Sulfite Not Killing K1V-1116

[Nutwich]

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to the site so thanks in advance for any advice. I've been an avid beer and mead brewer for years and have a good handle on fermentation but am relatively new to wine. I've done a few buckets of juice from Italy/Chile that come with yeast pre-pitched as it sounds like many others on here have done. The reds come with K1V-1116 and whites come with EC-1118. Both reliable, clean, competitive yeasts and I understand why they do that. My issue is that although clean they are relatively boring yeasts to me. Knowing how much yeast strain selection can influence flavors in beer I wanted to try a different strain last time. Upon receiving my bucket of Brunello I added 1/4 tsp sulfite as recommended and waited 24 hours, then prepared my new yeast with go ferm and as I opened the lid to pitch it the must was fermenting VERY vigorously. The sulfite didn't even seem to phase it. I pitched the other yeast anyway since it was prepared but 5 months later I can't tell if it added much. I know both of these pre-pitched yeasts are "tolerant of higher sulfite levels" according to the Lalvin web site. I have another bucket coming in a month and want to know if I can still kill/stall the pre-pitched yeast so I can use my strain of choice.

Do I add more sulfite than last time? How much? I've never used more than recommended. Will it all dissipate after 24 hours or is there such a thing as too much that will kill the new pitch of yeast as well?

Pitching multiple strains into beer for complexity works great but due to the "killer" factor of these pre-pitched yeasts is there any point to just pitching another strain alongside? Will I get any character from it or will it be completely overwhelmed?

Or, do I just accept that buying juice this way limits my yeast options and roll with it?

Thanks

 

[Julie]

Sulfites do not kill an active fermentation. When you get the juice buckets, add the yeast that you want to add immediately and it should take over the fermentation.

 

[Nutwich]

Hey Julie. I'm not sure if the fermentation was active per se but the yeast had been pitched. The must is stored and shipped near freezing and you pick the bucket up cold. Most people just allow the bucket to come up to room temperature and fermentation will take off. I attempted to sulfite it with the hope that as it came up to room temp it would not begin to ferment and allow my pitch to work exclusively. Are you fairly confident if I pitch 5 or 10g dried yeast I'll get enough character from it? I can't find any info on winemakers pitching multiple strains but brewers do it often. However we also don't work with "killer" strains that are known for overwhelming all competition. Most brewer's yeast just chug along side each other until the sugars are depleted. You can also change the final character by messing with pitch rates for how much influence you want each yeast to have. Am I just reading too much into the "killler" label? Thank you!

 

[DoctorCAD]

We use sulfites exactly because they dont kill wine yeasts. They can and do kill unwanted yeasts and other nasties, but wine yeasts are bred to be sulfite tolerant.

 

[stickman]

Generally speaking, any yeast you pitch will not likely dominate unless it has a concentration at least 100 times the acclimated existing strain, especially when the existing strain has a high competitive factor like K1V.

 

[Johnd]

Check with your supplier, tell them you'd like to get your must without yeast pitched in it, so you can pitch your own. If they can accommodate your request, it'll be a pretty simple process from there.