dreaded egg smell

[sadie]

Hello I am making my second batch of wine. I decided to make strawberry wine and so I picked up a can of vinter's harvest fruit wine base. I followed directions to make a 5 gallon batch. First we sanitized. we used cheese cloth as our straining bag which it told us to leave in the fermentator. We combined all the ingredients together on saturday, sugar, water, acid blend, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme, wine tanin, and campden tablets. then on sunday we added the yeast. Come monday we went to stir it and it gave off this rotten egg smell. I went online to try and figure out what to do and someone suggested to add more yeast nutrient so I did that right away. Now its tuesday morning and I can still smell rotten eggs. I am getting worried. Is there anything else I can do?

 

[Arne]

Well Sadie,
I do not really know what to do, but if it was at my place, I would stir the bejesus out of it and get it warmed up to at least mid 70's. Let it ferment a little and see what happens. Somebody else will probably come on here that has been thru that and will help. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Rotten egg smell can come from several areas. Unclean area, lack of nutrients, wrong yeast etc.

I would say be sure you have added the correct amount of nutrients to the must. Stir well. You are going to have to add sulfite at some point and I'm not sure if you should add it now or after it is thru fermenting. You want to stop this now as opposed to later.

Are you sure it's a egg smell and a bad one at that. Sometimes your must can have that slight similar aroma?

You added camden tablets so I'm surprised that you have this so fast.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!

Another fellow Missourian!!!

I agree - I am surprised you encountered so early. If the yeast is struggling it can produce that smell.

What is the temp of the must, how much nutrient did you add? You should be adding 1/2 tsp per gallon of must.

Also - give some good stirs - couple times a day - aerating the must can correct this issue as well since yeast need O2 during primary fermentation.

 

[sadie]

I know that we added measurements to the must based on what the directions on the can told us to do. except the yeast nutrient since I added in more yesterday when I started to smell it. on monday it wasn't a very strong smell but today it has gotten stronger. someone suggested that I transfer everything to the new container. should I do that?

 

[winemaker_3352]

I don't know if i would transfer it - the only thing that might help doing that is splash racking it - but you can stir it vigorously and get the same results.

What is your SG now and what was your starting SG?

 

[sadie]

the must is at 75 degrees F. we added 4 tsp of must on sunday like the directions said. then on monday I added 1/2 tsp. Could I have added too much?
I am so surprised I am having this issue especially after our first batch of grape wine turned out great.

 

[robie]

Hey Steve, Jon, Arne,
I really wonder if the problem has anything to do with the yeast. It started smelling already 24 hours after pitching the yeast! It is not likely the yeast could have gotten going, then became stressed that quickly and produce that much H2S. He did add the campden tablets up front, too, and enough nutrients to last at least a few days.

Could it be a rotting fruit or contamination issue? I just can't believe it is a yeast issue, not this soon after adding nutrients. maybe the smell is not actually H2S.

I am assuming the fruit was added, too.

What do you think?

 

[winemaker_3352]

Hey Steve, Jon, Arne,
I really wonder if the problem has anything to do with the yeast. It started smelling already 24 hours after pitching the yeast! It is not likely the yeast could have gotten going, then became stressed that quickly and produce that much H2S. He did add the campden tablets up front, too, and enough nutrients to last at least a few days.

Could it be a rotting fruit or contamination issue? I just can't believe it is a yeast issue, not this soon after adding nutrients. maybe the smell is not actually H2S.

I am assuming the fruit was added, too.

What do you think?

I agree - i thought it was too early for the yeast to become stressed to cause this issue.

Could be a contamination issue or could the kit have been bad?

Might be worth contacting the manufacturer.

 

[djrockinsteve]

I'm baffled as well and just reaching here. So much so soon. That's why I mentioned are you sure it is really that smell. Bad fruit could be a possibility. Do you still have the can the fruit came in?

The bucket you are fermenting in, is it a food grade bucket? Was it clean prior to starting. That much this fast would tend to indicate it was ready to take off once exposed to air and warmth.

Where did you get the can? Ask the dealer if they have ever had this before etc.

 

[sadie]

I know we sanitized everything when we started and we are using a food grade bucket and we used it for the first batch of wine that turned out fine. the can was canned over 10 years ago, 1999. Could that be the issue?

 

[robie]

I know we sanitized everything when we started and we are using a food grade bucket and we used it for the first batch of wine that turned out fine. the can was canned over 10 years ago, 1999. Could that be the issue?

Wow! That is pretty old! Does the can have an expiration date on it? I would think the age could be the problem. Contact the manufacturer and ask them, but that is really old.

 

[sadie]

Okay so when my fiance told me 1999 he was talking about something else. the date on it is June 2010 sorry about that. little mis communication on my part. so i think we are going to just stir it a whole bunch tonight and see what happens

 

[Flem]

Question from an amateur

Hey guys, couldn't the addition of the campden tablets that early stress the yeast. I thought you didn't add those until stabilization.

 

[tjbryner]

just checking but it's not under air lock yet is it?

 

[winemaker_3352]

Hey guys, couldn't the addition of the campden tablets that early stress the yeast. I thought you didn't add those until stabilization.

Generally you add the k-meta in and wait 24 hours before adding the yeast.

I think this is what they did.

 

[sadie]

Yes we waited 24 hours before adding the yeast. We not not have an air lock on it. directions told us to put a damp towel over it so we did that.

tonight my fiance stirred it a whole bunch. the smell has gone down a bit. i'll check again tomorrow

 

[winemaker_3352]

You don't need a damp towel - just use a dry one.

If stirring has helped the smell, stir it vigorously twice a day for a couple more days.

 

[sailavie]

I read through the posts but it wasn't clear if fermentation has started, and what the starting SG, and current SG are?

If fermentation is going and you have a egg smell there are a couple ways to address it - make sure the yeast is not struggling (correct nutrient, temp, ...), stir it on a regular basis, and lastly sanitize a copper penny (or two) and drop them in the fermentor for a few hours or a day, then remove and stir. Healthy environment for the yeast is the best situation, but this will prevent the egg smell, and will not address it if it's already there. If fermentation is going then I would try stirring it 1st, and the penny as the last option.
BTW - the copper in the penny will react with the H2S to help remove the smell. that's my 2cents ;-)

 

[robie]

I read through the posts but it wasn't clear if fermentation has started, and what the starting SG, and current SG are?

If fermentation is going and you have a egg smell there are a couple ways to address it - make sure the yeast is not struggling (correct nutrient, temp, ...), stir it on a regular basis, and lastly sanitize a copper penny (or two) and drop them in the fermentor for a few hours or a day, then remove and stir. Healthy environment for the yeast is the best situation, but this will prevent the egg smell, and will not address it if it's already there. If fermentation is going then I would try stirring it 1st, and the penny as the last option.
BTW - the copper in the penny will react with the H2S to help remove the smell. that's my 2cents ;-)

The problem here is that she pitched the yeast one day and the H2S smell was already prevalent the very next day. This is pretty unusual for H2S to form that quickly.

We haven't heard back to find out if the SG has actually fallen, indicating fermentation is actually taking place. It would be good to get an update.

It is not likely a couple of copper pennies will solve this problem. (Did you know that current day pennies are made of zinc and only copper plated?) It would take a lot of copper exposure to solve this.

There is a product called Reduless, which is much more effective than pennies or copper tubing (I use the copper tubing sometimes, myself). You can buy it at:
http://morewinemaking.com/view_product/11444/103401/Reduless_-_3_g