12 replies to this topic

[ANUSTART]

I'm going to smash up 10 lbs of blueberries to put in some 8% mead. As I understand it, the process is to add KMETA to the fruit and let it sit for a day or two, then rack on top.Is there a calculator somewhere for how much KMETA to add? I'm also assuming I dissolve it in as little water as it will dissolve in.

[Mya]

I'm going to smash up 10 lbs of blueberries to put in some 8% mead. As I understand it, the process is to add KMETA to the fruit and let it sit for a day or two, then rack on top.Is there a calculator somewhere for how much KMETA to add? I'm also assuming I dissolve it in as little water as it will dissolve in.

1 tablet of Campden or 550 mg of k meta powder per 4Liters of pulp should be sufficient, that would produce a PPM of about 250Guest, Mtn, Matt? those numbers jive?

[strangebrewer]

In what form is your KMETA? tablets? powder?1 Campden tablet will yield 75ppm of SO2 per gallon of must1 gram of KMETA in powder form will yield 150ppm of SO2 per gallon of mustIf your desire is to sanitize the fruit then I'd aim for around 150ppm of SO2. So figure out what your volume of fruit is and add KMETA appropriately. Remember this is just for the fruit volume. You'll dose it with KMETA, let it sit a day at the 150ppm level and then rack the non-dosed mead on top.

[Mya]

I'm not used to thinking in terms of campden tablets, since I don't ever use it. I use powdered KMETA. This calculator is great. To stabilize a mead with sorbate, you add enough KMETA to equal about 50 ppm SO₂, which depends on pH and volume to calculate that (generally about 1.5g KMETA). To sanitize fruit, you want to shoot higher, like 100-150 ppm.With meads, putting fruit in secondary, I generally don't worry about sulfiting before addition, especially if you have had the fruit frozen for some time. 8% is on the border, but I wouldn't sweat adding frozen fruit to 8% without sulfiting. We can talk tomorrow at your house, if it isn't too late.

great calculator, wish I had that years agothere is some bad info out there on the net it seems and I am guilty of passing it alongpersonally I like Guests method which is what i'd do anyway

[ANUSTART]

Ok, I may have screwed this up.I used the calculator but assumed it was by default set to 1 gallon, and thought that it shouldve been ~5 grams for 1 gallon.After running 12 lbs of blueberries through the food processor, I had just over 2 gallons of partially frozen chopped/pureed blueberries. I dissolved about 11 grams of KMETA in a cup of warm water and stirred it in.Turns out that's way too much, about 850 mg/L, but I can't get it out now. What should I do? Will it just take longer for the SO2 to escape, or did I just waste $30 in blueberries?

[EWW]

So what I reading into this is that if you're in doubt round up a wee bit to be safe? If the sulphur will precipatate eventually is there any harm in adding a little extra just to be safe (~200ppm)

Edited by EWW, 13 September 2010 - 09:48 PM.

[EWW]

Of what I understand, yes. The catch is a closed system, like bottling or kegging, where it can't dissipate.

thinking outloud ... Realize you may not know the answer to this but, for people that have a sulfite issue and can't drink most commercial wines is that due to trace amounts or because it wasn't given enough time before being placed in a closed system?

[EWW]

Sulfiting at bottling is the issue. Sulfites act as a preservative in the bottle and is standard procedure in the wine industry. Even wines labeled "No sulfites" can have a certain amount remaining (not added) at bottling, IIRC. I think, that if someone with that sensitivity were to decant and the the wine breath, it would not affect them - although the wine would probably go bad before that point.

Thanks. I have a friend with sulfite issues and I have avoided giving them any of my fruit products that I sulfited preferment just to be safe. I'll have to slip her a little and see what happens

[Mya]

My understanding is that people with sulfite issues, like myself, is because of asthmatic conditions. The trouble we run into is the fumes off the beverage. I don't have issues with previously sulfited drinks that have been bulk aging in a carboy with airlock. I only have issues when it was added to bottling, which I don't do myself.

how do you treat your bottles and corks?

[Mya]

I don't. I sanitize both with Star-San and bottle.

no-one sells it locally and I am still stocked up with Iodaphor, so I have yet to order in any starsanwhen bottling after washing and rinsing I give each bottle a spritz of K-Meta solution and dip each cork in the same, I don't add any more than thatjust the standard 2-0z per gallon washing solution

[ANUSTART]

Thanks. I have a friend with sulfite issues and I have avoided giving them any of my fruit products that I sulfited preferment just to be safe. I'll have to slip her a little and see what happens

[ANUSTART]

I transferred onto the over sulfited fruit on 9/17. No airlock activity until recently. I noticed it for the first time today. I probably havent checked in about 2 days, so that's about 2 weeks of no activity. I'm guessing it's because of the SO2? Maybe it just got infected after 2 weeks of nothing, who knows. Either way, I'll probably stabilize, keg, and backsweeten next weekend.

[ANUSTART]

This one came out so good last time, I'm gonna do it again this week.I'll be a little smarter about the KMETA calculation this time around. At least I'll try to be smarter.