We have made over 12 wine kits and are almost at the point to where the only thing we need in the kits is the juice because we upgrade almost everything else. The only things we haven’t upgraded is the chitosan, kieselsol, and sorbate. Wanted to know if there are any upgrades for those to improve the wine and if you can give an explanation for each.
Upgrading from kit kieselsol, chitosan, sorbate
- Thread starter Tripled92
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Ohio Bob
Senior Member
If you bulk age the wine long enough you won’t need any fining agents.
If you don’t back sweeten the wine you don’t need sorbate.
If you don’t back sweeten the wine you don’t need sorbate.
Does adding the chitosan and kieselsol change the taste of the wine? And as of now before bottling we let it sit about 7-8 weeks.
Can you explain a bit more about the sorbate? Does it change the taste when we add it? We have been adding it in the stabilizing phase.
I have never been able to taste either. If properly dosed, most of it shouldn't remain in the wine, but will be in the sediment you leave behind.
Potassium sorbate is used in winemaking to 'stabilize' a wine and prevent a renewed fermentation (especially when sweetening a wine prior to bottling. Potassium sorbate does not kill yeast cells but instead inhibits the yeast cell from being able to multiply, grow and begin a new fermentation. This very important if you plan to bottle after adding sugar (yeast food) to the wine before bottling or the yeast will start up again in the bottle.
I conducted a test last year, splitting 2 batches of wine, using K&C on one half of each. K&C reduce the nose and add a slight bitterness.
Try not bottling before 4 months of age. Wine goes through a lot of chemical changes during the first 4 to 12 months (depending on the wine), so bulk aging longer lets it go through the changes as a single unit. Plus if you're not using a fining agent, the wine will have more time to clear naturally.
Sorbate supposedly breaks down over time and can cause off flavors. I have not had it happen that I've noticed, but that is the chemistry of it. As Bob commented, if the wine is dry, there is absolutely no reason to add sorbate.
Thank you for this response. Since we are only doing fermentation once, I’m guessing we don’t need to add the sorbate? Also does adding the sorbate change the taste?
My notes from the K&C test are here:
https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/kieselsol-and-chitosan-test-results.77805/
https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/kieselsol-and-chitosan-test-results.77805/
Correctly dosed Potassium Sorbate should not be detectable. However, I do recommend Potassium Metabisulfite.
"Potassium metabisulfite acts as an antioxidant with anti-microbial properties. This serves many purposes along the winemaking journey. In slang, the addition is usually referred to as adding SO2 (sulfur dioxide) because when added to water or wine it produces SO2 gas and SO3 (sulfite). Sulfites have been vilified by the general public ever since wineries were required to write "contains sulfites" on the labels but we'll get to that later. Believe it or not, sulfites are actually produced as a natural byproduct of yeast alcoholic fermentation in quantities up to 100 parts per million (ppm) and used widely in the food industry as a safe means of preserving food." - Source
Also not "required," but a friendly suggestion. Sodium Metabisulfite is detectable and generally not used in wine unless you do, in fact, want a saltier wine--in which case, go for it!
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