Too much sulphites

[Vlabruz]

So... I did a dessert wine kit that I added the stabilization pack on 2/19, on 3/19 I racked and added 1/8 tsp k meta and was going to let it age till June than bottle. I was bored and decided to bottle but forgot I had notes on my phone about my steps. I thought I just stabilized 2/19 so I added an 1/8 of k meta again today and bottled.
Should I worry about that? I have no clue what ppm its at. It was a 3 gallon kit Btw.

 

[Johnd]

So... I did a dessert wine kit that I added the stabilization pack on 2/19, on 3/19 I racked and added 1/8 tsp k meta and was going to let it age till June than bottle. I was bored and decided to bottle but forgot I had notes on my phone about my steps. I thought I just stabilized 2/19 so I added an 1/8 of k meta again today and bottled.
Should I worry about that? I have no clue what ppm its at. It was a 3 gallon kit Btw.

Though you may have nearly double the amount of sulfites we typically put in our wines, you did it over a two month period, lots of folks would add the additional 1/8 tsp every three months, so you're really not that far off of plan. In any case, it'll still be well below the threshold that one can taste the sulfites and your wine is well protected and should last many years.

 

[Vlabruz]

Though you may have nearly double the amount of sulfites we typically put in our wines, you did it over a two month period, lots of folks would add the additional 1/8 tsp every three months, so you're really not that far off of plan. In any case, it'll still be well below the threshold that one can taste the sulfites and your wine is well protected and should last many years.

So besides the tastes, there are no health consequences? My mouth felt funny so it made me think.

 

[heatherd]

So besides the tastes, there are no health consequences? My mouth felt funny so it made me think.

You're likely still well below the sulfite levels in things like dried fruit and commercial wine.

 

[sour_grapes]

My mouth felt funny so it made me think.

Could it have been the ethanol?

 

[Vlabruz]

Could it have been the ethanol?

Nah, than I wouldn't think.

 

[Vlabruz]

I ordered an so2 tester to put my mind at ease. The oxygenation one. Videos seem to show it works well. Much more time consuming than the vinmetrica.

 

[winemaker81]

That's not even close to the threshold at which sensitive people supposedly can detect sulfite.

As others have noted, many foods have much higher sulfite levels

 

[crushday]

I ordered an so2 tester to put my mind at ease. The oxygenation one. Videos seem to show it works well. Much more time consuming than the vinmetrica.

One thing that might 'put [your] mind at ease' is that the commercial limit for SO2 is 350ppm. You're no where near that number with your recent additions. Most people would be not only be unaffected by your additions but wouldn't even notice them unless tipped off.

In short, I think you're fine...and, so is the wine.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Starting with @Johnd taste comes up. An excess of sulphite will have a burnt match taste. Does the wine have a match like note. The taste threshold for most folks is 100ppm. In the vinters club several of the wives will pick it up but 98% of the club don’t.

Sulphites in foods are considered safe to consume, ,,, we use quite a bit in foods that range from marishino cherries to juice. Sulphite disappear with time, reacting with/ chemically reducing oxidized organic molecules and then becomes part of the background sulphur. The SO4 ion is also permitted in food but not one of the favored acids. My impression is H2SO4 contributes a bitter taste. ,,, By the way sulphur is an essential element.

 

[Vlabruz]

That's not even close to the threshold at which sensitive people supposedly can detect sulfite.

As others have noted, many foods have much higher sulfite levels

Gail at

That's not even close to the threshold at which sensitive people supposedly can detect sulfite.

As others have noted, many foods have much higher sulfite levels

What's got me worried is Gail at winexpert stated that the apres wine kit comes with 3.5 grams of sulfite in the stabilizing packet.
That's around 180 ppm in 3 gallons if my research was correct. Plus my 1/4 tsp i added over the next 2 months.
I dont taste anything. Im just being paranoid perhaps. I just don't want to sicken anyone.

 

[Johnd]

So besides the tastes, there are no health consequences? My mouth felt funny so it made me think.

No, not at those levels.

 

[Rice_Guy]

It is unlikely that you will sicken 99.999% of the population. Wines, even organic wines will contain sulphites, yeast produce sulphites. Yes as an industry to limit liability there are warning statements on wines manufactured with added sulphites. Folks that have had allergy like reactions with high sulphite foods read labels and self identify. >>>> You should let folks know you use sulphites even if you have literally followed kit directions.

You risk of causing a reaction with this wine is low. ,,,, another way of saying this is that industry is not going to stop using sulphites because of this level of risk, or the FDA does not consider the population risk great enough to outlaw metabisulphite.

I dont taste anything. , Im just being paranoid perhaps.
I just don't want to sicken anyone.

 

[Vlabruz]

I just asked Gail at winexpert about the pack and she corrected what she said. That the packet is 1.75g sulfites and 1.75g sorbate.

 

[Shurt1073]

I realize this is an old thread BUT:

I added extra (long story) K-meta and Sorbate to one of my wines 4 weeks ago and consumed two bottles ... both nights I could not sleep. I wonder if it was the added sulfites to the wine? This has been the only wine thats hurt my sleep and not even sure its the wine but in the past two weeks, I've had one bottle and each night not much sleep.

