Brand new at this fine hobby

[rshelton]

Hello all, I just registered this morning and thought I should get to it. I have been reading a ton of things on here. I appreciate the helpful nature of you fine folks. Very helpful. So I bought a fruit kit and have started two 1 gallon batches. My first was watermelon and my second was strawberry both made with the actual fruit not the premade juice. I had a problem with the sulfur STANK with my watermelon. It read .999 SG, so I racked it twice and that helped quite a bit. Dropped a crushed campden tablet the second rack. I read that yeast goes after the sulfur bits (the proper term eludes me) after the nitrogen has been depleted and this is what sometimes contributes to the STANK. I then read that after pitching to add your yeast nutrient. Which I failed to do on my watermelon. Could this be the reason? I also see conflicting thoughts on whether to hydrate or not when it comes to your yeast. Which I'm sure varies great on type and brand. So I poured the packet straight into my juice after 24hrs with my watermelon but hydrated the yeast on my strawberry. The fermentation was night and day. I'll add some pics. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I tried to add text to the pics the bucket with the crazy bubbles is strawberry and the one with not so much is watermelon. The strawberry was 24hrs after pitch and the watermelon was a few days after pitch.

 

[BigDaveK]

Welcome to WMT!

I haven't done watermelon but I've read it can go bad fast.

Yeah, there are opinions on hydrating a yeast or not. Done both without problem. But hydrating and/or making a starter confirms your yeast is good.

This is a damn fine hobby!

 

[winemaker81]

Welcome to WMT!!

I had a problem with the sulfur STANK with my watermelon.

You mean rotten eggs / swamp gas / dog farts, absolutely reeking? If so, that hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Adding nutrient, stirring for a long duration, and adding K-meta are the solution.

For future reference, add nutrient when you inoculate, and pay attention if the yeast strain has high nutrient requirements; if it does I add up to 50% extra nutrient.

 

[rshelton]

Welcome to WMT!

I haven't done watermelon but I've read it can go bad fast.

Yeah, there are opinions on hydrating a yeast or not. Done both without problem. But hydrating and/or making a starter confirms your yeast is good.

This is a damn fine hobby!

I have read that watermelon can be temperamental. Making the slurry to see if yeast is good never occurred to me. Thanks Dave.

 

[rshelton]

Welcome to WMT!!


You mean rotten eggs / swamp gas / dog farts, absolutely reeking? If so, that hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Adding nutrient, stirring for a long duration, and adding K-meta are the solution.

For future reference, add nutrient when you inoculate, and pay attention if the yeast strain has high nutrient requirements; if it does I add up to 50% extra nutrient.

Lalvin K1-V1116 is what I have been using. As far as the smell I would classify it as dog farts. The last rack I dropped another crushed campden and gave it a good stir, then I siphoned. Can you add too much campden? I know 1 tablet per gallon. My question is frequency

 

[Christopher Anderson]

Hello and Welcome to WMT! Remember to always dive into the deep end.

 

[tjmeyer]

Looks fun! Welcome aboard!

 

[winemaker81]

Lalvin K1-V1116 is what I have been using. As far as the smell I would classify it as dog farts. The last rack I dropped another crushed campden and gave it a good stir, then I siphoned. Can you add too much campden? I know 1 tablet per gallon. My question is frequency

H2S can be a real PITA. The faster you catch it and treat it, the better. My first personal encounter was caught way late, and I had to use Reduless to treat it, and later ascorbic acid to treat the mercaptans that formed. Here are my notes from that batch.

Last fall I caught H2S very early in a juice bucket, and the treatment was a lot easier -- nutrient, K-meta, and stirring. Here are my notes from that batch.

You can add too much K-meta, but it's a lot. A double-dose will not be noticeable.

Tomorrow stir the must again and sniff. If you get just a light whiff of dog fart, then you've probably handled it, although an extra dose of K-meta won't hurt. K-meta neutralizes contaminants by combining with them, so it gets used up.

 

[rshelton]

H2S can be a real PITA. The faster you catch it and treat it, the better. My first personal encounter was caught way late, and I had to use Reduless to treat it, and later ascorbic acid to treat the mercaptans that formed. Here are my notes from that batch.

Last fall I caught H2S very early in a juice bucket, and the treatment was a lot easier -- nutrient, K-meta, and stirring. Here are my notes from that batch.

You can add too much K-meta, but it's a lot. A double-dose will not be noticeable.

Tomorrow stir the must again and sniff. If you get just a light whiff of dog fart, then you've probably handled it, although an extra dose of K-meta won't hurt. K-meta neutralizes contaminants by combining with them, so it gets used up.

Right on. I'll do that. Much obliged. I will check out your notes

 

[Ohio Bob]

I also see conflicting thoughts on whether to hydrate or not when it comes to your yeast. Which I'm sure varies great on type and brand.

