Add Sorbate to Home "Conditioner"?

[bkisel]

Okay, so I think I've near duplicated the $8.00 500ML wine conditioner that I've bought several times at my LHBS. [By volume... 300ML water + juice from half a lemon + 500ML of sugar] The boil off resulted in a finished syrup of almost exactly 500ML. After my conditioner cools can I mix sorbate directly into the syrup? If so how much (all 500ML will be used to back sweeten 6 gals.) sorbate should I add to make my conditioner the equivalent of the store bought wine conditioner?

Thanx...

 

[grapeman]

Where did you get the recipe for this? Are you confident this is what is in it?

 

[jamesngalveston]

I used a wine condition packet once..and didnt care for it.
Not sure what is in it, I thought more then water,lemon,sugar,sorbate.

 

[bkisel]

Where did you get the recipe for this? Are you confident this is what is in it?

Read contents - Sugar and/or Glucos-Fructose, Potassium Sorbate. Then researched how to make inverted sugar syrup. I'm confident that if I get the sorbate right I'll have a "conditioner" similar to what now costs me $8.00. Yeah, they might be using raw cane sugar and me table sugar (or some such thing) but I don't think it is going to make a dimes worth of difference in taste.

 

[bkisel]

I used a wine condition packet once..and didnt care for it.
Not sure what is in it, I thought more then water,lemon,sugar,sorbate.

I could live without it but I've used it several times with wine I make primarily for my wife. Turns out she really prefers an off dry to a dry wine.

 

[cpfan]

bkisel:

The sorbate in commercial wine conditioner is there to stop the conditioner from fermenting. If you are making your conditioner right before it will be used, there is no need for sorbate. Of course, you need to add sorbate to the wine itself.

Steve

 

[grapeman]

Just use inverted sugar mix to sweeten with and don't bother to consider it conditioner. I used conditioner a couple times and did not like the results. It gave the wine an off taste. You can mix up any size batch you want and store it in a gallon jug for use as you need it. I have never had it ferment in the jug because the sugar concentration is too much for it to start up. I did have it crystalize in the jug once- what a PITA to get it out.

 

[Julie]

Well like Grapeman, I tried the condition and did not like the aftertaste. Why don't you just add k-meta and sorbate to your wine and I know there has been comments how sorbate does not mix with the wine but I add it to the carboy then rack the wine and I have never had a problem with the sorbate dissolving. And I have added it to a carboy after I racked, I just shake the carboy and again, no problem with it dissolving.

After I add the k-meta and sorbate, I just take out some wine, warm it up and add the sugar to that, stir until dissolved, add it back to the wine. Wine is sweeten without the after taste that the conditioner creates.

 

[jamesngalveston]

by invert sugar , do you mean, sugar and water and cream of tartar cooked down....i use that for cooking /baking somtimes, and candy

 

[bkisel]

by invert sugar , do you mean, sugar and water and cream of tartar cooked down....i use that for cooking /baking somtimes, and candy

Yes, cream of tartar OR citric acid like in lemon juice. Don't know the chemistry involved but the acid and the boiling process results in a breakdown, as I understand it, into sweeter glucose and fructose sugars - or something like that. The result is sweeter than simple syrup if I'm understanding it correctly.

 

[GreginND]

Even if you don't invert the sugar, it will invert over time in your wine naturally. It just takes longer if you are not boiling it. So, I always just sweeten with sugar as is.

 

[homer]

If you were going to use citric acid, how much should you should add per batch? bk