Can You Really Taste Potassium Sorbate & Metabisulfite?
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- čas přidán 23. 08. 2024
- Today we're attempting to see if you can actually taste Potassium Sorbate & Potassium Metabisulfite in a mead! This is a test I've wanted to run for some time and I had a great time doing it. I originally thought the video would only take about 2 months - but it took 7 in total. I completed this test by creating 2 gallons of mead, splitting it (after fermenting out) into 4 1/2 gallon containers. I then added 1/2 tsp of potassium sorbate to 1 container, 1/2 tsp of potassium sorbate & 1/2 Camden tablet to a different container, and 1/2 camden tablet to the third one. I left the last one as a regular control mead. I then bottled each mead (I kept them dry) and had my panel of judges do a blind taste test for me. They completed a form as they did it and I copied their results! I hope you enjoy this test. Special thanks to BC, Chris, Andrew, Tony & Scott for helping me with this test!
Test Results (Google Sheets): docs.google.co...
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As someone who is relatively new to brewing, I appreciate this type of video because it helps me decide what things to try during my own brewing ventures. One thing I've noticed as I've read up on the hobby, is that there can be a lot of conflicting opinions about what processes have what effects on a brew. So, it's nice to see someone doing the exact sort of experiments I myself would do, if I had the means.
I'm happy to help however I can!
Props on not losing the footage from 7 months ago. I'm not organized or patient enough for that. Good stuff, cheers!
Haha thank you!
I never thought about the flavor, I just know that if I have any kind of sulfite, etc I get a migraine that can land me in the ER. I love following your channel because I can finally make 'safe' mead to drink.👍👍👍
I've been away awhile. I don't think I'm subscribed. I will be after this comment, but words and stuff.
I don't think I've ever seen you terribly hurt by words, but watching this video... You're doing really well. Don't think you're not. You're reaching out to a niche community. I trust your videos above all the others. You could have a factory behind you to teach people the full method, but that's not what you do. You're great. I came here because I needed the information you had. Don't stop.
Thank you for your video. It helped a lot. I am researching the use of these stabilizers. I have been doing the "traditional " for a long time.
Glad it was helpful!
I recently ruined a good Cayuga white grape wine by adding potassium sorbate. It was the first time using a demijohn to bulk age a wine. The opening at the top is wider than a carboy so the bung holding the airlock is wider. When I removed the bung to rack the wine for bottling, a vacuum formed in the carboy, causing a slug of old airlock water to instantly be sucked into the wine. I tasted the wine and is was wonderful. However, I feared bacterial growth from that bad airlock water. To prevent an infection, I added potassium sorbat. It instantly ruined the wine. Serious bad flavor. In an attempt to salvage the wine I back sweetened it. While the sugar helped to mask the sorbate, it also masked the Cayuga grape flavor. Total fail just because of an airlock issue.
I will now always remove the airlock before removing the bung. I will also investigate an alternative to sorbate.
I have used sorbate a lot for back sweetened wines. I would sometimes taste an "off flavor" that I could not pinpoint a cause. Now I know because my brain now is dialed-in to what potassium sorbate tastes like.
So, yes; you can taste potassium sorbate. However, if your wine had strong flavors to begin with, some people may not be able to pick it out. I am 100% sure that anyone would be able to detect it in a white grape wine, especially if it is not back sweetened.
A better test would be to add these chemicals to distilled water and the taste it a half hour later.
I really appreciate all these experiments that you do!
What do you think about experimenting with the timing of adding nutrient: 1) adding all the nutrient up front vs 2) adding nutrient according to a schedule?
I plan on doing a test like that in the future!
@@ManMadeMead Sweet. Looking forward to it.
Very cool! It's been said that Sorbate can break down after like 2 years or so and create some pineapple/celery flavour. If you have some bottles left, it could be a good thing to put in the calendar to test.
I still have some bottles - I'll have to do a taste test later!
Very informative! This is the kind of video I really like!
Thank you!
