I start my wine with juice, not grapes. I typically rack 60-90 days after purchase and every time the sediment is noticeable on the bottom or sides of the carboy. I add 1/4t potassium metabisulphite to every 5 gallon carboy. Should I add it every time I rack? Is this too much? Too little? When do I stop adding it? Can I rack while the wine is boiling or should I wait for it to finish?
When do I rack and add metabisulphite
- Thread starter tinman
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Julie
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if it is still in the primary, rack when sg is down to 1.010 or lock down the lid and add an airlock. Leave it alone until is has completed fermentation, once done fermenting rack and add 1/4 tsp k-meta, after this you only need to add 1/4 tsp every 3 or 4 months.
saramc
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Well tinman...some people like to ferment with the lees intact. "Sur lie" is the French term for leaving the wine in contact with its lees and "bâtonnage" the term for stirring this lees back up into the wine. So it really is a personal choice.
Since you prefer to work with juice, no grapes/skins, then you will finer lees. So the first racking would occur such as when Julie mentions---that transition from the fermentation in primary bucket to your carboy/airlock. Some people transfer/rack at a certain # (Julie says 1.010), but others recommend when your initial S.G. has decreased by a certain amount. I use 2/3 as my "magic number"---when my SG has dropped by 2/3 I then rack/transfer to a carboy & apply the airlock. I then monitor the sediment to determine if I need to rack sooner than every 3 months. I also dose with k-meta at a ratio of 1/4 tsp per 5 gallons every 90 days. When I first started out, I racked RELIGIOUSLY every other month and dosed with 1/8 tsp k-meta per 5 gallons. I have relaxed a bit.
You don't mention if you are using "fresh" juices or juices with preservatives added. If I use juices/concentrates that already have preservatives added I do not use k-meta in the start up of my wine, it gets added at a dose of 1/4 tsp per five gallons when I rack for the very first time, transferring from primary fermentation bucket to my carboy/airlock.
And if/when I choose to back-sweeten, I take into consideration the last time I dosed the wine with k-meta (because I don't want to overdo the SO2). ALWAYS add k-meta and potassium sorbate together when you add a fermentable sugar to back-sweeten. Do not cheat at the amount of the k-meta and sorbate you add, use what is recommended because they work in synergy to prevent the sugar from taking off. Wait a good 10 days, with wine under airlock, and use your hydrometer to monitor for refermentation. If all is well, rack one final time (don't add k-meta unless you happened to wait more than 60 days), filter if you so desire, and bottle.
Note: if you use sucralose---please stabilize with k-meta and sorbate--I personally experienced refermentation of a wine that had been backsweetened with Splenda brand sweetener. This wine was dry as a bone when it was backsweetened 2/2011, filtered/bottled 3/2011, stored at 55F until chilled for serving. Last month I opened one of only 3 remaining bottles and noticed the pressure behind the cork, the fizz as I poured, and a definite fermentation was going on. A bottle had just been consumed opened/shared with neighbors two weeks prior with no concerns. And I should note that one case was kept at a room temperature between early November and Christmas because I used that stash for gifting, and I inspected each of those bottles before I gifted them and they showed no signs of refermentation AND I had the good fortune of sharing one of those gifted bottles in March--it was fine. We drank the sparkling crabapple, though I did sweeten it a tad with some frozen apple concentrate. Later that day I went ahead and checked the other 2 bottles, and sure enough the corks on each of the bottles had advanced just a bit (but enough that it was noticeable to me) and upon close inspection I could see fine bubbles especially at the shoulder of the bottle. My DH said he couldn't see anything different about the corks and he did not see any bubbles. They were decanted that evening and used to help make some white sangria. So just saying---Splenda can referment. (I do know that all of the gifted crabapple wine has already been consumed, and I actually asked people if they felt that their bottle had any characteristics of a sparkling wine--and everyone answered no. Phew).
Since you prefer to work with juice, no grapes/skins, then you will finer lees. So the first racking would occur such as when Julie mentions---that transition from the fermentation in primary bucket to your carboy/airlock. Some people transfer/rack at a certain # (Julie says 1.010), but others recommend when your initial S.G. has decreased by a certain amount. I use 2/3 as my "magic number"---when my SG has dropped by 2/3 I then rack/transfer to a carboy & apply the airlock. I then monitor the sediment to determine if I need to rack sooner than every 3 months. I also dose with k-meta at a ratio of 1/4 tsp per 5 gallons every 90 days. When I first started out, I racked RELIGIOUSLY every other month and dosed with 1/8 tsp k-meta per 5 gallons. I have relaxed a bit.
You don't mention if you are using "fresh" juices or juices with preservatives added. If I use juices/concentrates that already have preservatives added I do not use k-meta in the start up of my wine, it gets added at a dose of 1/4 tsp per five gallons when I rack for the very first time, transferring from primary fermentation bucket to my carboy/airlock.
And if/when I choose to back-sweeten, I take into consideration the last time I dosed the wine with k-meta (because I don't want to overdo the SO2). ALWAYS add k-meta and potassium sorbate together when you add a fermentable sugar to back-sweeten. Do not cheat at the amount of the k-meta and sorbate you add, use what is recommended because they work in synergy to prevent the sugar from taking off. Wait a good 10 days, with wine under airlock, and use your hydrometer to monitor for refermentation. If all is well, rack one final time (don't add k-meta unless you happened to wait more than 60 days), filter if you so desire, and bottle.
Note: if you use sucralose---please stabilize with k-meta and sorbate--I personally experienced refermentation of a wine that had been backsweetened with Splenda brand sweetener. This wine was dry as a bone when it was backsweetened 2/2011, filtered/bottled 3/2011, stored at 55F until chilled for serving. Last month I opened one of only 3 remaining bottles and noticed the pressure behind the cork, the fizz as I poured, and a definite fermentation was going on. A bottle had just been consumed opened/shared with neighbors two weeks prior with no concerns. And I should note that one case was kept at a room temperature between early November and Christmas because I used that stash for gifting, and I inspected each of those bottles before I gifted them and they showed no signs of refermentation AND I had the good fortune of sharing one of those gifted bottles in March--it was fine. We drank the sparkling crabapple, though I did sweeten it a tad with some frozen apple concentrate. Later that day I went ahead and checked the other 2 bottles, and sure enough the corks on each of the bottles had advanced just a bit (but enough that it was noticeable to me) and upon close inspection I could see fine bubbles especially at the shoulder of the bottle. My DH said he couldn't see anything different about the corks and he did not see any bubbles. They were decanted that evening and used to help make some white sangria. So just saying---Splenda can referment. (I do know that all of the gifted crabapple wine has already been consumed, and I actually asked people if they felt that their bottle had any characteristics of a sparkling wine--and everyone answered no. Phew).
