Ascorbic Acid Powder

A winemaking antioxidant perfect for keeping your wines bright and fruit forward. 

Ascorbic acid maintains fresh fruit flavours and stops wine from darkening during the maturation process. Ascorbic acid can also be used as an oxygen scavenging antioxidant in beers and other fermented beverages where oxidation can damage the packaged product. Ascorbic acid will also increase the shelf life of both beer and wine when added before packaging.

Ascorbic acid can be used in place of sulphites as an antioxidant before bottling or packaging your wine. Ascorbic acid isn't antimicrobial like sulphite however it can minimise or stop oxidative staling for those who want to produce a wine with no added sulphites.

Ascorbic acid is best suited to vintners over brewers. Ascorbic acid sounds like a logical choice for preventing oxidation; it's Vitamin C, it's food safe, and it's cheap. The problem is that beer is a tricky environment for it to work in. Beer picks up trace amounts of metals like copper and iron throughout the brewing process, from the malt, the hops, and potentially equipment, and when ascorbic acid reacts with those metals it can generate hydrogen peroxide, a stronger oxidant than the oxygen you were trying to get rid of in the first place. Wine tends to be a cleaner environment with lower metal content, and winemakers almost always pair ascorbic acid with sulphur dioxide, which neutralises any hydrogen peroxide before it causes damage. In beer, that combination is less common and the metal risk is harder to control. 

Dosage:

Create an ascorbic acid solution by mixing your desired dosage of ascorbic acid, calculated from below. Ensure solution is freshly mixed prior to each usage - old solutions will be ineffective.

Preserving wine: 2-5g per 20L added prior to packaging or storage. Add more for each subsequent racking.

Storage:

Keep out of direct sunlight and away from moisture. Store between 5°C and 30°C.