Sodium Metabisulfite

Hello Kraus,

I have a quick question that I can't find the answer to. I'm hoping you can help me out. Which is better, campden tablets, sodium metabisulfite or potassium metabisulfite? I've looked in several places but don't understand why you need all 3 to make wine.

Shaun
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Hello Shaun,

Thanks for the great question. This is an issue that perplexes many wine making hobbyist. So I'm glad you brought it up.

The first thing to understand is that all three of these wine making ingredients do the...

Dear Kraus,

I have a batch of peach wine and a batch of pear wine in 5 gallon glass jugs ready to bottle.  Both need to be sweetened at bottling time to bring out more of the fruit flavor.  Please explain to this rookie exactly how you sweeten the wine as you bottle it.  Do you add the sugar/water solutions to each bottle or do you add to the 5 gallon glass jugs, stir, and then bottle??  Same question on how to add the chemicals to prevent re-fermentation and oxidation.  And, is plain sugar OK...

Hi E.C.Kraus!

I'm new to home winemaking. I made red and white wines this year and have them resting in 54 L carboys (with air-locks) after the initial fermentation is completed. The storage room does have a pretty high temperature (65degF), but it doesn't fluctuate.

After a month, I decided to start drinking the red one. It tastes great now. So, every weekend I open the carboy and have 1.5 L of wine siphoned into a regular bottle.

I'm wondering if opening the carboy every week (as a result...

Hello Kraus:

Last fall I acquired some good wine grapes.. red and white not enough of either for 5 gals.. thought I could make a blush, so I added them together.. it turned a reddish color but cloudy. So I added your Speedy Bentonite three weeks later i have clear whiskey color,  what happened?

Thanks Art
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Hello Art,

It sounds like your homemade wine has oxidized from excessive air exposure. Just like when an apple starts to turn brown after being bitten into, a wine can turn brown when it is...

Hi:

I made 5 gallons of Sauvignon Blanc this past year. I will be ready to bottle in the near future. I read on most commercial wine bottles that they contain sulfites. My understanding this is a stabilizer and to protect the wine yeast from refermentation. I am in the process of sending an order in and would like to know what to use and what amt. per gallon?

Thanks TOM
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Hello Tom,

Sulfites are added to a wine just before bottling, primarily to help eliminate spoilage and keep the wine's...

E.C. Kraus Customer Service --

Thanks again for being there.  You're greatly helping an amateur wine-maker get by the label "amateur".

Three part question, all on potassium sorbate.  This is a question recognizing that potassium sorbate does not stop fermentation, but is used to keep wines from starting to ferment again after the fermentation has been completed.

1).  When should the potassium sorbate be added to the wine -- is it sufficient to add to the wine at day of bottling or should it be...

Hi,

I crushed my grapes in late September & squeezed them. Then racked it 2 times since then. It's been almost 2 months since the last racking and 1 of the 5 gallon wine carboys is starting to bubble again just slightly. What is happening should I do anything. The other 3 carboys are not doing this???
 
Thanks Rick
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Hello Rick,

It's hard to know exactly what is going on with your forth carboy, but here are your possibilities:

1) Your wine has started to ferment again: This means that the...

Kraus folks:

Could you tell me what solution should go into the bottle tree rinser -- could I use campden tables?

Rick F.
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Hello Rick,

The Bottle Tree Rinser/Sulphatizer is designed to be used with a sulfite solution. What this means is that you can use either Campden Tablets, Sodium Metabisulfite or Potassium Metabisulfite with water to make the sanitizing solution that goes into the bottle rinser's reservoir.

The dosage is pretty straight-forward. You use either 16 Campden Tablets or one...

Dear Kraus,

Has anyone used STEVIA to sweeten the wine before bottling? It might take more than expected but I would like to try it.

I am Diabetic and adding sugar to sweeten the wine just adds problems, so I don’t drink my wine, which my wife is okay with… because she can drink it without problem.  

Could there be problem using this sweetener after fermentation?

Thanks in advance.
Bob W.
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Hello Bob,

There is nothing wrong with using stevia to sweeten a wine at bottling time. I have not used it...

Hi:

I bottled my wine for the first time this year - i bottled 45 - i have went thru several bottles and given a few away.  But recently the last couple of bottles that i have opened have tasted fine - but i notice that the wine glass will have bubbles clinging to the side of the glass after sitting for a while. Do you know why this is? 

Thanks,
Jon
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Hello Jon,

What I'm understanding is that the first few bottles of this wine were perfectly fine. Then as time went on you began to...

Hi,

Can I sweeten my wine at the same time of second racking.

Thank,
Yacoub
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Hello Yacoub,

Before you sweeten the wine, it is important that you wait until the fermentation has completed, and the wine has had plenty of time to clear out all the wine yeast. Quite often, this does not happen by the time you do the second racking.

In actuality, the best time to sweeten a wine is right before bottling. This gives plenty of time for everything to settle out. There is no upside to sweetening...

One of the most commonly used ingredients in home wine making are Campden Tablets. You will find them in almost any of the wine making recipes you will use; talked about in almost any of the wine making books you will read; and called into action by just about any of the homemade wine instructions you will follow.

What Do Campden Tablets Do?
The original reason these tablets were used in wine making was to keep the wine from spoiling after it had been bottled. By adding these tablets at bottling...

Hello:

I have been having problems with residue in my bottles of rhubarb, choke cherry, pear and plum wine but have never had a problem with my wild grape, plum or even choke cherry before.

Bottled three weeks ago and the only one with no residue is my wild grape. Will unbottle and redo if you think it's warranted.

Thank you in Advance
Mike
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Hello Mike,

It sounds like there is one of two things you could do to eliminate the residue problem from occurring in the future. First, you could...

Quick question,

If you have frozen fruit (like I do) for months do you need to use Sodium Metabisulfite when you start the wine brewing process or does the freezing kill all the bad stuff.

Thanks,
Steven
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Hello Steven,

Unfortunately, freezing does not destroy mold, bacteria or other "bad stuff". It simply puts its growth into suspension, or hibernation if you like. Freezing will damage some of the cells with freezer-burn, but not nearly enough to save your fruit from needing a sulfite...

Hi EC,

How long can finished wine be stored in gallon glass jugs?

Gabe
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Dear Gabe,

There is nothing unique to homemade grape wine that makes it spoil any faster or keep any better than commercially made wines. As long as the homemade grape wine is treated properly, it will keep just as long and as good as wines stored in glass jugs that you purchase at the store.

What does treated properly actually mean?

1. It means your wine must be dosed with sulfites, and 
2. Your glass jugs must be...

Hello EC Kraus:

We have 17 gal of 2009 Syrah, it tastes a little bitter to us. Should we add conditioner before bottling?

Thank you
Bobbi
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Hello Bobbi,

Wine Conditioner is not designed to cover up bitterness. It is a wine sweetener for people that do not like their wines dry. A better avenue would be to try to figure out why the wine is bitter. Then see if it can be remedied, not masked.

There are two primary faults that can cause bitterness in a wine: 

1. Excessive Tannin
   Tannin is a bitter...

Hello,

Is there a wine product that you sell that sweetens the wine in the end and also stops the fermentation process.  I thought it was the wine conditioner, but I don't see where it says it stops the fermentation process.

Thanks, Jen
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Hello Jen, 

One of the most difficult things a home winemaker can try to do is stop an active fermentation. It's not practical, nor can it be done with any guaranteed success.

There are several wine making products you can use that may inhibit or...