My second raspberry wine, some questions.

[Larryh86GT]

Ok, first off I used my auto siphon correctly for the first time and it works like a charm. No puddles of wine on the floor. Thanks to all that helped me figure this out in a previous thread.

On my first raspberry wine I only ended up with 3 liters so I compensated on this batch and ended up with an extra 1 1/2 liter bottle that I will put in the fridge for testing purposes.

Now on to my questions:

1. I started this batch 8 days ago. It started quite quickly and was really foamy for the first 3 or 4 days. Before racking into the secondary today I tried to determine it's SG. The float kept wanting to cling to the side of the plastic tube it came in. I spun it remove air bubbles but it kept wanting to attach itself to the side. The best figure I came up with was .998 - is this good, bad, or indifferent? I don't have a starting figure. I didn't want to end up with another small 3 liter batch. What can I say?

2. Was I correct in adding a crushed campden tablet to the secondary at this time? And 2 - 3 months down the road before bottling add a crushed campben tablet (metabisulphite) and also the potassium sorbate before sweetening? They both do the same thing? Preserve and stop fermentation? If so why use 2 different items?

3. Using honey instead of sugar - is the amount of honey used the same as the sugar? (the same pound for pound?). Is there any wines that using honey would be adverse?

Larry

 

[Mud]

Honey is usually about 80% fermentable.

 

[vvolf34]

You want to use both to stop fermentation. Sorbate works better with K-meta (campden tablets, potasium metabisulphite) I know for a fact if you only do k-meta, fermentation will restart. Tried and tested on 2 separate batches with different yeast.

Neither one actually kills the yeast, just prevents it from reproducing.

 

[Larryh86GT]

You want to use both to stop fermentation. Sorbate works better with K-meta (campden tablets, potasium metabisulphite) I know for a fact if you only do k-meta, fermentation will restart. Tried and tested on 2 separate batches with different yeast.

Neither one actually kills the yeast, just prevents it from reproducing.

So I add both to the secondary and then both again before sweetening before bottling? I don't mean to be slow but it's a little confusing.
Thanks

 

[summersolstice]

Just to set the record straight, K meta and sorbate serve to inhibit renewed fermentation. They will not stop an active fermentation. I tried it when I was new to the hobby and the result was a dramatically drawn out and very slow fermentation that seemed to last forever. If you do attempt to use these additives before the wine has finished fermentation and you then bottle it, the result will be a fizzy wine at best and possibly blown corks.

Potassium or Sodium metabisulfite and Potassium Sorbate should be used once fermentation is complete if you plan to backsweeten. If you prefer your wine dry, simply add the k meta as a preservative. No need to add sorbate.

 

[mmadmikes1]

using K-Meta and sorbate will not stop active fermentation it will prevent a fermentation from restarting only. From looking at picture you may be bottling early' It you couldnt take a reading with Hydrometer because of bubbles then it needed degassing more. That is a contributing factor to why wine has not completly cleared. If this batch di not finish and you backsweetined then your wine is going to ferment in bottles. This will get messy if bottles explode. You should check hydro readings 3 day in a row and they need to be the same in ensure completed fermentation. I see you have a air lock in gallon jug, thats good todaymake sure to loosen screw cap on grinder jug regularly to ensure you dont have CO2 in jug for awhile. BTW I never add stabalizers into secondary,you dont want it in secondary fermentation

 

[mmadmikes1]

beat me to it SS, while I was typing you posted

 

[Larryh86GT]

Ok, thanks SS & MMM. That helps clear it up for me. And the wine from the 1 1/2 liter bottle in the picture has since been transfered to a different bottle with an air trap. I was going to just drink it but later that evening I figured out how to use a different 1 1/2 liter bottle the air trap fit on. This batch is not sweetened yet.
Larry

 

[Luc]

Mud is right, honey consist for about 80% off sugar. The rest is water.

So when replacing tanle sugar (100%) with honey (80%) you should divide the amount sugar needed by .8.
Meaning that if you have to add 200 gram sugar you can replace that with 200 / .8 = 250 gram honey.

Of course you can use part sugar / part honey.
Remember that honey also adds flavor components.

Further you can not stop an active fermentation. You might stun the yeast for some time, but they will re-start.

Best is to ferment to dry, the add sulphite and sorbate and then add sugar to sweeten.

Luc

 

[Larryh86GT]

So when replacing tanle sugar (100%) with honey (80%) you should divide the amount sugar needed by .8.
Meaning that if you have to add 200 gram sugar you can replace that with 200 / .8 = 250 gram honey.


Luc

Ok, thanks Luc. Now I'm starting to see that perhaps I should have paid more attention in math class.
Larry