I’m convinced there were a few good guessers, but there’s really no difference. I’ve never stabilized a brew, but I’m tired of step feeding to a high abv & waiting it out! We brew to enjoy the brew & I want to drink mine sooner than later! Thanks so much for doing this Garrett!!! I’m ordering the scary white powders the minute I finish this post. ☺️🤙🏼
Great Video! Very informative. THank you!
Love this test!
Thank you so much!
Interesting thanks for the video
Happy to help!
Hallo Man Made Mead... Thank you for making this video. But i have a question: how i calculate ABV with hydrometer after i add some sugar after racking for back sweeten? For example i start fermentation on 1.100 than it's stop at 0.998, than i stop the fermentation and adding some sugar for back sweeten. My hydrometer reed 1.010 ? Thank you
great video 👍🏼
Thank you so much!
Man all I can say is that my strawberry wine tasted really good at the last rack just before bottling. And I added Sodium metabisulfite at that racking and what I bottled yesterday. It seemed way more bitter than it had before. Idk it's only my second time making wine.
I like dry mead and fruit meads so I don't need to stabilize them. I also like mead champagne.... So I am more than happy for my little yeast buddies to work a bottled sweet mead or pyment into a lovely carbonated beverage as it sits forgotten and ignored at the back of the cupboard.
Just be careful! Make sure you know how much those yeast will eat. You don’t want to deal with bottle bombs
I appreciate the time and effort you put into this test. Answered a number of questions that I had. Again Thanks.
I'm happy to help!
🤩🤩👍👍👍👍👍 i believe i need these preservatives coz my country is so hot n humid things spoils in few days. so much waste n food is so expensive here. just want to clarify if we do pickling, is preservatives added all together during the process with the ingrediens? thx for makingthis video
this was very useful. thank you
I'm happy to help!
Hello sir,
My red wine was fizzy and the yeasts were still alive
I added potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite to the wine
But the yeasts are still alive!
I want to try the pasteurization method...
I wanted to know according to the ingredients I added wine,Potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfate
If I heat the wine for pasteurization
Do these materials show a dangerous reaction?
I would be grateful if you answer♥️
“For reasons I don’t wanna say right now, I am NOT capping!” **flashbacks to the time you cappped and something really traumatic happened** …perhaps a story for another day 😆 thanks for the video!
"Capping"? Wtf is the matter with you.
5:24
I've read that K-sorbate can have a reaction with a malolactic fermentation and cause geranium-like off-odors and sometimes taste almost artificially sweet. I haven't had that happen, at least that I've noticed in my last cyser. I wonder if you would get different results with a cyser instead of a traditional mead.
When adding sorbate if you ensure your SO2 is 50ppm or above, it will prevent malolactic fermentation when using sorbate. Essentially it's best to use both of k-meta and k-sorb together when stabilising.
Dry traditional meads? My favorite!
I am all for using K-meta (potassium metabisulphite) and k-sorb (potassium sorbate). However, I lean more towards the use of it by weight rather than volume. It is based on abv% and pH of final product, so I would be curious if this would alter the perception/detection of them. I gonna have to give this a try. Great video though.
That’s totally fair!
potassium sorbate will they help clear the brew if so how much per gallon
Hi may I know for the campden tablets, do you dissolve in water before adding or do you add it in directly? Does it dissolve in the mead over time?
You really only need one per 5 gallons before you ferment. You will want to crush it up first!
@@ManMadeMead wait hold on i am confused, im using it for stabilizing not at the start of fermentation. Reason why I asked this is cause my mead stalled and the gravity reading was stable for 2 weeks. I decided to rack and wanted to stabilize to prevent any chance of it starting up again, let it clear up and bottle. I crushed the campden tablet and added it in, but it did not fully dissolve properly, hence why I asked if it dissolves in mead over time.
EDIT- it was a 1 gal one, my first mead lol
Honestly I wish i could use both of these, but sadly one of the people i share meads and wines with is highly sensitive to sulfates as am I.
That’s understandable though!
