I would open a bottle and test for free S02 with an Accuvin test ampule. If it is 30-50 range, fine. But if it is off the charts, I woul open the bottles and put back in the carboy, let it age there and when the levels drop to 30-50, then rebottle. It won't hurt you at the higher levels, but as you see, you can smell and taste it.

 

[robie]

Appleman,
In the carboy, could he put something that would bind with the SO2 and cause the SO2 taste to be less? Isn't it the "free" SO2 that he is tasting? Wouldn't even oxygen help slightly, which will be introduced as he pours the bottle back in to carboy? I know the oxygen could also hinder the life of the wine.

I don't know how all this works, but I am interested in learning.

 

[AlFulchino]

you can stir the h#ll out of it...splash rack also..to drive off some excess so2....retest and you should see the levels fall to something acceptable

 

[appleweld]

ok appleman, looks like im gonna get the accuvin test ampule. id rather put back in the carboy than have it taste bad a year from now. i will post the results. will take a few days because ill have to order one.

 

[appleweld]

as a side note, i opened and tasted a bottle from the first batch. it has been in the bottle 5 weeks. the taste seems to have lessened by about 25% from what it was, so theres still hope for this wine. i sure hope so, becauce it packs a punch at 11.3 % abv.