Like a lot of things with wine making, there are numerous ways to do everything. Not all are the best ways. Even though a method may have been successful in the past.

It is generally a very, very good method to rehydrate your yeast, regardless of brand or type, or red versus white. See @winemaker81 and his site for great background info. I follow his method and many others do as well.

The timing actually works well given you typically sulfite your must for 12-24 hours and that matches with hydrating the yeast starter for the same amount of time. So do all the prep work 12-24 hours in advance of pitching the yeast.

 

[rshelton]

Like a lot of things with wine making, there are numerous ways to do everything. Not all are the best ways. Even though a method may have been successful in the past.

It is generally a very, very good method to rehydrate your yeast, regardless of brand or type, or red versus white. See @winemaker81 and his site for great background info. I follow his method and many others do as well.

The timing actually works well given you typically sulfite your must for 12-24 hours and that matches with hydrating the yeast starter for the same amount of time. So do all the prep work 12-24 hours in advance of pitching the yeast.

Thank you for your thoughts. I definitely going to sift through winemaker81s stuff. All this stuff is so cool. Very interesting.

 

[rshelton]

H2S can be a real PITA. The faster you catch it and treat it, the better. My first personal encounter was caught way late, and I had to use Reduless to treat it, and later ascorbic acid to treat the mercaptans that formed. Here are my notes from that batch.

Last fall I caught H2S very early in a juice bucket, and the treatment was a lot easier -- nutrient, K-meta, and stirring. Here are my notes from that batch.

You can add too much K-meta, but it's a lot. A double-dose will not be noticeable.

Tomorrow stir the must again and sniff. If you get just a light whiff of dog fart, then you've probably handled it, although an extra dose of K-meta won't hurt. K-meta neutralizes contaminants by combining with them, so it gets

 

[rshelton]

H2S can be a real PITA. The faster you catch it and treat it, the better. My first personal encounter was caught way late, and I had to use Reduless to treat it, and later ascorbic acid to treat the mercaptans that formed. Here are my notes from that batch.

Last fall I caught H2S very early in a juice bucket, and the treatment was a lot easier -- nutrient, K-meta, and stirring. Here are my notes from that batch.

You can add too much K-meta, but it's a lot. A double-dose will not be noticeable.

Tomorrow stir the must again and sniff. If you get just a light whiff of dog fart, then you've probably handled it, although an extra dose of K-meta won't hurt. K-meta neutralizes contaminants by combining with them, so it gets used up.

Can I use city water for my juice and mixing my san star with? Can I put my city water in the air lock?

 

[Ohio Bob]

Can I use city water for my juice and mixing my san star with? Can I put my city water in the air lock?

Certainly fine for diluting juices and sanitizing solutions.

For airlocks, I used to use idophor sanitizer, then switched to potassium metabisulfite in water. The issue is you can never tell when the air lock water is no longer a bacterial barrier. I’ve had a little gray mold growing in my airlock once.

Now I use Everclear, vodka would be a much more cost effective liquid than Everclear, especially since it isn’t legally sold in Ohio. I got mine out of state.

 

[winemaker81]

Can I use city water for my juice and mixing my san star with? Can I put my city water in the air lock?

If it's chlorinated, I'd draw the water and let it set overnight. I'm on a well, so chlorination is not a problem; conversely my water is very hard and acidic.

IMO it doesn't matter what you put in the airlock. I use plain water, and check airlocks at least once a week, and I swap airlocks every month or two. During bulk aging in carboys I use mostly vented bungs, eliminating the problem.

Some years ago I tried putting 1" K-meta solution in a carboy and covering the top with foil while not in use. Big fail -- eventually the free SO2 dissipates, and mold WILL grow on what's left.

While I use water, vodka (or any 80+ proof spirit) is a reasonable idea, as microbial life is very unlikely to grow in it. You still need to pay attention, as if it evaporates, air will get in.

 

[Jovimaple]

Welcome to WMT!

 

[David Violante]

Welcome to WMT!

 

[Rice_Guy]

Welcome to WMT

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome aboard!

 

[wineview]

Welcome to WMT!!


You mean rotten eggs / swamp gas / dog farts, absolutely reeking? If so, that hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Adding nutrient, stirring for a long duration, and adding K-meta are the solution.

For future reference, add nutrient when you inoculate, and pay attention if the yeast strain has high nutrient requirements; if it does I add up to 50% extra nutrient.

How is this for off the wall advice. Just for kicks I googled is EC 1118 a nutrient hog. Here’s what came up.



Nutrients are very important. Common household food such as wheat germ, cereal and tomato paste can be used. Non food items such as miracle grow fertilizer and Epsom salts in very, small amounts also will feed the yeast.