Stabiliser (Sodium Metabisulphate) Oops!

[Jo67]

Hi
Oops. Stabiliser powder is very fine isnt it?
This newbie had never opened it before and was met with a small cloud of dust (Friday)
Saturday I had a tickle in my throat, came from nowhere, had to cough, get a drink then nothing rest of day.
Sunday I had another 3-4 episodes, starting as a tickle, then cough then not that much.
This morning I have already had a tickle and slight cough and my throat feels irritated.
I am, of course, worried that I have picked up the dreaded lurgy virus but I have no other symptoms and my cough isn't persistent.
I'm hoping that this is a result of the small powder cloud from that drum of stabiliser and that it is just irritated and sensitised as per my Google search. It wasnt big enough of a cloud to make me worried and I didn't have any tickle until the following day. Has anyone else done this like my stupid self and suffered something similar??

 

[An Ankoù]

It's a powder that when mixed with water and perhaps a little acid (atmospheric CO2 is enough) it produces sulphur dioxide, which is itself fairly strongly acidic when dissolved in water. Worse, with time this will gradually change to suphuric acid, which is a good deal stronger. But the quantities involved are (hopefully) so small as to cause nothing worse than irritation. Nevertheless, a persistent throat irritation should be taken seriously. If it doesn't go away or if it gets worse then seek advice.
This stuff can be quite dangerous if you've made up a strong solution and kept it confined as the fumes can be literally quite breathtaking.

 

[Jo67]

Thanks @An Ankoù We mixed 2 teaspoons in a jug with some syphoned off wine, added it to the 2 demijohns and put the airlocks back on. It took about 2-3 minutes so don't think we have breathed in too many fumes. However I was the one who firstly opened the drum and then mixed it into the wine solution. I felt no irritation at the time and I know I should have taken more care but hindsight is a wonderful thing. I will see how I go in the next day or 2.

 

[Graz]

So, first up, as mentioned above this is nasty stuff, my Dad taught me to mix it up with a little citric acid and a lot of water to use as a no rinse sanitiser. You really didn't want to be anywhere near the fumes the stuff gave off if it had been in an enclosed vessel for a while. Glad we now have StarSan instead.

Secondly it's not a stabiliser, use potassium sorbate for that. The main use for Sodium Metabisulfite is to protect against oxidisation when moving wine from one vessel to another (or into bottles). Typically I'd use half a teaspoon of sorbate and one crushed campden tablet when racking and stabilising a gallon (1 demijohn) of wine. A campden tablet is about 1/16 of a teaspoon of sulfite. A teaspoon per demijohn sounds like way to much! Hope you haven't spoilt your brew but I fear it may taste quite chemically now.

 

[Jo67]

Hi thanks for the input @Graz I have just looked at the drum and it is actually 50% potassium sorbate and 50% the above. We used it as directed on the drum, 1 teaspoon per gallon. I have got everything crossed that we haven't spoilt it. We'll be racking it on Friday and then will leave it totally alone for a while. I suppose there are more ways to swing a cat but I am learning as I go that probably the tried and tested ways are the better ones!

 

[Jo67]

Hiiiiiii!!! Great news all!!!!!!

Just racked the plum wine again and had a taste and it wasn't too shabby! I think the acidity may still need some attention but it has lessened and luckily the stabilisation that we did last weekend hasn't turned it to vinegar. Hopefully we should have a dozen bottles ready for drinking by Christmas :-) The hydrometer reading was still the same as before so it has stayed at 13% abv. The recipe says to leave it for 4-5 months before bottling. We may have a look at the acidity advice in a month and go gentle with it as I don't think it'll need much.