Keep those bottles for a few years, and make another video in over 2 years, I've heard that they can be tasted after 2 years (and have a celeri or pineapple flavor depending on peoples)
I have some bottles so I'll have to try that in the future!
@@ManMadeMead That'd be awesome !
I agree! This should definitely be done again in a year.
@@ManMadeMeadyou ever do this? Lol
So I used k-meta before and it made the mead absolutely disgusting, I recently found out that's because it creates Sulfur dioxide and you're supposed to let it sit, not try to drink it the day after. Am I able to just wait a day then degas it instead of waiting
Look again at Andrew's results ... they don't look right, and may be skewing your results.
Round 1 = there is no '3'.
Round 2 = There is no '1'.
Round 3 = There is no '3' again.
Rounds 1&3 on 'Tony' are also incorrect.
There is definitely the possibility that I don't understand the test. Great video idea, though, and so ... much ... effort!
Good experiment, could you try this using a double and triple dose, to see if a difference in taste is detected ?
Possibly! But I don't really want to repeat this experiment haha
My cornmeal and honey tastes great but i doubt if it will ever clear which is fine by me lol if you try makin one let us know id like to see your input or way to compair i never use any additives but go for whatchya know lol!!
Welcome to the cloudy mead underground. Your secret is safe with us. 😀
Cornmeal 😳
@@GreenWitch1 its a trial i was curious so i tried it its not bad needs to sit for a bit
What can you do if you added too much sodium metabisulfate to a batch of mead??
It should be okay! It will gas out of the mead.
This video is great something I've been very curious about this myself I was wondering do you know who selected the answers correctly in each test I'm just curious if it was different people or the same people who were able to taste the difference with it all being around five or six correct answers was it a random group for each one that just so happen to add up o six or was is the same people each time?
That's actually on the charts in the google drive! I have all of those answers!
@@ManMadeMead thank you
When i am ready to bottle, i filter. Would you suggest rack, add sulfites/sorbates let sit for 24 hrs then bottle or is it not necessary and adding too much oxygen? Ive already racked 2 times
Thank you!
I would rack and then add your sulfites and sorbates and then sit for 24 hours to give them time to mix in.
-QUESTION- I own a basic digital scale. It dosen't measure factions of grams. What is an approximate conversion of 0.5 grams to teaspoons? Mass to Volume is a fuzzy math. My best answer so far is ⅛ tsp.
Weight and volume don't match up from one substance to the other. One powder by volume will be heavier than another.
Weigh a gram, use half of the pile.
Dude man. Do yourself a solid and get a microscale, you know the kind that drug dealers use. They cost like 10 bucks and are a godsend.
@@ChooRoo 100% must have. I have 3 scales for my brewing...
1) Small scale measures as small as 0.01g and goes up to 500g (cost $18)
Mainly used for nutrients, stabilizers, and any other powder/finely tuned additions
2) Medium scale measures from 3g to 35#s (cost $16)
Used to weigh ingredients such as fruit, back sweetening honey, etc.
3) Large scale that starts at 0.5#s and goes up to 440#s (cost $40)
Mainly used with buckets. When weighing 20#s of honey it's easier to weigh it as you pour it from a 60# bucket into your brew bucket. Pouring from a 60# honey bucket into a jug to weigh it, then pouring that into your brew bucket is just a pain.
Once you added the potassium sorbate and metabisulfite, did you let them sit in room temp? Does it matter how long you wait before bottling after adding these? Thanks!
I normally let mine age at room temp. I would wait atleast 48 hours before bottling!
@@ManMadeMead sounds good! And one more quick question: do you add both at the same time? Or is there a specific order/timing I need to know about?
Thanks again!!
So im making a strate honney mead in a 1 gallon jug I used 4.5 pounds of honey I wanted a sweater and higher alcohol content mead what is this going to do it was hyper active bubbaling a hole bunch and now it is slowed down what will be the outcome of starting with a that much honey I wanted sweat and strong will that do it?
If you give your yeast proper nutrition, they should be able to go through most of the honey but leave a little sweetness!