 

[BigDaveK]

I realize this is an old thread BUT:

I added extra (long story) K-meta and Sorbate to one of my wines 4 weeks ago and consumed two bottles ... both nights I could not sleep. I wonder if it was the added sulfites to the wine? This has been the only wine thats hurt my sleep and not even sure its the wine but in the past two weeks, I've had one bottle and each night not much sleep.

It's possible.
Kmeta, sorbate, and other compounds in wines have different affects on many people. Headaches are a biggy with many. I know asthmatics who have to be VERY careful when choosing wines and some poor souls can't drink it at all.

 

[winemaker81]

I added extra (long story) K-meta and Sorbate to one of my wines 4 weeks ago and consumed two bottles ... both nights I could not sleep. I wonder if it was the added sulfites to the wine? This has been the only wine thats hurt my sleep and not even sure its the wine but in the past two weeks, I've had one bottle and each night not much sleep.

Kmeta, sorbate, and other compounds in wines have different affects on many people. Headaches are a biggy with many. I know asthmatics who have to be VERY careful when choosing wines and some poor souls can't drink it at all.

I've researched sulfites, and there is no proven evidence of sulfite producing headaches. Headaches from wine are supposedly from histamines.

Asthmatics do have to cautious of sulfites -- this is noted on several medical sites. My younger son suffered from childhood asthma, and sulfite fumes hit him a LOT harder, even as an adult, than me or his elder brother.

Regarding sleep -- consider the ABV of the wines. Alcohol messes up sleep rhythms. What is the ABV of the suspect wines in comparison to other wines drank?

 

[Shurt1073]

Regarding sleep -- consider the ABV of the wines. Alcohol messes up sleep rhythms. What is the ABV of the suspect wines in comparison to other wines drank?

I bought a raspberry fruit mist wine kit and added a ½ juice pack red grape concentrate plus 5 ½ cups of sugar to give me a starting SG of 1.072 with a tad over the 6 gallons recommended in my fermenter. Right at 15 days later my SG was below .996 so I moved to the next step of racking into a glass carboy, added the package of Sulphite/Sorbate and Kieselsol. Next day, added the flavor pack and 3oz of raspberry flavoring from Brewers Best (I had extra from a couple years ago). Also added the chitosan and waited another three weeks to rack and bottle according to the instructions. It was bottled end of June of this year. YUM! It was great.

A couple weeks ago, (end of Sept) I grab a bottle of my raspberry wine and it was full of sediment three months after bottling. This sediment was not obvious when I bottled.

On Oct 12, I posted the above and asked for some advice. I ended up pulling the corks, filtering, and adding more chemicals before re-bottling. Gonna say it is 10-11% abv? This has been the only way I've known to make wine. Use the fruit wine kits, add sugar to boost the alcohol, occasionally add a juice pack, and wait until the instructions tell me to do something. The wines seem to all come out about the same. I just started adding the juice pack to give the kit a more full body.

Now I have to admit, each week I drank the whole bottle in about 3 hrs. lol. Has a good flavor but I stayed up late and woke up multiple times. I just wondered if it was my raspberry wine because I added 1/4 tsp of K-meta and 3 tsp of sorbate in October to about 4 gallon of wine on top of the kit chemicals in June when it was 6 gallons.

Gezzz ... I hope all that made sense. ABV in my wines are all about the same.

 

[Rice_Guy]

- as @winemaker81 quoted there isn’t enough consistent data feeding sulphide to college kids to say fhat wine with sulfites does this , the normal language is on some individuals it may, ,,,, but not most of them. The chemical is approved for use in foods but there are maximum usage levels ,, wine 200 ppm.
- the instructions for kits are designed to produce a drinkable 90 day wine. You would get higher quality with fresh juice, you can skip the chemical fining agents if you let it sit nine to twelve months.
- as with the sulphate symptom testing you really need to find ten college kids, have them drink a bottle over three hours and then see how well they sleep, let’s get scientific
- taste? An average consumer should detect 100 ppm of free sulphate. I am tempted to conclude that if tested today most of the meta has reacted and m”been consumed by oxidative molecules.

Personal guess would be if you don’t react to commercial wine, yours is also OK.

 

[Hazelemere]

So... I did a dessert wine kit that I added the stabilization pack on 2/19, on 3/19 I racked and added 1/8 tsp k meta and was going to let it age till June than bottle. I was bored and decided to bottle but forgot I had notes on my phone about my steps. I thought I just stabilized 2/19 so I added an 1/8 of k meta again today and bottled.
Should I worry about that? I have no clue what ppm its at. It was a 3 gallon kit Btw.

1/8 tsp potassium metabisulphite adds 50/3 or 17 ppm total sulphite to an Imperial gallon and 22 ppm total sulphite to an American gallon. Add up all of the sulphite from start to finish and try to stay at or below 75 ppm total on reds and 25 free on whites