Stop fermentation when mixing batches?

[aczdreign]

I'll be mixing a gallon of traditional into a 3-gallon muscadine pyment pretty soon here, and I'm wondering how I would go about making sure that the fermentation is stopped after I backsweeten and before I bottle.

I'm assuming that I would mix the two together into my bottling bucket, backsweeten with honey to taste, and then add campden tablets/potassium metabisulphide. My question is, how long should I leave it in the bottling bucket to let the sulphates do their thing? I don't want to leave it long enough to oxidize, as it will have a lot of surface area exposed in the bottling bucket...

 

[akueck]

I would suggest getting the stabilizing chemicals in there before sweetening. Give them at least a day to work if you can.

Are you planning on bottling right after mixing this all together?

 

[aczdreign]

Bottling right after backsweetening was my plan, but I really don't know how to go about doing this.

So you're saying I should mix them both into the bucket (since I don't have a carboy of the appropriate size), add the stabilizing chemicals, and then add honey to backsweeten before I bottle?

 

[Chevette Girl]

That's how I'd do it, although if I could, I'd give it a week or two to make sure the SG doesn't drop. Although I understand if you don't have the right sized container, why you'd want to bottle it ASAP, to prevent unnecessary exposure to oxygen... although I suppose you could separate them back out into the 3-gal and 1-gal carboys they're currently in during that time.

 

[akueck]

Yeah ideally you give it time under an airlock to make sure it's not going to continue to ferment between backsweetening and bottling. If the blending is what is giving you volume constraints, you could always stabilize and backsweeten the batches separately, then blend on bottling day. Course sweetening might go differently after blending than before...

 

[caffeine211]

Personally, if I were doing it, I'd follow this schedule:

1. Blend batches in bottling bucket
2. Add stabilizing chemicals and wait 24-48 hours
3. Back sweeten to taste
4. Rack back into carboy(s) (whatever they may be)
5. Wait 2-4 weeks to make sure the gravity hasn't dropped
6. Bottle after waiting period

But that's just me...

 

[skunkboy]

Personally, if I were doing it, I'd follow this schedule:

1. Blend batches in bottling bucket
2. Add stabilizing chemicals and wait 24-48 hours
3. Back sweeten to taste
4. Rack back into carboy(s) (whatever they may be)
5. Wait 2-4 weeks to make sure the gravity hasn't dropped
6. Bottle after waiting period

But that's just me...

3.5 go back to step three until your sure it is sweet enough, or the room stops spinning

 

[akueck]

Personally, if I were doing it, I'd follow this schedule:

1. Blend batches in bottling bucket
2. Add stabilizing chemicals and wait 24-48 hours
3. Back sweeten to taste
4. Rack back into carboy(s) (whatever they may be)
5. Wait 2-4 weeks to make sure the gravity hasn't dropped
6. Bottle after waiting period

But that's just me...

I had that thought too. Perhaps that's the way to do it. Lots of work, but exploding bottles are not exactly fun.

 

[aczdreign]

Fun factor of MEA's aside for a moment, I don't want to lose the 2-year bulk aged muscadine pyment that's forming the base for this thing.


Thank you all for the advice, I think I will go with caffeine's proposed schedule, and try to make step 3.5 as quick as possible so I've actually got something to bottle when I'm done. lol

Thanks a lot, everyone.