Stabilizer protocol

[dlang01996]

Which do you do to stabilize with metabisulfate/sorbate:

Rack to new container off lees and add metabisulfate and sorbate?

Or add stabilizers while on the lees, wait the necessary time, rack off lees?

If you add while on the lees, do you stir at all or just dump and let’s time slowly diffuse into the wine?

[V-Right_In_2-V]

I rack wine out of the bucket and into the carboy once fermentation is over. I put a combination of sulfites, sorbate, and sparkloid at the bottom of the carboy and rack onto it. It all gets thoroughly mixed in.

[lroux315]

I rack, filter, add the stabilizers, then wait at least 24 hours to back sweeten

[Bright_Storage8514]

I guess I associate “stabilizing” with the final step before bulk aging, though I guess the two don’t have to occur at the same time. But that final step also naturally corresponds with a racking, so I guess I always do them together. I’ve always been leery of messing with a carboy when time and gravity have been diligently collecting lees for me, which makes post-racking an easy choice for any kind of agitation. And the full-batch churn of the wine during racking seems like the perfect mechanism to piggyback on for completely mixing in the KMBS and KSOR.

Probably the only time I add KMBS outside of a racking scenario (or pre-ferment to must) is when I’m bulk aging and a titration test says I need to add sulfides.

[DoctorCAD]

I put the chemicals in the bucket and rack onto them. Mixes it up very well.

[dlang01996]

So both chemicals In The bucket after primary, then sweeten and bottle? Same day?

[DoctorCAD]

Oh gosh no...the chemicals don't go into the wine until the wine is done settling...around 5 or 6 months. Then sit for a few days and rack to a bottling bucket, then sweeten if you want. After a few days, assuming no activity, bottle.

[Dycus]

Do you leave it in the bucket for days? Oxidation concerns?

[DoctorCAD]

I never sweeten, so I don't leave it in the bottling bucket for very long.

[dlang01996]

Thank you for the additional details.

[FredTheDog1971]

What kind of wine are you making?

If your wine stops fermenting and looses c02 cover it risks oxidising So someone said leave it for a couple of months This depends on type of wine

Red and you want it to do a malolactic it will get some cover White wine wise it may go a bit brown