Sulfite “SO2” effect on distillate
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2022 5:39 pm
Something piqued my interest in another thread that Jonnyspirit brought up.
There were comments about sulfites “potassium metabisulfite” being added to fruit must and the effect they have on the final distillate. He mentioned something I was unaware of. Unlike hydrogen sulfide, which can be removed by reacting with copper, Sulfur Dioxide cannot and will remain in the spirit. This got me down a little research rabbit hole.
Indeed, he is correct! This is a problem that emerges when distillers run failed wines that have high amounts of sulfites added to them. Their presence in the distillate creates an intense burning sensation on the nose. From a thread I read in the ADI forum, this seems to be most concentrated in the heads and possibly early hearts as brandy cuts lean in this direction. It levels off the closer you get to tails. It can be removed with a few different techniques, one being adding a measured amount hydrogen peroxide to the low wines, which will also remove any remaining sulfides as well. Doing more HD reading about the addition of hydrogen peroxide to sulfited low wines revealed a very heated discussions about how unsafe it is as it can create a dangerous exothermic reaction in the presence of SO2 and other compounds commonly found in our distillate.
This got me thinking about a recent apple brandy I just made. In total, I used about 30 gallons of fermented cider to make it. Part of it was donated from a buddy. He gave me 10 gallons of old cider he never got around to bottling. It was about 2 years old and part of it looked to be a little oxidized from a rubber bung that fell off the carboy. His cider was treated with metabisulfite in two steps. The first as a pretreatment to the raw cider must to kill any wild microbes that may be present, the second time as a preservative, post fermentation with potassium sorbate as well to prevent re-fermentation upon back sweetening. The sulfite additions were done to the exact dosage suggested on the back of the vial, no more, no less. The other 20 gallons that I fermented had no sulfites added.
Here’s the rub. When I performed my spirit run from combining all these low wines, I was shocked at how pungent the heads jars were. They didn’t really smell bad, but rather burned the shit out of my nostrils, unlike typical heads or high proof ethanol. I couldn’t explain why this would happen and thought it came from an infection that took hold it my 20gal ferment. The intensity of this burn faded as the jars progressed, exactly how it was described in the ADI forums. I believe I found my answer
I let these jars air out for a day and this burn on the nose greatly subsided. Most of my hearts jars had none of this on the nose, but I did dip into early heads in small 20ml quantities to pop over some extra apple flavor and aroma. My final blend that went into jars with oak does not burn my nose and I feel like I nailed the cuts. Now, with all that said, am I safe with this spirit? Will I cause health problems to myself or others by consuming it? Doing more reading about SO2 shows that in high doses, it’s pretty bad for people. Distillation definitely concentrates it, but I have no idea how much is in my spirit as it shows up more early in the run.
Final note: If this thread does nothing but provide caution to any novice distillers wishing to add sulfites to their products, I’ll be happy about that. Don’t use it! Thanks Jonnyspirit for enlightening me!
https://mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/foods ... 1667964486
Here’s an interesting read on sensory analysis results of sulfited and non-sulfited wines that were distilled into brandy with gas chromatograph data on the total chemical makeup of the sprits. Some of the data is not related to my topic, but also very interesting. Backs up the mantra that double distilling brandy with a potstill is the superior method.
There were comments about sulfites “potassium metabisulfite” being added to fruit must and the effect they have on the final distillate. He mentioned something I was unaware of. Unlike hydrogen sulfide, which can be removed by reacting with copper, Sulfur Dioxide cannot and will remain in the spirit. This got me down a little research rabbit hole.
Indeed, he is correct! This is a problem that emerges when distillers run failed wines that have high amounts of sulfites added to them. Their presence in the distillate creates an intense burning sensation on the nose. From a thread I read in the ADI forum, this seems to be most concentrated in the heads and possibly early hearts as brandy cuts lean in this direction. It levels off the closer you get to tails. It can be removed with a few different techniques, one being adding a measured amount hydrogen peroxide to the low wines, which will also remove any remaining sulfides as well. Doing more HD reading about the addition of hydrogen peroxide to sulfited low wines revealed a very heated discussions about how unsafe it is as it can create a dangerous exothermic reaction in the presence of SO2 and other compounds commonly found in our distillate.
This got me thinking about a recent apple brandy I just made. In total, I used about 30 gallons of fermented cider to make it. Part of it was donated from a buddy. He gave me 10 gallons of old cider he never got around to bottling. It was about 2 years old and part of it looked to be a little oxidized from a rubber bung that fell off the carboy. His cider was treated with metabisulfite in two steps. The first as a pretreatment to the raw cider must to kill any wild microbes that may be present, the second time as a preservative, post fermentation with potassium sorbate as well to prevent re-fermentation upon back sweetening. The sulfite additions were done to the exact dosage suggested on the back of the vial, no more, no less. The other 20 gallons that I fermented had no sulfites added.
Here’s the rub. When I performed my spirit run from combining all these low wines, I was shocked at how pungent the heads jars were. They didn’t really smell bad, but rather burned the shit out of my nostrils, unlike typical heads or high proof ethanol. I couldn’t explain why this would happen and thought it came from an infection that took hold it my 20gal ferment. The intensity of this burn faded as the jars progressed, exactly how it was described in the ADI forums. I believe I found my answer
I let these jars air out for a day and this burn on the nose greatly subsided. Most of my hearts jars had none of this on the nose, but I did dip into early heads in small 20ml quantities to pop over some extra apple flavor and aroma. My final blend that went into jars with oak does not burn my nose and I feel like I nailed the cuts. Now, with all that said, am I safe with this spirit? Will I cause health problems to myself or others by consuming it? Doing more reading about SO2 shows that in high doses, it’s pretty bad for people. Distillation definitely concentrates it, but I have no idea how much is in my spirit as it shows up more early in the run.
Final note: If this thread does nothing but provide caution to any novice distillers wishing to add sulfites to their products, I’ll be happy about that. Don’t use it! Thanks Jonnyspirit for enlightening me!
https://mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/foods ... 1667964486
Here’s an interesting read on sensory analysis results of sulfited and non-sulfited wines that were distilled into brandy with gas chromatograph data on the total chemical makeup of the sprits. Some of the data is not related to my topic, but also very interesting. Backs up the mantra that double distilling brandy with a potstill is the superior method.