A Couple of questions

[Cxwgfamily]

I have a friend new to wine making. He has a pear wine that he mistakenly added Potassium Sorbate to instead of Potassium MetaBisulfite. He realized his error and wanted to know if there was anything he could do. I initially thought he could just overwhelm the Sorbate with yeast by adding three or four packets over several days until he saw fermentation activity. But this does not seems to be working. The next step was to blend it 50 / 50 with a good batch with active fermentation going on. We did this on a trial basis, with a small amount from each batch, and he thinks he is seeing some activity. Are there any other things he could do. He is beginning to think he is going to have to sewer the batch. He does have two other pear batches either in process or about to be available for blending if that is a feasible path forward.
Thanks a million.
cxwgfamily

 

[Rice_Guy]

K sorbate activity is related to the chemical sorbic acid concentration as well as alcohol concentration. This is a synergy.

the way around, is to get a yeast starter running and mix the two batches like your friend did on a test basis. the second factor on effectiveness is alcohol, that means as sugar is converted to alcohol stress increases and it may never get below 1.000

 

[Cxwgfamily]

Thanks!! I will have a discussion with my friend about combining the batches. I think he has more pears to make more wine, so we may be able to drive down the concentration of sorbate in each of the batches. Will keep everybody posted!
charles