Skeeter Pee - forgot sorbate?

[JBP]

Have a 6 month old batch of SP that I think I forgot to add sorbate, but am not sure. I back-sweetened it lightly (didn't not measure SG post-sugar) several months ago and while I never saw active re-start of fermentation, taste and SG indicate that it is basically dry. I left it in a carboy as I couldn't remember if I added sorbate. So - do I add sorbate now? Keep holding another few months to ensure yeast is dead before backsweetening? Or keep in airlocked gallon carboys until ready to drink and avoid any risks?

Yes, I keep very detailed records on my wines. No, I did not make ANY notes on this batch of skeeter pee. Sigh.

 

[David Violante]

I think it depends on when you want to drink it and how you feel about sorbate. If it were me and I wanted to drink it sooner, I would add sorbate and back sweeten to taste. If you’re not thrilled with sorbate and can wait, then it’s a great option to just wait. If it doesn’t matter about sorbate, (knowing my history of note taking and memory), I would sorbate and back sweeten and then let sit… LOL

 

[JBP]

Thanks - not in a hurry to drink (summer drinking at cabin for us), but need the gallon jugs the batch is divided into.

Buy more glass or risk extra sorbate in skeeter pee...both cheap and easy answers, I guess.

 

[winemaker81]

Did you record the FG? If the current SG is above the recorded FG, then you probably added sorbate and it hasn't fermented.

If the wine is bone dry, then you didn't add sorbate, so it's ok to add more

 

[JBP]

Okay - let's start by being grateful for a safe space that we can share our stupidities. While wanting desperately to prove I normally keep exceptional records, I will confess that I wrote nothing down on this one. Was trying to get a quick batch made before DIL came to lake cabin for visit - don't even have the starting date. That said, pretty sure it finished well below 1.000 as I would remember if I was questioning if it finished (because my memory is so good ). Currently, it is sitting at 1.002 - pretty sure that is lower than my back sweeten target for DIL and higher than the FG.

Going to sorbate, sweeten, wait 2 weeks and bottle (and dose with kmeta, which it is due). Should safely avoid any bottle bombs and I will do a small taster bottle. Plenty of time to make more SP for summer if this batch is yucky. And I will recover my gallon jugs for my planned mead experiments. Because keeping the projects going is what matters!

Thanks ~

 

[winemaker81]

Okay - let's start by being grateful for a safe space that we can share our stupidities.

If that's the worst mistake you make, count your blessings!

 

[Rice_Guy]

From a food point of view, sorbate / sorbic acid is safe, you could double the treatment without any health issues. From a flavor point of view, if you were keeping the skeeter pee for a year, a double dose of K sorbate would double the level of ethyl sorbate naturally produced and might get it to a threshold level. HOWEVER,,,,, most folks would not put a name on this and simply say “this kinda reminds me of bubble gum”. Ethyl sorbate is used as a flavoring agent.

 

[JBP]

Thanks, @Rice_Guy - I didn't realize it could take that long for the bubble gum flavor to develop.