Sulfite "bleaching" my unfermented wine?
AllanDeGroot
I just finished mixing up the ingredients for my 53rd batch of wine.
8lbs of Black Currants picked this past (July and frozen until I had time,
and fermenter space, to deal with them.)and 9 cans Welches 100% (White)
and water to 4gal
What concerns me (this is my first time using Black Currents)
is when I added the Potassium Meta-BiSulfite(1/4 tsp)
the beautiful burgundy color faded instantly to a "blush" pink.
I hope this color change isn't permanant.
Anyone have experience with Black Currents doing this?
Mostly I work with Blackberries (145lbs still in the freezer)
and all of my fermenters are tied up with Cider and Crabapple Wine.
Great site, Allan
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>What concerns me (this is my first time using Black Currents)
>is when I added the Potassium Meta-BiSulfite(1/4 tsp)
>the beautiful burgundy color faded instantly to a "blush" pink.
>I hope this color change isn't permanant.
>
> Anyone have experience with Black Currents doing this?
I had an identical experience about 6 weeks ago with blueberries. There was
no loss of flavour or bouquet but the colour was gone. Fortunately I was
adding them to beer that was very black to begin with, so I probably wouldn't
have been able to see the colour even if it hadn't have been bleached out.
General concensus was that if you add the fruit to the water FIRST and keep
sulphite levels to minimum required, if you lose any colour it should be
minimal.
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Don Buchan malak&pobox.com (&=@) http://www.pobox.com/~malak/ From there:
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m_sh...@bigfoot.com
Allan,
I have never used black currants, but I have had sulfites bleach the color of
my wines with other fruit. Unfortunately, I think that you can expect the
effect to be permanent. I assume that you have not had this occur
before, with other fruit. Did you, by any chance, use more sulfites than
usual? It is also possible that the coloring compounds in black currents
may be more suceptible to this effect than other fruits that you have
used in the past.
These days, I try to avoid using sulfites at all in my wines, and use them
only sparingly when I feel that I have to.
Wassail!
Marc
In article <6dnini$9fd$1...@michigan.arq.net>,
AllanDeGroot <wdeg...@ptdprolog.net> wrote:
>
> What concerns me (this is my first time using Black Currents)
> is when I added the Potassium Meta-BiSulfite(1/4 tsp)
> the beautiful burgundy color faded instantly to a "blush" pink.
> I hope this color change isn't permanant.
>
> Anyone have experience with Black Currents doing this?
Marc Shapiro http://www.bigfoot.com/~m_shapiro/
"If you drink melomel every day, you will live to be 150 years old,
unless your wife shoots you."
-- Dr. Ferenc Androczi, Winemaker of the Little Hungary Winery
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Allan DeGroot
I did have a batch of Raspberry that the color returned to...
I would have thought that with Blackberries supposedly being less color stable,
I'd have seen this before.
The Burgundy color was really nice.
I suppose that the sulfite will get blown off somewhat and color extraction
from the skins will help put some color in it as fermentation progresses.
(Or atleast I hope so...)
GREATFERM
>when I added the Potassium Meta-BiSulfite(1/4 tsp)
>the beautiful burgundy color faded instantly to a "blush" pink.
>I hope this color change isn't permanant.
It isn't, its usual and expected. I see it every year,
and it is usually gone in a few hours.
Jay Conner
Greatferm
Allan DeGroot
I should be pitching the yeast this afternoon.
I like giving the Pectinex 48 hours to work,
because Pectinex sometimes kills the yeast if you pitch too soon.
Allan
grea...@aol.com (GREATFERM) wrote on 6 Mar 1998 18:03:42 GMT:
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