# How long should I wait....



## pete1325 (May 16, 2016)

Hi all, quick question.......how long should I wait after I sorbate (stabilize) before back sweetening and then bottle?


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## Turock (May 16, 2016)

Be sure that your wine is clear before sorbating because it won't work when the wine is loaded with yeast cells. You must have bulk aged and racked off the bulk of the cells, THEN sorbate. In truth--it's the bulk aging that stabilizes a wine---not the sorbate. All sorbate does is prevent the existing yeast cells from budding and continuing to ferment the sugar you're adding for sweetening.

If your wine is bulk aged and clear, you can sweeten, add sorbate (and a little more meta) and bottle immediately. Some people like to wait a day or two after sorbating to be sure the wine won't referment. But if you understand that you must remove about 80% of the yeast cells, then sorbate-----well, there's no reason to wait to bottle it. And be sure to date your sorbate when you buy it and don't use past the one year mark. Old sorbate doesn't work well and you can get a referment that way.


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## Johnd (May 16, 2016)

I'm not looking to be disagreeable, but most wine kits have you add sorbate, KMS, and fining agents at the same time, just after completion of fermentation, when your wine is still quite cloudy. 

WineExpert even has you stir the lees back into suspension at that time. It is my belief that you do not have to wait for your wine to bulk age and become completely clear.


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## BernardSmith (May 16, 2016)

From Turock: Be sure that your wine is clear before sorbating because it won't work when the wine is loaded with yeast cells. 



Johnd said:


> ...It is my belief that you do not have to wait for your wine to bulk age and become completely clear.



I think that this is an empirical question that can be tested. Wine is both an art and a science but that we all tend to invoke assumptions and anecdotes rather than hard data says something about the lack of a rigorous scientific approach we take to the scientific side of wine making.


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## heatherd (May 16, 2016)

pete1325 said:


> Hi all, quick question.......how long should I wait after I sorbate (stabilize) before back sweetening and then bottle?



You can stabilize and back-sweeten whenever you are ready.

You'll have to wait until the wine is clear to bottle.


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## richmke (May 16, 2016)

Don't forget the k-meta with the k-sorbate. The k-meta kills what it can, and the k-sorbate keeps whatever is left from reproducing.

I suppose yeast can live inside particles and thus avoid the k-meta and k-sorbate. Which is probably why you want it to be clear before you backsweeten (add f-pack).


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## HillPeople (May 16, 2016)

IMHO- sorbate and backsweeten after a couple rackings when it's completely clear. Since I detest any hint of sweetness in wine, you probably shouldn't listen to me, but due to the mass public taste, I hold my nose and do it occasionally.


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## brewbush (May 16, 2016)

Johnd said:


> I'm not looking to be disagreeable, but most wine kits have you add sorbate, KMS, and fining agents at the same time, just after completion of fermentation, when your wine is still quite cloudy.
> 
> 
> 
> WineExpert even has you stir the lees back into suspension at that time. It is my belief that you do not have to wait for your wine to bulk age and become completely clear.




This

Kits have you add kmeta and sorbate at the same time in cloudy wine and then a few minutes later adding any sweetening f-packs.


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## jgmann67 (May 17, 2016)

brewbush said:


> This
> 
> Kits have you add kmeta and sorbate at the same time in cloudy wine and then a few minutes later adding any sweetening f-packs.




While that's true (and perfectly fine if you're going to drop the entire FPac), I usually add KMeta and the clarifiers, then wait. After I rack, I'll add the FPac to taste. Depending on whether my SG approaches 1.000 after adding the FPac, I'll add the sorbate, too (if I know it will be around that SG in the end, I'll add it with the KMeta). I don't care for sorbate, but I like the idea of bottle bombs even less. 

I don't know that there are any hard and fast rules here.


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## Turock (May 17, 2016)

Sorbating a kit is different from non-kit wines.

And believe me,there's plenty of science---and logic--for not sorbating cloudy wine.


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## WineYooper (May 21, 2016)

For my country fruit wine I rack to secondary let sit for 3-4 weeks, rack again then add sorbate and kms. Rack again in 3 months, age , rack again, bottle after 11--12 months and usually backsweetin about two weeks before bottling. It seems like when I backsweetin I get a little more sediment but it also gives a little time to blend with a light stir in the carboy. Seems to work for me but degassing is the key to clear wine, IMO.


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## Tnuscan (May 22, 2016)

Isn't it as simple as a positive and a negative making a bond, or vice versa...???


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