Yeast not dying?

[arsenius]

I started a batch each of grape and apple mead together, basically following the JQGM recipe. I added sorbate and sulphite to each batch to stop fermentation and then back sweetened at the same time. Unfortunately in my apple the fermentation has not stopped. I added more sorbate and sulphite mixed into some juice after about a week, but I've still got bubbles coming up.

I wasn't able to get actual campden tablets, so I did my best to measure out what would have been 1/2 tablet each time along with 1/2 tsp of sorbate.

Do I just need to wait this out? I don't want to add too many chemicals and have it become undrinkable. I'd also like to avoid any bottle explosions later!

My recipe was:

5 liters apple juice
750 grams honey
Lalvin ec-1118

Thanks!

 

[bernardsmith]

I am no expert but I don't believe that adding K-meta and K sorbate will actually stop fermentation unless your yeast colony has all but consumed the last of the residual sugar or is dying from alcohol poisoning. Stabilization in the best of worlds simply inhibits if not actually prevents the yeast from reproducing. It does not stop the living yeast from fermenting sugars that are present.
Wine makers tend to stabilize their wines when there are very few active yeasts in the wine. I am not experienced enough in making meads to know what mazers do but I think the same chemistry applies to yeasts whether they are fermenting fruit or honey sugars.

 

[fatbloke]

Bernards pretty much nailed it, just that if you want to kill a batch off, its best to chill the hell out of it first (34F/1C) for a week or so, then rack the still cold mead onto the chems....

 

[bernardsmith]

Bernards pretty much nailed it, just that if you want to kill a batch off, its best to chill the hell out of it first (34F/1C) for a week or so, then rack the still cold mead onto the chems....

An alternative - and I have never tried this so I am only surmising that this works - is to filter your mead through very fine filters - small enough to trap the yeast. Methinks that that kind of filtering is likely to strip off certain flavors and colors from your mead but the truth is I really have no good sense of how large such molecules might be and how small the yeast cells are. Certainly , unless your mead is crystal clear I suspect that any filtering medium is likely to become clogged very quickly unless the mead is clear as tinted glass.

The E.C. Kraus site talks about 0.5 micron filters being small enough to trap 80 percent of the yeast but at that level of filtration it may strip other molecules you want in the mead

 

[fatbloke]

An alternative - and I have never tried this so I am only surmising that this works - is to filter your mead through very fine filters - small enough to trap the yeast. Methinks that that kind of filtering is likely to strip off certain flavors and colors from your mead but the truth is I really have no good sense of how large such molecules might be and how small the yeast cells are. Certainly , unless your mead is crystal clear I suspect that any filtering medium is likely to become clogged very quickly unless the mead is clear as tinted glass.

The E.C. Kraus site talks about 0.5 micron filters being small enough to trap 80 percent of the yeast but at that level of filtration it may strip other molecules you want in the mead

Unlikely for practical reasons. You'd probably need to run it through a number of coarser grades first.

As home brewers we can often do one gauge at a time as multi-stage plate filters are $$$'s and we're not making enough to justify the cost.....

You run a cloudy batch through a 10 micron pad/cartridge etc and see how much you get through before it clogs up.

So 0.5 (about the largest to be considered "sterile") is possible but impractical....

 

[bernardsmith]

Unlikely for practical reasons. You'd probably need to run it through a number of coarser grades first.

As home brewers we can often do one gauge at a time as multi-stage plate filters are $$$'s and we're not making enough to justify the cost.....

You run a cloudy batch through a 10 micron pad/cartridge etc and see how much you get through before it clogs up.

So 0.5 (about the largest to be considered "sterile") is possible but impractical....

As I say, I have not myself ever filtered and so you may be right that it is impractical for the home wine maker, but David Pambianchi whom I think of as a fine professional winemaker and someone who understands the needs and skills of home winemakers has written the following about filtering aimed at home winemakers.. so yer pays yer money and yer takes yer chance.
http://winemakermag.com/204-choosing-a-filtering-system-techniques

 

[fatbloke]

As I say, I have not myself ever filtered and so you may be right that it is impractical for the home wine maker, but David Pambianchi whom I think of as a fine professional winemaker and someone who understands the needs and skills of home winemakers has written the following about filtering aimed at home winemakers.. so yer pays yer money and yer takes yer chance.
http://winemakermag.com/204-choosing-a-filtering-system-techniques

An excellent read (only been getting winemaker mag since the last two digital issues).

IMO, he certainly doesn't make the case for filtering........

Myself, I have both a mini-jet and an enolmatic/tandem filter. I much prefer the vacuum set up of the enolmatic and filter, to the pumped mini-jet. Just that the mini-jet is much better for small batches due to process losses.

Equally, I do tend toward time and/or finings more......I like wine making procrastination

 

[bernardsmith]

An excellent read (only been getting winemaker mag since the last two digital issues).

IMO, he certainly doesn't make the case for filtering........

Myself, I have both a mini-jet and an enolmatic/tandem filter. I much prefer the vacuum set up of the enolmatic and filter, to the pumped mini-jet. Just that the mini-jet is much better for small batches due to process losses.

Equally, I do tend toward time and/or finings more......I like wine making procrastination

Totally agree that he does not make a case for filtering, nor does he dismiss your point about the impractical nature of the process for anyone making small quantities. He simply explains what you need and also offers the suggestion that several wine makers (or clubs?) might band together to purchase a suitable filter.