Blueberry Mead Smells Like Shoe Rubber

[SleepyAustinDude]

To sum things up simply, I've got a one gallon batch of blueberry mead at the end of primary fermentation that smells like, and I can't think of a better way to describe this, shoe rubber.

I'm curious to hear what anyone else thinks. If perhaps natural things are going on or perhaps something went wrong during fermentation.

Recipe:
3lb Honey (I know, perhaps a little much for 1 gallon batch, but my other mead turned out pretty good with a similar comp.)
40oz of Squeezed frozen blueberries (Just used the juice only)
Added a slight bit of citric acid after I tested the acidity.
Camden Tablet and some yeast energizer/nutrient
D47 Yeast


Boiled the honey in water. Poured it into the juice. I actually made a bit more than 1 gallon. Probably about 1.5 gallons in the 2 gallon fermentation bucket.

This would be my 6th batch of wine I've made and my 2nd mead. I've never encountered something that smelled unappealing during this stage. Sure maybe some yeasty smells, but there's always been something nice underneath. But this... this smells like sneakers.

Fermentation seemed to be going well. It started up pretty fast and furious. Died out relatively quickly after about 4 days. It's still churning up some, but not too much.

Thoughts? Much thanks in advance.

 

[gwm72513]

I know the rubber bung I use with my airlock makes my wine smell like rubber. Perhaps it's that?

 

[DasK]

I think this site has a "smell chart" on it somewhere, but if I remember correctly a rubber smell can indicate too much S02. That would be odd with only 1 campden tablet though.

Could it be a rotten egg smell? That can indicate a distressed yeast.

 

[DasK]

Here it is
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6754&highlight=wheel

Looking at it further, hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell), rubber and sulfer dioxide (too much campden) all fall into the chemical/sulfer smell. So I wonder if it is a distressed yeast

 

[CB750]

Most mead makers these days discourage the boiling of Honey as it can cause off flavors and it isn't necessary sanitary wise. When I brewed beer and before discovered sulphate I would pasteurize my mead wort at 170 degrees for 20 minutes. Now I use sulphate for 24 hours plus and skip the pasteurize step.

It's hard to tell what went wrong but it might be the boiling of the honey and using sulphate that may have caused some off odor. You didn't need to to both. Have you tasted the mead? Since you have made it before you should know if you are in the ball park taste wise at this stage of the process. It it tastes as bad as you say it smells then it looks like something went wrong as and you made a bad batch.

In many areas of the US it is apple harvest time and a good time to make a Cyser.

 

[robie]

If this forum's entries don't help, on your browser, under google, without hitting the return key, type "smell in wine".
You will get a whole list of potential smells and of course you will get more detail if you click on one of them. That should help you pinpoint your problem.