I've been brewing without either for the whole time I've been brewing and i understand that some people use these personally i am of the opinion of not adding something to my brew when i don't need to which is why i don't use these or any clearing agents since the clarity of my brew doesn't matter to me only the taste. Personally its a needless step and a needless expense if i want a lower percent brew i'll use a lower tolerance yeast, ofc this is how i brew and each person should brew to their tastes and styles it's not like am likely to drink your brew anyway. I mean i don't know anyone else who uses flour as a yeast nutrient.
Count me as a shameless maker of cloudy mead!
Lots of lower percent yeasts still kick you up to 10 - 12%. These things or other pasteurization methods are very necessary!
@@ManMadeMead Not for me their not, if i want a 7% mead and it go's over to 10% that's still a lower % brew to me so i'd call it fine if something go's over or under the aimed amount thats just part of the process for me and is actually part of what i like about brewing. It may not have been clear in my first comment but to me and in my methods their unnecessary steps I'm not saying their pointless for others. For my brews and from my point of view these things are pointless to me so I'm not going to add something that's pointless to me. Hope that clears things up abit.
@@pinkwarrior2117 I’m guessing all your brews are bone dry 🙄 You can’t backsweeten a dry brew with active yeast & not expect them to consume it until they’re spent which takes several feedings & an abundant amount of time, producing a very high abv & a very long wait time. We’ve been brewing for a long time. You do you. Frankly, I don’t have that kind of time. Not sure why you even watched this video.
@@GreenWitch1 no they don't actually in fact quite the opposite my brews tend to stop before they go dry as they hit their tolerance though usually they go over it and i account for that and i prefer my brews sweet actually. once a yeast hits its tolerance i find it stops regardless of how much you back sweeten so usinging a lower tolerance yeast will get you were you want to go and you can back sweeten as you desire. Also i watch this video because i actually like to watch this kind of content it doesn't matter if the results will have no bearing on how i brew i still find the results interesting its always good to expand ones understanding of the process because one day you may change your mind.
Very new mead "brewer" here. How long can I leave my mead in the fermenter after the yeast stops off gassing before I need to rack?
I would only leave it for like 3 - 4 weeks at max!
Would potassium metabisulphite ruin the taste of lemon juice/lemonade? I’m trying to make a long life version.
Nope! You can't taste it!
I'm buying it enough evidence for me.
Should I add sorbate and sulfite right before bottling or should I wait before bottling?
I would add it and then wait atleast 24 hours!
will they affect the carbonization? after adding priming sugar
If you add priming sugar and it can still ferment (the ones with sorbate & metabisulfite in this test would no longer be able to ferment) then you will have some carbonation!
I would love to add them to my mead but sulfates in wine makes my heart go bonkers, super fast. Is it because they make huge batches and would it be the same in small gallon batches?
It’s all about the amounts they put in!
Any alternatives to Metabisulfites?
Pasteurizing the mead, cold crashing or letting it sit for a very long time!
I add pottasium metabisulfite before Fedamentation and then waiting 24 hours then I add yeast but bubbles not coming , what is problem 🙄
Hmm… well metabisulfite is normally used to help halt yeast fermentation. Lots of old books suggest to add it before fermentation to kill wild yeast, but it can also kill the good yeast you want! I would suggest to pitch some more yeast and see if it starts to ferment!
@@ManMadeMead thank you sir 🎉
When i was covid positive i could actually taste it.
I think it's interesting that they did worse than chance.
There’s were 4 options, if they completely guessed you’d expect 1/4th the 18 people to guess right, or 4.5 people. There were like 5 people in each group so everyone guess was slightly technically better than random guess but not by much. So it’s better to say the people were as good as random guesses but not worse.
So in general, does adding potassium sorbate to a product prior to backsweetening with honey or fruit add to the sweetness and flavor of the finished mead?
Sorbate and metabisulfite are used to stabilize the brew - they don’t add flavor. They allow you to backsweeten with whatever flavors you want!
Caps...you sound like a child..