Juice with potassium sorbate in it...

[oxeye]

My GF always picks me up several gallons of apple cider whenever she catches it on sale.

While doing my prep routine for a fresh batch of hard cider, I discovered that a couple of the gallons contain Potassium Sorbate as a preservative.

It was purchased several weeks ago, and now she can't find the receipt so that I can return them.

Can I still ferment this juice?

Do LHBS's carry such a thing as Preservative Eraser?...or can I overcome the preservative by adding nutrient?...or what?

Does anyone have a suggestion, other than to just drink it like it is?

oxeye

 

[Luc]

You can remove Potassium Sorbate the hard way.

It was describes in Jack-Kellers web-log.
Make a strong yeast starter made from bread yeast.
Add that to the cider.
Let it ferment until it stops.
The bread yeast will by then have consumed the
Potassium Sorbate.

Now rack the wine, and add another yeast starter.
This one will have an environment without sorbate
and can ferment to the end.

Read the full story here:
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblog9.asp
and look for the April 24th, 2007 entry

It might help in your particular case.
Try with a small batch of about a gallon and go from there.

Luc

 

[oxeye]

Thanks

Ahh...Luc -

What a walking library of information you are!

Thanks for your advice and the link!

The air lock on my little one gallon batch of hard apple cider is now 'pooking' away about once every 7 or 8 seconds, or so.

I warmed part of the juice and added a heaping cup of cane sugar. After mixing it all back together, and cooling it down, the OG was 1.074.

I pitched 1 tsp of baker's yeast three different times at eight hour intervals before I started seeing activity. The third time was, as they say, the charm. I then added a pinch of nutrient, and Viola, it is off and running!

I'll do another SG test on day 7.

Thanks again for the help.

oxeye