Sulfur Smell

[saddlebronze]

I have made 3 batches of Red this fall and two have the sulfur smell. The batch with RC 212 seems to be the worst and I remember that a kit I made with 212 last year had it as well and it disappeared after racking. This time, some Zin I made from Lodi Grapes has it with 212 as well as a batch of Petite Syrah from Lodi grapes that I did with Red Pastuer whatever that is. The Lodi juice I did with 71-B has no smell. I used yeast Nutrient on the 212's since I know they need to be fed, but can't figure it out. Thinking of waiting until next racking to see if it dissipates like last years batch did. Any thoughts? The whole house smells like a giant dog fart once I dumped the lees, I hope this gets better.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Saddlebronze,
You need to add yeast nutrients during fermentation, Fermaid will do the trick, split the recommended dose into two applications and apply the first application when fermentation starts, and the second application at 2/3 the way through fermentation.
Maybe it is time to change the yeast that you use.

 

[Arne]

Maybe splash rack them some. It will help them air out and possibly get rid of the oder. If that doesn't work you mite have to try stirring it with some clean copper pipe or wire. There are also some copper additives you can put in to help, but you have to be pretty careful with them as too much of them is rather poisoness. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[saddlebronze]

I think I will try that. The only other wine I made with 212 was a kit as I said and it went away after racking.

 

[jswordy]

I think I will try that. The only other wine I made with 212 was a kit as I said and it went away after racking.

Are you adding adequate nutrients? I've made lots of wine with 212 and never had a sulphur smell. I just add the full load of nutrients up front, and it seems t work out fine for me. Others portion them out over the ferment.

When you rack, I recommend sheet racking, which I learned here. Put your tubing in the receiving carboy so that the end is against the glass and the wine pours down the side in a thin sheet. You are actually exposing more of your wine to the atmosphere this way, allowing more outgassing. I wouldn't worry about oxidation, since gases fill the carboy shortly to help prevent that. This is effective to help degas CO2, too.

 

[Turock]

I would dose those wines with reduless as soon as possible. Forget the copper wire---reduless works much better. You want to fix this before the H2S affects the flavor of the wine.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Turock, I agree 100%!

 

[dralarms]

Ive stopped using rc212 for that reason.

 

[saddlebronze]

Well, I don't have Redulees on hand but I am trying the copper wire and splash racking trick. LHBS is an hour away, so that's next. Would have used more yeast nutrient if I had known. One of the batches that I used some on is better, but still smelly. Stay tuned.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Your location is Fairfield, call M&M in Hartford, you can get Redulees fast.

 

[saddlebronze]

Did the copper wire last night, smells a lot better today, will make a call later today.

 

[Turock]

I don't think RC212 is the problem. All yeasts produce SOME H2S and it's up to the winemaker to keep the yeasts well fed to prevent them from becoming stressed and producing too much H2S. There are better nutrients on the market now than the DAP filled regular yeast nutrient. And you should always split your nutrint dose in 2 or 3 batches to pitch thruout the ferment---then you won't have H2S problems.

We've been making wine for 24 years now, and thru proper nutrint management, have never had a ferment with a boatload of H2S on it. Preventing this problem is far superior to correcting it.

 

[saddlebronze]

Well this has been a tough lesson, but you can be dang sure my yeast will be well fed I the future. Did lots of juice buckets and kits and never had this problem. Must be less natural nutrients in fresh grapes. Off to find Reduless tomorrow.

 

[cmason1957]

That Reduless is some good stuff. I had the same problem this year with my Chambourcin grapes. I must have lost my mind calculating how much nutrient to add or something. But it smelled like a sewer after racking off the broad lees. Added some of the reduless at the maximum dose, waited 72 hours, racked, then pour from buckets to bucket a few times. Waited 24 hours and it smells like wine again. My wife was quite irritated with me, ready to pour it down the drain. Patience and this forum pays off again.

 

[Turock]

Saddlebronze----There is no doubt that you need to know your grape characteristics. YAN (yeast assimilable nitrogen) is composed of organic and inorganic nitrogen. You have to take both of these in to account in order to determine the nitrogen concentration in the must. Healthy ferments contain a balance of YAN from both sources. Low levels of YAN have been associated with the production of sulfide compounds (H2S) as well as sluggish ferments. YAN varies by grape and sugar content.

All the Fermaid nutrients, used for different purposes, are better nutrients. Scott Labs has their Fermentation Handbook online where you can read more about this. The Lallemand site is a good place for more extensive research,also.

 

[saddlebronze]

Guess I will have to go to YAN school! So odd that I have made lots of kits and juices before and even wine from grapes (Seyval, Foch, etc) and never came across this before. I did have one kit with 212 last year that had a mild sulfur smell but it went away at first racking. These two batches are still smelly after 3 days of copper wire, so on to Reduless.

 

[Turock]

Be sure you are using good nutrient support--split your nutrient batches and pitch them thruout the ferment. Most H2S issues are due to poor nutrient management. Some cultures produce more H2S than others so those cultures always need good nutrient management. This is one of those winemaking techniques that most young winemakers are not aware of until they have H2S issues.

 

[WickedPigeon]

+1 for Reduless
Morewine.com and pay for the fast shipping - its better than ruining your wine.

I've had this happen a couple of time and tried copper tubing and splashing - which will help, but Reduless works great. Now I keep some on hand at the start of each season.
Good luck.

 

[saddlebronze]

Ordered today, will let you all know when the stuff arrives and how it goes.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Just curious, how did the redulees work out for you?