Potassium Sorbate Cloudiness :(

SteveH · Nov 14, 2017

I have a 6 gallon batch of Vidal Blanc (fresh local juice) that I'm trying to stop the ferment on to have 2% (ish) RS. I wanted to try this at least once. I added K-meta and K-sorbate and was surprised at how cloudy the k-sorbate made this batch that was almost perfectly clear. Reading other posts on here I ran and got some sparkolloid and added that two days ago and expected quick results. Now I've read recent post that says Sparkolloid takes a while to clear. . . Will this wine clear? I'm concerned because I have a batch from 2016 i want to back sweeten with fresh Vidal Blanc juice, but seeing what it did to my new batch I'm concerned about adding k-sorbate and k-meta to my 2016 batch, but if I back sweeten it I have to. I guess I'm looking for reassurance that this is normal and it will clear. I was hoping to bottle the 2016 a week or so after back sweetening, but looks like bottling will be put off a while. Carboy on right got cloudy from k-sorbate, use to look like carboy on left

while.

Arne · Nov 14, 2017

Did you have a bunch of lees on the bottom when you started adding to it? If so did you stir it up some? From here looks like the clear wine has a layer of lees on the bottom of the carboy. If so, you have to rack the wine off and leave the lees there. If your cloudy stuff had the lees and you stirred it up you can end up looking like that. It will usually clear out fairly quickly on its own. If mine, I would let it sit and see what happens. Arne.

SteveH · Nov 14, 2017

Arne said:
Did you have a bunch of lees on the bottom when you started adding to it? If so did you stir it up some? From here looks like the clear wine has a layer of lees on the bottom of the carboy. If so, you have to rack the wine off and leave the lees there. If your cloudy stuff had the lees and you stirred it up you can end up looking like that. It will usually clear out fairly quickly on its own. If mine, I would let it sit and see what happens. Arne.

Thanks, There were almost no lees whats ever, the potassium sorbate seems to be the source of almost all of the cloudiness.

Arne · Nov 15, 2017

Guess I would let it sit for a while and see what happens. Arne.

SteveH · Nov 18, 2017

Well, maybe it was how I added it to this years fresh batch. I didn't want to dilute the wine so instead of mixing the k-meta and k-sorbate with water I pulled out some wine and mixed it with that. The sorbate clouded when I mixed it in the cup or so I drew out, and then I poured it in and it obviously clouded the whole carboy. I finally got the nerve up to add k-meta and sorbate to my batch that's ready to back sweeten and bottle, but following instructions I mixed it up in some water and it remained clear when added to the carboy. Hmmmm.