How do I remove preservatives from shop bought fruit juice

General Homebrew Discussion
1

I recently had to chuck away a gallon of Cyser due to the ferment not starting.

To cut a long story short; The honey fermented in a previous Mead, the apple juice added to the Cyser (Same honey used) has stopped any fermentation.

Any ideas as to what I can do to help rid any additives/preservatives in the juice?

2

For the most part - no. Most of the shelf stable juices you’d buy in the grocery store are stabilized with sodium benzoate and sorbistat. They’re not really easily removed, but you can dilute them down to remove some of the impact.

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3

There are apple juices without preservatives. Martinellis is one if that’s available in your area.

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4

Next time before dumping, try adding a couple of packets of a strong fermenting wine yeast like Lalvin EC-1118 Champagne. I had an agave nectar mead not ferment, and after research, found that the agave nectar had preservatives. I hit the 5 gallons with 10 packets of champagne yeast and got it to ferment.

5

I know you can raise/lower pH and it will beat out the preservatives, but I don’t have any more advice.