My First Batch In The Books - My Second Batch ... already has a sulfur smell

I finished up my first batch of wine a few months ago. My grandfather helped me through a lot of it, but I also did a great deal of reading. I quickly realized he made a very simple, natural wine. His method is to use the natural yeast, which leaves the wine tasting very 'foxy' as people like to put it. Well foxy though it may be, I learned a lot.

And I've started a second batch in a carboy. It is from a kit, well just a box of wine I guess. I used some lavlin red wine yeast to inoculate it two days ago. Last night I got the H2S smell. I red that it could be a lack of nutrients, and luckily I had some wyeast nutrient. I put a teaspoon in for a 5 gal carboy and after I racked and reset, the smell was gone in 2 hrs. But then the sulfur smell returned this morning. So I did the same thing again tonight, racked, added nutrient. And the smell is gone again. I checked the brick tonight, it is down to about 9 from 22.

It was cheap juice, do you think it is a nutrient deficiency? Will the smell stop when the brick gets down to 0? Can I add too much yeast nutrient?

Well I added another 2 teaspoons of nutrient to it, and it lasted through the night and into this morning with no sulfur smell, hopefully it is good now.

Some fermentations can smell pretty strong, depending on the yeast strain. Maybe what you are smelling is a result of the yeast you used and not H2S.

Generally, H2S doesn't go away that easily or quickly.

So, it's very difficult to say what you have, without being there to smell it.

You used a lot of nutrient. Other bad bugs can feed on it, too, so it is generally a good idea to not over use it.

However, when you rack after secondary, try to leave as much of the sediment behind as possible and you should be OK. The excess nutrient will be left behind as a part of the sediment.

Yea, I'll have to see. Hopefully the nutrient won't mess things up. I'm just confused though. If it wasn't the lack of nutrient that was causing the smell why did the smell go away after I immediately after I added the nutrient?

RedLeaf said:

And I've started a second batch in a carboy. It is from a kit, well just a box of wine I guess.

Click to expand...

On the surface, I need to ask why you are fermenting a box of wine. But I think I understand what you mean.

Please tell us what "box of wine" you have. You will often get better questions if we know what you are asking about.

Steve

Did you start this in a carboy?

Usually an open top primary (bucket) with a loose lid will allow more oxygen for the yeast at the early part of fermentation to also help avoid the sulfur smell.

If you're doing a kit wine, your best bet is following the directions closely. Making kits is a far different thing than using fruit or grapes.