Is this the result of old KSorbate?

[DaveL]

I have a Quadberry going that seems to still be ferenting weeks after Sorbate was added. I have pasted my notes below.
Should I add another dose of Sorbate? I can see bubbles rising out of the lees.
Worried that with all the sugar and backsweetening if it is still fermenting it is going to be a rocket fuel.

Quad berry with bananas

Date began(day 1) 3/2/2013 SG Tests
time 8pm day
ingredients 1 4lb bag Wall mart pineapple, strawberry, peach, mango 1 1.072
1 3lb bag Straw, pineapple, mango 2 1.072 added 2 cups sugar
1 can peaches drained. All bagged 1.076 Checked Hydrometer it appears to be pf .1so
20 cups Sugar actual 1.086 could be rocket fuel
5 Gallons Well water cold 5 1.02
1 tsp. Tannin 6 1
3 tsp. yeast nutrient 7 0.996 10am
1 tsp. yeast Energizer 0.993 1pm
3 tsp. Pectic Enzyme
Top to 6 Gallons water


TA

.5 before adding Acid blend
Temp at mix 56 F

Day 2
Time 10:00 AM

comments Tested TA 0.5
Added 4 tsp. Acid blend
Added 4 brown, frozen peeled bananas
Pitched yeast, Montrachet active dry wine yeas
Temp must

Day 3
time 4:00 AM

temp

comments Pushed down before leaving town. Fermentation going well should get stronger.


Day 5
Time 9pm


temp

comments Liz added 2 bananas with skins and 1 3lb bag pineapple strawberry Mango
after checking Sg 1.02
Day 6
time 7pm
temp

comments Fermentation still active, pushed down. Tasted bananas definitely present color clear ish
will rack tomorrow or Sun.
day 7
time 12noon
Racked to carboy
will cap and add Kmeta etc. tomorrow

Day 9 Added 1/4 tsp. Kmete
1 Tsp. K sorbate
degassed some still very gassy
time 430pm
Time 930
Added egg white finning agent and degasses some


Day 14 Racked to primary and back to carboy, degassed some in primary. Fruit nowhere to be tasted. Added 1/4tsp to 2 oz., seemed about right
chopped 1 lb. of strawberries in half made 2 cups, 1 lb. pineapple chunks in half made 2 cups 1 banana sliced peeled 1.2 cup
TEMP 4 cups sugar, 2 cups water into syrup. strained
Added to carboy, degased more. Tasted may need more sugar syrup.
Comments put lees from strained syrup into quart mason jar added splash of water and 4 shots Cruzan,,,,we'll see

Day 16 Still fizzing slowly, fizz appears slow but constant but airlock barely bubbles. I wonder if Sorbate was old.
Check next week.
Day 24 Still fizzing as if fermentation ongoing.
Added Bentonite
temp

Day 28 Clearing nicely, Still fizzing. Can see bubbles arising from lees at bottom of carboy





Day 37

 

[GreginND]

You added your sorbate way too early. The wine is still fermenting because you still have lees and a large yeast population.

Sorbate does not kill yeast. It only inhibits their reproduction. Any live yeasts will continue living and fermenting. You cannot stop an active fermentation with sorbate.

The best practice is to ferment your wine dry and do your normal bulk aging and regular rackings until it is clear and as free as possible from the yeast. Then you can backsweeten and add your sorbate. I never add sorbate and sugar unless the wine has aged for at least 6 months.

You can speed up the process but, again, the wine needs to be as clear as possible for sorbate to prevent renewed fermentation.

At this point your only option is to rack it off the lees and let it continue until the fermentation naturally stops. You may or may not have any residual sugar left. You can add more sugar later if necessary.

You didn't mention how old your sorbate was but I think that is not likely the problem. I would not add much more since you already do have it in there. But if you think the sorbate will not protect it later you could add say half a dose later when it is clear and you need to sweeten.

