Color

[koda_ky]

I made some Kiwi Raspberry and the color was great right up until I put the sorbate and k-meta to stabilize before bottling. and then it turned a pinkish brown, it still taste great but I was hoping to keep that pretty red color. what went wrong. I have had it happen before with a apple raspberry.
Thanks

 

[Runningwolf]

I made some Kiwi Raspberry and the color was great right up until I put the sorbate and k-meta to stabilize before bottling. and then it turned a pinkish brown, it still taste great but I was hoping to keep that pretty red color. what went wrong. I have had it happen before with a apple raspberry.
Thanks

Don't worry, all is well! Give a few weeks to clear back up again.

 

[Wade E]

Not so sure about that one but hope so. When was the last time you added sulfite? Brown is usually not a color recovered from! Ive heatrd many times that sulfite can strip color from especially a strawberry wine for some reason but never have I heard a wine turn brown except from oxidation. due to not enough sulfiye to protect it. Was there any sediment in the wine that you stirred up? There is a chemical which I beleive is called PolyClar which will rid the wine of most and possibly all of this color and egg shell fining is also supposed to help in this area. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[koda_ky]

Not so sure about that one but hope so. When was the last time you added sulfite? Brown is usually not a color recovered from! Ive heatrd many times that sulfite can strip color from especially a strawberry wine for some reason but never have I heard a wine turn brown except from oxidation. due to not enough sulfiye to protect it. Was there any sediment in the wine that you stirred up? There is a chemical which I beleive is called PolyClar which will rid the wine of most and possibly all of this color and egg shell fining is also supposed to help in this area. Good luck and keep us updated.

It was great and it turned the second I put it in the wine. i wish i would have took a before and after.

 

[Racer]

How much sulphite did you add? I've seen a kit chardonnay lighten in color after adding the extra 1/4 tsp. of sulphite recommended for extended bottle aging.

 

[Wade E]

Sulfite does lighten like Ive said but never brwned like he stated.

 

[Stan]

I had the exact same thing happen to an apple-raspberry. Added one crushed campden and it stripped the dark red color right out of it. That was during primary, now i have backsweetened with more concentrate and have the color back. Im afraid if I add more campden i will lose the color again. Great flavor maybe i should just drink it fast before it goes bad.

 

[Wade E]

You can use Ascorbic acid to prevent some of the oxidation issues, its not as good as Sulfite but better then nothing. Its primarily used in fruit wine making before fermentation as it does not hinder fermenation like sulfite can.

 

[Stan]

How much would you recommend per gallon? Do you think it would help the wine last 6 months to a year. I will surely drink it before then.

 

[Wade E]

That should work fine. 1 tsp per 6 gallons.

 

[Stan]

Bottled my apple-raspberry yesterday. Added ascorbic acid and it kept the color. (thanks Wade) Tasted GREAT!!! I will be making a 6 gallon batch of
this as soon as my carboy is available.

 

[Wade E]

Youre quite welcome.

 

[Manimal]

I personally would not use ascorbic acid... it does act as an oxygen scavenger and prevents oxidation in the short term, but recent research in S. Africa and Australia seems to suggest that the by-products created when ascorbic acid interacts with oxygen can actually promote oxidation down the road. One of the by-products is hydrogen peroxide which is a powerful oxidizing agent.

There may very well be merits to the use of ascorbic acid, but since the jury is still out on the best application of it as an anti-oxidant, I would avoid using it until it is better understood.