Preview: Preservatives in Beverages & Soda

Adding SB and PS will extend the shelf-life, but it can be hard to predict how long something will last. That really comes down to stability testing, and it is something you can do. Just make a batch, add the preservative and test a bottle every few weeks to ensure it remains stable. Once it goes off, that is the length of time it will last.

Darcy S. O'Neil

Hi darcy, im using a mixture of ready syrups from manufacturers (passions fruit, sugar and still water) is adding SB and PS with the recommended dosage will shelf-stable the product for at lest 6+ months ?

hamdan music

At 24% abv the ethanol is a sufficient preservative and you shouldn't need to add anything else as long as you manufacture everything in clean conditions.

Darcy S. O'Neil

Is there a solution Already premade that one can buy ? I am making homemade liquor about 24 abv and I am Concern bout mold and fungus due to the high content of distilled water and syrup .

Danimozz

How much of the preservative did you add?

Darcy S. O'Neil

I made the sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate solution per your instructions, and after a few minutes on the stir plate it was all clear, and everything looked good. I then added it to a champagne syrup without any sugar/simple syrup, and it immediately formed white clumps. I put that on my stir plate to see if that would get rid of them and I was left with a hazy/milky liquid after 10 minutes. It's now sat in the fridge overnight and the result is an inches thick layer of white at the bottom of the jar with a clear champagne syrup on top. Any ideas what went wrong?

Brandon

I don't have a recommendation at this point, I don't have a lot of experience with other preservatives. But if I find something I will let you know.

Darcy S. O'Neil

Hi Darcy, I've made the chocolate syrup recipe but with sweeteners instead of sugar. The PH is around 5.5-6.5 which is quite high for this particular preservative mix. What kind of preservatives do you recommend for PH 4.6-7 that is food safe? I can't lower the PH to below 4.6 because otherwise the milk will curdle.

NN

Thank you for the quick answer. Yes, a video like that would've been very interesting. To hear what makes them differ etc. Big thanks again!

Hello Leo, yes you might want to skip sodium benzoate in the natural fruit syrups, but potassium sorbate is fine. There are other preservatives that a lot of manufacturers are moving to, like Calcium Propionate, Nisin and Polylysine. In the future I can do a video on those if you wish. Might take a few months but for now look into Nisin, it is a natural compound used at about 2.5 ppm in fruit drinks (syrups).

Darcy S. O'Neil

Great and informative video! Just a question about the vitamin C mixed with benzoate. Did not quite copy if that should make me not use it to preserve natural fruit/berry syraps, like the strawberry one you made for exemple (since vitamin C occurs natural)? If you or anyone would like to help me out and educate me it would be appreciated. Thanks in advance! :)

Sodium benzoate could give some added protection, especially for anything in the 5% or lower range. There are other options that I'll be doing in the future.

Darcy S. O'Neil

By way of example, Port wine is typically ~19% alcohol and ~10 Brix or so and is stable for most spoilage bacteria and fungus. The pH will tend to be 3 - 3.8 for Port. Home winemakers routinely will stabilize their wines with mix of potassium sorbate and potassium meta bisulphite in pH ranges 3-3.8 and alcohol of 5% and up.

Chris Carlson

Not sure on clarity, that could be formula-specific, but sodium benzoate is typically clear as well as potassium sorbate, so it should be an issue. And the same 150 ppm / 250 ppm is used in all beverage types.

Darcy S. O'Neil

No issue at this point - I’m just curious about the threshold where it would be worthwhile to include a preservative if we were to lower the abv of the product, and to inform how we might use preservatives like these in a canned beverage around the ~5% abv mark! Currently not planning in including at 30% abv, but since we’re seeing some clarity concerns already I’m wondering how the preservatives might impact clarity/texture

Warren Johnston

At 30% abv I'm not sure you'd need a preservative, that alcohol level should be enough to inhibit both mould and bacteria. Do you have a specific case or issue?

Darcy S. O'Neil

I’m interested in the use of preservatives like this in alcoholic beverages, and also how they might impact the clarity and texture of a product containing alcohol. Specifically interested in liqueurs at ~30% abv

Warren Johnston