Newbie makes big mistake!

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Kozzie

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Hi - I[m hoping you can help. On Sunday, I was starting a liebfraumilch kit. Right off the bat, I mistakenly added Potassium Sorbate instead of the required Bentonite. Once I realized the mistake, I went ahead and added the Bentonite and then the yeast packet.

My question is - do I have 6 gallons of stuff to throw down the drain, or is there anyway I can rescue it? I checked it today and its not doing anything.

Any advice or suggestions or would be greatly appreciated!
 
Lol I started a batch last week of carmelized honey mead and added a gallon of cold press apple juice that was given to me as it had gone past is best if used buy date. Four days later with minnor activity and no change in sg, I dug the juice jug out of the trash to finnaly read the lable. And not organic as I had thought .
I hydrated a new pack of yeast started about a half gallon with honey and trippled nutreant added ahand full of chopped dates and raisins let it go about 10 hours till it was turbulatly fermenting and added it to the batch. Next morning I could hear the fizz in the bucket.
So I expect you can save yours too
 
Lol I started a batch last week of carmelized honey mead and added a gallon of cold press apple juice that was given to me as it had gone past is best if used buy date. Four days later with minnor activity and no change in sg, I dug the juice jug out of the trash to finnaly read the lable. And not organic as I had thought .
I hydrated a new pack of yeast started about a half gallon with honey and trippled nutreant added ahand full of chopped dates and raisins let it go about 10 hours till it was turbulatly fermenting and added it to the batch. Next morning I could hear the fizz in the bucket.
So I expect you can save yours too


Thanks Keith! I'm going to make the yeast starter tonight. I'll post how it goes!
 
Didn't get to making the yeast starter until today. Following ec kraus instructions, I've added 1 pint of wine must and a "healthy" 1/4 tsp of yeast nutrient, plus EC118 yeast to a quart jar. Stirred it and covered it. My next question meadmaker1 and Sour_grapes, is that enough yeast nutrient? I'm making 5 gallons. Thanks again!
 
Didn't get to making the yeast starter until today. Following ec kraus instructions, I've added 1 pint of wine must and a "healthy" 1/4 tsp of yeast nutrient, plus EC118 yeast to a quart jar. Stirred it and covered it. My next question meadmaker1 and Sour_grapes, is that enough yeast nutrient? I'm making 5 gallons. Thanks again!

When you say "wine must," what do you mean exactly? Given your situation, it should NOT be the must from the kit, because that has sorbate in it. You should use another source. If it were mine, I would consider using a white grape juice that does not have sorbate, benzoate, or other preservative in it. Perhaps something like this:

White Grape Juice Cocktail Frozen Concentrate http://www.welchs.com/products/juic...white-grape-juice-cocktail-frozen-concentrate

white_grape_juice_cocktail_frozen_concentrate_11.5oz_600x600.png
 
Yep - again a newbie mistake. Why didn't I think of that? I did use wine must. but that's ok. I can go get the white grape juice cocktail concentrate and a packet of yeast and do it again. Sheesh!, I drive myself nuts, sometimes, lol. Thank you.
 
I believe jack keller site has a good how and why to rehydrate and make a starter.
I ll work on posting links but im gona play my age card until I get I down.
1/4 tsp is not too much and I use honey instead of must but sugar would work too. Shake the crap out of it and wait several hours
My misstake is nearly ready for secondary after one week so I know it works. I used d47 so 1118 should have no problem
 
I believe jack keller site has a good how and why to rehydrate and make a starter.
I ll work on posting links but im gona play my age card until I get I down.
1/4 tsp is not too much and I use honey instead of must but sugar would work too. Shake the crap out of it and wait several hours
My misstake is nearly ready for secondary after one week so I know it works. I used d47 so 1118 should have no problem

Thanks!, I'm going to look for the white grape juice first, but if I can't find it, I'll go with your idea. Nice to know it will work.
 
Went to 5 stores yesterday and can't find that frozen concentrate. So I'll go ahead and try the sugar method. In a quart jar, how much sugar should I put in? I know it was a pint of must(juice), but how much sugar should I add to a pint of water?
thanks for your help!
 
Wouldn't use the must because of sorbate. Hydrate your yeast add it to water with ferm aid and "some" sugar a couple table spoons. How much would depend on volume it will be added to. You could match sg of must if you feel you need
 
Wouldn't use the must because of sorbate. Hydrate your yeast add it to water with ferm aid and "some" sugar a couple table spoons. How much would depend on volume it will be added to. You could match sg of must if you feel you need

Right on the must as Sour-Grapes pointed out. I will use a couple of tablespoons and see what happens. Thanks!
 
@Kozzie Does this have a happy fermentation going? Just curious.
Unfortunately no. I made the yeast starter by rehydrating the yeast and then adding the water (making a pint) and 2 tbls surgar. The next morning the yeast had foamed violently to the top of the quart jar and died back down. I pitched it and nothing. I hate to give up, so undaunted I went and bought a couple more yeast packets (EC-1118). This time I rehydrated the yeast and following some instructions from the links above, added 2 tsps sugar and waited 2 hours and added 2 tsps sugar. it was foaming nicely, so I pitched it and again nothing happened.

I'm about to call it quits, but if anyone thinks I should try again I will. I've got 2 more yeast packets. But I don't know if I try it again, will having 2 or 3 yeast packets in the must affect the taste?

Thoughts welcome by all!
 
Wow. That must have been a pile of sorbate.
It shouldnt go bad any time soon.
You might freeze it or at least some of it to use for back sweetening.
Or try adding it to your starter little by little.
Dilution might work also but if not you've wasted even more juice.
 
meadmaker1 - yes, must have been. Although it seemed like a standard packet. I didn't keep it so I don't know amount of sorbate that was in it. I've not tossed it yet - so its good to know it won't go bad soon. I thought I'd try it again this weekend, keeping the starter fed for more than 4 hours. Maybe that wasn't enough time.
 
meadmaker1 - yes, must have been. Although it seemed like a standard packet. I didn't keep it so I don't know amount of sorbate that was in it. I've not tossed it yet - so its good to know it won't go bad soon. I thought I'd try it again this weekend, keeping the starter fed for more than 4 hours. Maybe that wasn't enough time.

Yes, I think you need to generate a humongous starter. When you normally pitch yeast, the "lag phase" where the yeast colony is growing large enough to make a noticeable dent in the sugar takes about a day or more. You need to generate a colony of that order, since once you pitch it, that is all the yeast you will have. It will take some time to build up a colony, and it will also take a lot of juice or other source of sugar and nutrients. (That is why I suggested grape juice earlier.)
 

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