Adding Fresh Wort/s from the Garden
- Thread starter Honey
- Start date
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When I use fresh flowers or leafy herbs such as mint, I make sure that they're well watered with a fine, clean water spray a few hours before picking. A careful drenching washes off most if not all dust, etc., that collects on the petals or leaves, so they're basically ready to add to my mead as soon as most of that residual water dries. I do tend to stabilize with some metabisulphite a day prior to pitching yeast whenever I use any homegrown fruits, herbs or flowers.
That way the delicate plant parts aren't damaged by washing after being picked.
That way the delicate plant parts aren't damaged by washing after being picked.
Ahhh... so in this case stabalizing is not to kill yeast but to kill bacteria, and is done prior to pitching rather than prior to botteling? Or it can also be done at this early pre-pitch stage to kill any wild yeasts? And the residual chemical won't then kill your pitch? (I think I've got the terms down, but you can see my brain trying to figure out the order of the steps, lol, and when/why one might change the order.)
Honey
Honey
You can add Potassium Metabisulfite or 1 Campden Tablet per gallon (Campden Tablets are just pre-measured Potassium Metabisulfite that you crush and add) 24 hours prior to pitching your yeast to protect against wild yeasts and bacteria, I do this with any must that will have fruit in the primary to be on the safe side. You do not want to use Potassium Sorbate at this time though. When you stabilize prior to bottling you'll use both Potassium Metabisulfite and Potassium Sorbate.
It releases Sulfur Dioxide not Carbon Dioxide. If used before you pitch the yeast it temporarily halts wild yeasts and bacteria from taking hold in your must giving your yeast time to begin to produce alcohol which will overpower the wild yeast and bacteria. After fermentation you use it in conjunction with the Sorbate to stop your yeast from further fermentation or from possibly restarting later. It also helps slow down oxidation giving the mead a longer shelf life.
You've got it exactly correct! The metabisulphite will produce sulphur dioxide, which can kill not only wild yeasts but also various other spoilage organisms. The reasons you can do it a day or two before pitching, and then still successfully pitch your chosen wine yeast strain, are first that the amount of SO2 in your must will decay with time (it either gets bound up with other chemicals or it escapes as SO2 gas, and usually by 24 hours after you've added a certain amount of sulphite, half of it is gone), and second, commercial wine yeasts are tolerant of higher concentrations of SO2 than their wild cousins are.
You can add metabisulphite pre-pitch, then again when transferring to an aging vessel after fermentation, and once more just prior to bottling, if you'd like. As long as the free SO2 level is below about 150 ppm, it is very unlikely that anyone will notice the aroma or taste of sulphur dioxide in your mead.
