PBW turns black/green

[jpojo]

Last night I racked my first batch of wine into a carboy for clearing/degassing. I noticed something peculiar when I went to wash out my fermenter. I mixed up a solution of PBW and dumped it into the fermenter and it instantly turned dark green or nearly black when it came into contact with the lees and left over wine in the fermenter.

Since this is my first batch, I have the typical "first batch syndrome" and worry about every little thing, but is this typical behavior for PBW and wine?

 

[AZMDTed]

I can't speak for PBW, but I use oxiclean green and watching it turn blue when it comes in contact with wine or grape residue is a secret pleasure of mine. Don't tell anyone else though

I wouldn't be surprised if PBW is similar.

 

[jpojo]

Yeah I imagine that it would behave similarly, since apparently PBW is basically oxiclean with sodium metasilicate added to combat hard water.

After a bit of wine composition research, I pretty much answered my question. With having a bit of a chemistry background, I should have realized the behavior is caused by the Anthocyanin in red wine. Since anthocyanin's color is pH dependent, adding an alkali cleaner to wine residue would cause the anthocyanin to change from red to blue to green.

 

[tjgaul]

I'm with AZMDTed . . . it is always fun to watch the One-Step turn bright blue in the carboy! One of the joys of home winemaking.