potassium metabisulfite

[dallse]

Ive been searching the internet for potassium metabisulfite with no luck at all. Ive tried my local HB shop and can only seem to be able to buy sodium metabisulfite or campden. I need to get hold of potassium metabisulfite as I intend to be aging my red wine for longer than six months in the carboy. From the reaserch ive done, It seems to be preferable to use pot meta as apposed to sodium meta for various reasons. Any help locating a source appreciated. The kit comes with a sachet of pot meta which will be used when I rack and start to degas.

BTW found an nifty way to degas your wine YOU TUBE any one tried this method.

[simple one]

I dont make kit wines, but my wines doesnt need loads of chemicals. I think if your going to mature it then it will do without. I would use chemicals if I wanted to drink early. Nature and a good recipie does everything chemicals will do if left long enough with a high enough abv.

Its quite a useful tip, although if you fitted an airlock I am sure the wine would pull the gas back in, sucking the water in. Best to bottle straight after with a cork 3/4 in, as it will probably pull it in the rest of the way.

I have one of those pumps. I dont use it on my wine though.

[dcq1974]

If I remember correctly - a camden tablet should be added before the sorbate because of possible formation of well documented "Geranium" odour?

[Pronay]

I found this article on the difference between Potassium Meta and Sodium Meta..

I remember reading somewhere that you wouldn’t want to use sodium metabisulphite as a stabilizer in your wine because it adds sodium to it and potentially could could change the taste of your wine. Potassium metabisulphite is therefore the preferred item to use.

I also discussed this with the owner of one of our local wine making supply stores and confirmed that potassium metabisulphite is definitely the way to go and that the only use of sodium metabisulphite in your wine making should be as a sterilizer for your wine making equipment.

This was further confirmed in Alison Crowe’s “The Wine Maker’s Answer Book” on page 107, where she states:

“Most home winemakers use potassium metabisulphite, available in either powdered or solid (Campden tablets) form, to add sulfur dioxide. There’s also a sodium form of sulfite (which isn’t recommended for use in wine) as well as a self-dissolving effervescent potassium metabisulphite tablet. I recommend using the powdered form.”



Do you have any safety bungs? I was told they are good for long term storage because if there is any gas left it has a one way valve to let the gas out but not allow air in

I looked on the online HBS I order from, and it's strange they no longer sell Potassium Meta (or maybe they do and just arn't listing it on their site anymore) they used to because I bought some.

[simple one]

I can understand the advantages of using sulphites in wine. I dont understand why people think they must use sulphites in wine. Time cures all were wine is concerned.

Looking on other wine forums and also talking to other wine makers most now see it as an integral part of the wine making process. I just find this reliance on chemicals basically goes against what wine is. Simple and honest.

It should clear naturally, it should ferment out naturally and gases can be removed naturally too. You dont have to use it, I have a few cracking(not because they have fermented in the bottle before you ask!!) bottles of mead at home that prove this.

Just my opinion.

edit: I also realise there is a natural amount of suphite already present. I just dont think there is need to add more.

[dallse]

Thanks for your responses... I have managed to find a source of Potassium Metabisulfite at the Hop Shop and Goodlife Homebrew. Just to iterate Pronay... all of what you say is precisely what my reseach turned up, and Pot Meta does seem the way to go. Being as new to wine making as beer brewing I can only work on the information I can research and the guidance of other homebrewers.

The wine I am fermenting is designed to be bottled in 28 days so there would no need to add a further dose of pot meta prior to bottling. As I intend to bulk age the wine in a carboy for six months before bottling then a further six month in the bottle, the kit advises adding a ¼ tsp of pot meta when racked to the carboy for bulk ageing. From what I can gather, this is to raise the SO2 and prevent oxidisation. Typically there are no further instructions for looking after the wine when bulk ageing in the carboy.

As I have invested the best part of £80 in this kit I don't want to run the risk of oxidisation. On the other hand I don't want to be adding excessive chemicals. I expect there are far more chemicals in commercial wines so I can compromise an extra ¼ tsp of pot meta. Thanks for your input.

[dallse]

For anyone who may suffer an Oxidised wine... rather than bin it take a look at this article first Homebrew Adventures

[simple one]

Yes I can see the uses of sulphites/ates. And I also acknowledge that once a wine has been oxidised with or without sulphites its pretty much garbage, no amount of time will cure it. I didn't mean to give this impression. I was refering to the clearing process, but my hands didnt type what my brain was thinking.

Also i do understand that the added sulphites give the wine a greater buffer to oxygen than the natural occuring sulphites from the fermentation. But I have made wine now for a good ten years, I have never used sulphates and havent had one spoil yet. Touch wood. The wine tends to de gas over a period of about 8 to 12 months. And often I will bottle after about a year. I have had the odd bottle where the cork has come out easily as there has been a bit of pressure behind it, but nothing that puts a fizz in the the wine, or threatens to crack it either.

Wine has been made for thousands and thousands of years. Probably longer than recorded history (although I cant qualify this statement). Sulphates in the form we use have only been added for the past 200 years commercially, and no doubt less frequent when it comes to home brewed stuff. If your carefull (or lucky) with your wine, sulphate free wine is a real possibility.

Personally I think its all been pushed from a commercial angle by wine makers looking for bigger margins, which is understandable. On a big scale it is easier to deal with a wine with added sulphates. Hence they had to be reigned in from using to much. And the idea has leached in to the craft side of the wine world that sulphates are a "must"! (pun intended)

- Additional sulphates arent essential. But it makes things easier.
- People say you can taste them, others say you can't.
- People say it gives them a hangover esp in red, others say this is a load of cobblers.
- If over done it can be worse than the processes your trying to stop.

I would say either choose either method because you have made a wine both ways and prefer a method. Or choose out of principle and a bit of stuborness. I think I fall in to the latter!

[dandan]

I got some from amongst other things The Home Brew Shop via mail order, heres the link: http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/cgi ... 1_21100711

[arturobandini]

Not a big fan of chemical additives to wine but it's a fairly hassle free option for quick turnaround drinks. Can't see the advantage of it for bulk aging.