 

[SBWs]

From what I can tell day 9 seems to be where the problem is. I will assume the Specific Gravity was at or below 1.000 if not you added K-meta and Sorbate to early. The other problem is (once again I"ll assume this is a 6 gallon batch) K-sorbate is added at 1/2 tsp per gallon. If you only added 1 tsp you only added about a third of what was needed.

What I'd do is take a specific gravity reading every few days to make sure it isn't still fermenting. Once it stays the same wait a week and check again. If it hasn't changed re-dose the K-sorbate (1/2 tsp per gallon) and maybe add 1/8 tsp K-meta and then degas. Wait a week or two and then check to see if it needs to be backsweetened.

K-sorbate will add a bubble gum flavor if to much is added so don't go overboard. I don't think it would be noticeable in Skeeter Pee even if you added double.

 

[LonelyMassachusetts]

I agree with everything that's been said already; vigorous fermentation may last 1-2 months. I like to add k-sorbate at about 4 months, but you can do it at any time as long as you wait for the wine to become completely still before bottling. I also agree with the 1/2 teaspoon of potassium sorbate per gallon, but I recommend you follow the directions printed on whatever brand you buy. Mine says to add 1/4 teaspoon per gallon and it has worked out fine for me.

 

[Runningwolf]

I agree with everything that's been said already; vigorous fermentation may last 1-2 months. I like to add k-sorbate at about 4 months, but you can do it at any time as long as you wait for the wine to become completely still before bottling. I also agree with the 1/2 teaspoon of potassium sorbate per gallon, but I recommend you follow the directions printed on whatever brand you buy. Mine says to add 1/4 teaspoon per gallon and it has worked out fine for me.

Did you mean a fermentation could take 1-2 months? I've rarely seen a "vigorous" fermentation last more then 4-5 day at the most then it'll slow way down.

 

[DaveL]

OK thanks. I added 1 tablespoon of Sorbate. (Tsp) on day 9. I was following the Dragonsblood recipe for a quick drinker. It seems to work fine in that one so whats the difference? Perhaps I just wasn't quite dry and when I backsweetend it just kept on cooking.Obviously there must be one as it is still fermenting. I had an Sg of 0.93 when I added sorbate so there wasn't much room to go if it was still fermenting.
Interesting to hear that sorbate is the bubblegum culprit, MyDB does have that at times.

 

[saramc]

OK thanks. I added 1 tablespoon of Sorbate. (Tsp) on day 9.

You do realize the 'tsp' is teaspoon, not tablespoon right? Teaspoon is smaller volume, tablespoon, aka tbsp, is 3 teaspoons in many kitchens.

 

[DaveL]

You do realize the 'tsp' is teaspoon, not tablespoon right? Teaspoon is smaller volume, tablespoon, aka tbsp, is 3 teaspoons in many kitchens.

tsp is teaspoon
Tsp is tablespoon
at least on several recipes on this sight. I specifically asked this Q of another. It must be true as I read it on the internet.
Yes 3 tsp =1 Tsp

 

[Midwest Vintner]

tsp is teaspoon
Tsp is tablespoon
at least on several recipes on this sight. I specifically asked this Q of another. It must be true as I read it on the internet.
Yes 3 tsp =1 Tsp

I am not sure about that. IIRC, it's tsp = teaspoon and tbl = tablespoon. Doesn't matter if there are caps or not.

 

[saramc]

tsp is teaspoon
Tsp is tablespoon
at least on several recipes on this sight. I specifically asked this Q of another. It must be true as I read it on the internet.
Yes 3 tsp =1 Tsp

LOL...I guarantee that tbsp/TBSP, some use tbs/TBS/tbl though that is not universal, is tablespoon--definitely not teaspoon. Caps really make no difference. In my line of work I could injure/kill someone if I screw teaspoon vs tablespoon up.

 

[DaveL]

I agree with you. As I said I asked the question when I encountered it as well. I just took to using it. It doesn't really matter since I knew what I meant and used. I get that it confused this conversation but now that we have cleared that up,,,,