What’s the Winemaker’s Think Tank?

Every Thursday we will post about a few frequently asked questions that our winemaker has answered. If you have a winemaking question you would like to have answered, please email us at support@juicegrape.com and we will try to get into next week’s post. Cheers! 🙂

What’s the best way to add sulfite to my wine?
There are two effective methods of sulfite addition to wine. Campden tablets are small tablets of sulfite that are a pre-measured dose meant to add 25ppm to 5 gallons of wine. The drawback to these tablets is that sometimes they do not dissolve completely. The most effective way to add sulfites into wine is via powdered potassium metabisulfite. Winemaker Magazine offers a sulfite calculator on their website that is very useful in helping a winemaker figure out an exact dosage of sulfites for their wine. To use this calculator, one must know the volume and pH of the wine to be treated. The average rate of application for potassium metabisulfite is ¼ tsp/5 gallons to raise the sulfites by 50ppm. The sulfite calculator is a better option as it will help you find and exact dosage needed for your wine contingent upon the wines’ pH and stability.

We hope this information helps with your winemaking. If you have any follow up questions or winemaking questions in general, please email us at support@juicegrape.com.