Can I get away with not rinsing Potassium Metabisulphite when I'm bottling?

Question

So I was reading some posts here on the homebrew stack exchange, like I do, and I came across this question. I always use K-meta when bottling because I keep my bottles clean and all I need is to quickly sanitize them when I'm ready to bottle.

The thing is, from all the reading I've done up until this moment, I've been under the impression that one absolutely must rinse K-meta when bottling beer, as it can impart off flavours of some kind. After reading the responses to the other question I'm curious if I've just been wasting my time by boiling water to have a clean rinse after sterilization.

So, my question is, can I bottle my beer without rinsing K-meta santization solution out of the bottles?

Answer 1

Sulphites are used in a lot of wines, ciders etc and as a general food preservative. So long as you aren't adding more than the directions call for you should be ok, especially if the packing doesn't give you warning. I use it for my wife's wine and cider at 1/4 teaspoon per 5 gallons.

If you still want to rinse ensure you use sanitized water or you could add back bacteria you worked so hard to get out. However as a no rinse sanitizer iodopher can't be beat. Cheap, effective, no rinse. When I switched to this year's ago I noticed a big improvement in my beers.

Answer 2

Yes you can.
I have a video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayd9AKN8-R0
K-meta, i.e. potassium metabisulfate, is fine not to rinse after using, however I personally would still rinse most equipment but not bother with bottles or fermentors (I would rinse something I was going to drink within 24 hours).