Can You Really Taste Potassium Sorbate & Metabisulfite? 

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.

Props on not losing the footage from 7 months ago. I'm not organized or patient enough for that. Good stuff, cheers!

Very informative! This is the kind of video I really like!

Great Video! Very informative. THank you!

Love this test!

I appreciate the time and effort you put into this test. Answered a number of questions that I had. Again Thanks.

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.👍👍👍

this was very useful. thank you

great video 👍🏼

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.

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.

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 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?

Interesting thanks for the video

🤩🤩👍👍👍👍👍 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

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.

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

potassium sorbate will they help clear the brew if so how much per gallon

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

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.

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♥️

Dry traditional meads? My favorite!

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. ☺️🤙🏼

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.

Good experiment, could you try this using a double and triple dose, to see if a difference in taste is detected ?

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?

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!

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?

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?

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?

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!

Should I add sorbate and sulfite right before bottling or should I wait before bottling?

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?

will they affect the carbonization? after adding priming sugar

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.

“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!

Any alternatives to Metabisulfites?

Would potassium metabisulphite ruin the taste of lemon juice/lemonade? I’m trying to make a long life version.

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.

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.

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)

What can you do if you added too much sodium metabisulfate to a batch of mead??

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!!

-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.

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!

I add pottasium metabisulfite before Fedamentation and then waiting 24 hours then I add yeast but bubbles not coming , what is problem 🙄

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.

I'm buying it enough evidence for me.

When i was covid positive i could actually taste it.

I think it's interesting that they did worse than chance.

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?

Caps...you sound like a child..