Adding sorbate the next day?

[kiljoy]

Hey guys, I started a 3 gallon batch of Niagara almost a month ago. The SG is down to 0.990. Last night, I racked it and added 3 campden tabs. Two quick questions:

#1 I wasn’t sure if I should add the sorbate, or wait until it was all of the way clear. After reading through forums today, I figured I should have added it. Knowing that campden and sorbate must be added together, can I add the sorbate today when I get home?

#2 What is the schedule for adding campden. I’ve read every other racking and at bottling. What if you rack like 6 times? At what point do you stop adding sulfite?

 

[Midwest Vintner]

1> yes, go ahead and add it today. it shouldn't have done much damage, but i've not ever done this. so i cannot say exactly.

2> you can add another after every 3~4 months of bulk aging. if you plan on bottling it before then. don't add any! bulk aging might help pull out any of the damage you did with the sorbate deal. i recommend bulk aging for as long as possible. racking is not what causes the need for sorbate. it's that after time, it dissolves and dissapates out of the wine. then your wine is susceptible to "nasties." the campden prevents this.

 

[St Allie]

ok the reasoning for adding campden and sorbate together is purely a chemical one. If you add sorbate alone.. you will cause a chemical reaction in the wine, which can ( and mostly does), result in a 'geranium flavour' this is a fault and you can't fix it.

You need to add campden first.. then sorbate.. so leaving sorbate til the day after is not an issue.

Your wine will be fine.

as an aside.. I've never found it necessary to rack 6 times, 3 at the most.. if the lees/sediment is less than three quarters of an inch.. and it should be by rack 3.. to my mind.. you are over racking. put it somewhere out of sight..

Allie

 

[surlees]

What if you rack like 6 times? At what point do you stop adding sulfite?

Every time you rack you expose your wine to air (oxygen) and potential oxidation, so as Allie says keep your racking to just enough times to remove sediment. Usually 3-4 times is sufficent.

 

[Wade E]

Ok here is what it is. It is true that sorbate should only be added in the Presence of a decent amount of sulfite and the reason for this is to prevent malolactic fermentation with sorbate in there as thats what causes the geranium smell. Sulfite should be added about every 3-4 months of aging after the initial dose once its done fermenting. You do not have to add sorbate with the sulfite just after yo have sulfited as that prevents MLF.

 

[kiljoy]

Thanks guys. I went and added the sorbate. I was of course exaggerating about 6 rackings. :: I typically never have to rack more than two or three times. I plan on sweetening in the near future. I’d like it to clear a little bit more before I top it up. I figure there is enough trapped CO2 to protect it until my next racking. Cheers!

 

[Wade E]

I like sweetening early as sometimes doing so even with simple syrup can cloud it all up again.

 

[kiljoy]

Good point. I'll try and find some time this week. If I'm not mistaken, you are supposed to let the sorbate sit a few days before sweetening, correct?

 

[Wade E]

Ive sweetened after 1 day many times with no problems and kits have you add sweetener right after adding sorbate all within minutes.

 

[Martin]

Hey guys, I started a 3 gallon batch of Niagara almost a month ago. The SG is down to 0.990. Last night, I racked it and added 3 campden tabs. Two quick questions:

#1 I wasn’t sure if I should add the sorbate, or wait until it was all of the way clear. After reading through forums today, I figured I should have added it. Knowing that campden and sorbate must be added together, can I add the sorbate today when I get home?

#2 What is the schedule for adding campden. I’ve read every other racking and at bottling. What if you rack like 6 times? At what point do you stop adding sulfite?

Well i have not done it yet but read it somewhere that you can do it
one should do it every 4-5 months ,it will not harm

 

[Midwest Vintner]

Ive sweetened after 1 day many times with no problems and kits have you add sweetener right after adding sorbate all within minutes.

we do this without any issues. we degass after adding the two. then sweeten. then rack until clear. then degass and bottle.

 

[kiljoy]

OK, I was rather confused last night. I’m doing a 3 gallon batch. I guestimated that I was about 1 quart low after racking. So, knowing my SG was 0.990 I looked at my chart for a semi-sweet wine being 1.010. My other chart said that SG was about 2oz of sugar per gallon. I combined 6 oz of sugar with the 1 qt. of water and made a syrup. After adding, my SG barely rose. It tasted very dry and the SG was under 1.010. I did mix it up pretty well.

After that, I boiled 15oz of sugar with 1 cup of water. I was out of room in the carboy, so I took a little out and added my syrup. Now, I have 22oz of sugar and my s.g. only rose to 1.010. With that kind of sugar, shouldn’t I have been around 1.060?? Is my math off, or did my syrup go to the bottom and no amount of stirring helped?? I tasted it and it’s still pretty dry. Did my volume of water throw off the readings?? I’m so confused…

 

[Midwest Vintner]

did you add a whole qt of water or boil it? you need 2 parts sugar to 1 part water, then come to just under a boil, cool and add some citric acid. add sugar aka inverted sugar. do a google search possibly.

use the hydrometer grasshopper. too much math will cloud the mind and make the head ache. lol

just add slowly and check sg w/hydrometer. no math needed!

 

[kiljoy]

No, It didn't really boil. I'm pretty sure where I goofed was in adding too much water. Also, I think I may have a 3.5 gallon carboy and not a 3 gallon. Next time I rack, I'm sure I'll lose some liquid. If it's not sweet enough, I'll add a little more simple syrup then. Thanks for the help!

P.S. My wife will be telling me if it's sweet enough.