Brewing, Winemaking & Distilling Chemicals

This is our full range of brewing, winemaking and distilling chemicals: the acids, stabilisers, sulphites, yeast nutrients, enzymes, water salts and pH adjusters that home brewers, winemakers and distillers use to correct balance, protect a finished batch and keep a ferment healthy. Pack sizes run from small sachets to 1kg bags and bulk pails. Each section below explains what the chemical is for.

Acids for balancing wine, cider and mead

Tartaric acid is the main acid in grapes and the usual pick for raising acidity in grape wine. Malic acid is the crisp, apple-like acid and suits cider and fruit wines. Citric acid fine-tunes acidity and flavour in beer, wine, cider and spirit recipes, and is the acid most people already know from the kitchen. Add any of them in small, measured doses and taste or test as you go, because acid is easy to add and hard to take out.

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) does a different job. It is an antioxidant, used in white wine to help prevent oxidation during racking and bottling. Grape tannin adds structure and a little grip to fruit wines and light reds that lack it.

Stabilisers and sulphites

Potassium metabisulphite and sodium metabisulphite release sulphur dioxide, which inhibits bacteria and acts as an oxygen scavenger. Winemakers add metabisulphite to must before fermentation and to wine at racking and bottling, and brewers use sodium metabisulphite solution to sanitise gear. Campden tablets are metabisulphite in pre-measured tablet form, which makes small batches easier to dose.

Potassium sorbate (E202, also sold as K40 stabiliser) prevents fermentation from restarting. Use it with metabisulphite once fermentation has finished and the wine or cider has cleared, and before you back-sweeten or bottle. It will not stop a ferment that is still going.

Yeast nutrients and enzymes

Diammonium phosphate (DAP) is a nitrogen-rich yeast nutrient. Yeast needs nitrogen to ferment cleanly, and fruit musts, honey and sugar washes are often short of it, which is how you end up with stuck ferments and off-flavours. DAP suits beer, wine, cider and spirit fermentations. Complete nutrients, such as the Mangrove Jack's beer, wine, cider and mead nutrients, Servomyces and Still Spirits distiller's nutrients, supply other minerals and vitamins as well as nitrogen.

Enzymes break down what yeast cannot. Alpha-amylase converts starch into shorter sugars during the mash, which is why grain and potato washes for distilling need it; the high-temperature versions keep working in a hot mash. Glucoamylase breaks those sugars down further into fermentable glucose for a drier, more complete ferment. Pectinase breaks down fruit pectin so wine and cider clear properly. ALDC helps prevent diacetyl in beer.

Brewing water salts

All-grain brewers adjust their water to reach the right mash pH and mineral balance for the style. Calcium sulphate (gypsum) sharpens hop bitterness and dryness. Calcium chloride lowers mash pH and brings out malt sweetness and body. Magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts) adds magnesium and sulphate. Calcium carbonate (chalk) raises alkalinity. If you are starting from scratch, the Brewing Salts Starter Kit bundles gypsum, calcium chloride, slaked lime, Epsom salts and phosphoric acid.

pH adjusters

To bring pH down, lactic acid 88% is dosed into mash or sparge water to reduce tannin extraction and improve wort quality. Phosphoric acid 85% is a concentrated mineral acid; diluted, it is also a no-rinse sanitiser for brewing gear. To bring pH up, potassium carbonate (potash) deacidifies wine or juice by lowering TA, and calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) raises residual alkalinity in brewing water. Sodium citrate is a food-grade pH buffer.

Related ranges: wine yeast, dextrose and turbo sugar, wine and cider making and testing and measuring. For a straightforward spirit wash, see our distiller's sugar wash recipe.

FAQ

What is citric acid used for in winemaking?

To raise acidity and brighten flavour, especially in fruit and country wines. For grape wine, tartaric acid is usually the better choice because it is the grape's own acid.

What is the difference between potassium and sodium metabisulphite?

Both release sulphur dioxide and do the same job. Many winemakers use potassium metabisulphite in the wine itself to avoid adding sodium, and keep sodium metabisulphite for sanitising equipment.

Do I need potassium sorbate before back-sweetening?

Yes. Without it, the added sugar can restart fermentation in the bottle. Add sorbate and metabisulphite once the wine has finished fermenting and cleared, then sweeten.

Do I need enzymes to make a grain or potato wash?

If the starch comes from unmalted grain or potato, yes. Alpha-amylase and glucoamylase turn the starch into sugar the yeast can ferment. Malted barley brings its own enzymes.