# stabilizing/finishing wine



## woodsxdragon (Sep 21, 2010)

i read the jack keller article on it (stabilizing/finishing) and i read the recipe/guide book i purchased and i'm still kind of confused. Mind you i have about 3 months before it's bottling time but i'm trying to get it down pat in my mind before attempting it. So my question is i've see both sodium/potas metasulfite and the potassium sorbate listed also they throw in campden tablets in there just to confuse me even more. Add in the talking about conditioners and i'm lost.
so to sum it up:
What chemicals do i add to stabilize?
Do i add sugar to sweet for taste after stabilization?
can i just use the generic "conditioner" to stabilize?

Thanks,
Dan


----------



## Julie (Sep 22, 2010)

to stabilize, add k-meta or campdem tablets and sorbate, wait a couple of days (some wait a week) and backsweeten. I don't use conditioners so I am no help to you there but to backsweeten, you can pull out some wine warm iit up and add sugar to that or you can make an fpack.


----------



## corntassel (Sep 22, 2010)

what size batch are you making? My experience on wine conditioners was not good. Fermintation kicked off again after back sweetoning thank God it was still in carboy. It is hard to determin how long the conditioner has been on the shelf. Potasium sorbate is the best way to go with either campbon tabs or K-meta ( potasium metasulfite). An f-pack or simple syrup are the way to go for sweetoning.


----------



## Dugger (Sep 22, 2010)

I'll try to put it in perspective for you. When the fermentation is complete, it means the yeast has consumed all the sugars it can digest; however, there may still be some sugar in the wine that your yeast couldn't eat. You therefore have to protect or stabilize your wine from any wild yeast ( they are in the air everywhere) that might be strong enough to eat that remaining sugar and start fermenting again, something you don't want. Also if you add sugar later to sweeten, any remaining yeast might snack on that as well.
To stabilize you should add some sulphites - this can be either sodium or potassium metabisulphite; they are more or less the same for this purpose. Campden tablets are just the same thing, generally potassium metabisulphite ( aka Kmeta or sulphite/sulfite) in tablet form. This sulphite stuns any viable yeast when you add it. It also can kill any other little nasties and will also protect your wine from oxidizing when it is exposed to air so it's a very important thing to add.
Potassium sorbate ( aka sorbate) also stabilizes by preventing any viable yeast from reproducing ( think birth control for yeast) and yeast needs to reproduce to ferment.
Thus by adding both sulphite and sorbate you pretty well ruin any chance some yeast has of restarting fermentation - your wine is now stable.
Conditioner is normally just a sugar syrup pack to sweeten your wine - it has some sorbate in it but this is just to protect the conditioner itself and will not protect your wine.
If you want to sweeten your wine it is done after it has been stabilized - this is referred to as back sweetening.- Most people use the conditioner or make a simple syrup by dissolving table sugar in boiling water and this can be added to taste.

Sorry to be long winded, but I think it is easier if you understand the process.


----------



## Woodbee (Sep 22, 2010)

Dugger, Well put.


----------



## woodsxdragon (Sep 22, 2010)

all right i think i get it. since i'm doing 1 gallon batches when i've racked and the degassed for the last time before bottling i'd crush and toss another campden wait for a week of so then add sugar/syrup if i wanted to sweeten it... or would 2 be good?


----------



## Dugger (Sep 22, 2010)

Being a kit wine maker, I'm not sure of the amounts for small batches but I think you would add maybe 1/8 tsp of Kmeta ( one tablet??) and perhaps a half tsp of sorbate. Don't degas until you stabilize though. Once it's stabilized and degassed you should age it for awhile to let it clear and then rack it off the sediment and then sweeten it.
Others with more experience with fruit/berry wine can probably offer more complete advice.


----------



## woodsxdragon (Sep 22, 2010)

i've got 2 bottles of Campden and 2oz of Sodium Metabisulfite... so i need kmeta too? correct?


----------



## Dugger (Sep 22, 2010)

Dugger said:


> ...To stabilize you should add some sulphites - this can be either sodium or potassium metabisulphite; they are more or less the same for this purpose. Campden tablets are just the same thing, generally potassium metabisulphite ( aka Kmeta or sulphite/sulfite) in tablet form...



You can get some Kmeta in powder form if you wish, but you don't need it unless you want it for sanitizing..


----------



## Wade E (Sep 23, 2010)

Sodium meta is a better sanitizer as its a little bit stronger. use the Sodium for sanitizing and the campden tablets for your wine making. When you start making bigger batches then you want to stop buying the tablet form and start using pot meta in your wine. Sodium can sometimes add that salty taste in your wine despite the small amount used especially in delicate wines like Pear where the flavor is usually weaker then most others. powder k meta is much cheaper and the pills can sometimes leave particles in your wine if you dont do a good job dissolving them first before adding them to your wine as there are fillers in there to help hold the pill together.


----------



## Dugger (Sep 24, 2010)

Wade - I didn't realize sodium meta was stronger; thanks for the info. I have been using sodium meta as a sanitizer ( as well as some no rinse ones) as you suggest but only because it is much cheaper around here than pot meta. Pot meta is sold here only in small quantities as a stabilizer. I have read on forums that K meta is used as a sanitizer in the US and thought perhaps it was less expensive down there.
I also heard a wine expert many years ago say that Pot meta was food grade while sod meta was not. Not sure if this is true or even what it means. Anyone else ever hear of this?


----------



## Ankita (Sep 25, 2010)

Hi,

I have seen the post and my opinion to use sugar for stablization.

Thanks.


----------



## Tom (Sep 25, 2010)

Ankita said:


> Hi,
> 
> I have seen the post and my opinion to use sugar for stablization.
> 
> Thanks.


You DO NOT add sugar to stabilize wine. Do you have any winemaking experience?


----------

