Help with back sweetening beer

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NickS

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Aug 31, 2023
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Hello, I have to do a corny of a sour beer for a wedding and I am sick of my fruit flavours fermenting out. I use Philly sour yeast and make good sours, but not a fruity sour that is going to be savoured on a sunny day. I have linked a webpage that uses metabisulphate and potassium sorbate to stop the yeast in its tracks. I am just wondering if anyone has tried this? The last thing I want is it to taste like farts!

https://beersmith.com/blog/2017/03/...ose for a,additive which is Potassium Sorbate.

Thanks Nick.
 
I make a bit of wine as well as beer. Metabisulphate doesn't kill yeast, rather it stuns it so it can come back to life sometime later (though not always), it is used as an anti-oxidant in wine making. Potassium sorbate is what you need if the desire is to stop any further fermentation. I assume you plan to force carbonate it after?

Never had my wine taste like farts but I guess beer is a bit of a different animal. Can you try it on a small batch before committing to the wedding corny?
 
Should have said other people's farts, as mine don't smell :D. But seriously, I saw some internet posts about too much metabisulphate causing sulphur aromas!

@Graz yes, I will force carbonate in the corny, so it only needs to hold off restarting fermentation for a week or two. Good that you have experienced the method with wine, I guess all I can do is try it. Got a couple of months until the wedding, so will do a test run.
 
Probably back sweetening was the wrong phrasing but I just want to keep those fruit sugars. Got it in the fermenter at the moment, going to rack into keg and treat with metabisulphate and sorbate, then add 1l of puree. I will then carb and see how long it takes the fruit flavour to reduce, hopefully not at all.
 

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