Burnt rubber pee

[robie]

I have a yeast nutrient by Crosby & Baker (fermax) and compared to the first nutrient I bought they are completley different. The first nutrient I used looked more like clear balls and has no odor. However the Crosby & Baker nutrient has a distinct odor and you can even taste this in the must. The first skeeter pee I used the clear pellete and it came out perfect. I have one fermenting right now and when I took a sample it has a totally different taste and I belive it's because of the Crosby Baker nutrients that I used but I am not really sure I have to wait until it's done fermenting and cleared to see if it resembles the first one or if I can still smell the nutrient odor from crosby & baker.

I think im going to go back to the clear pelletes... I don't know if that could be the reason for you odor but mine smells much like my nutrient at this stage.

I start with Go Ferm in my yeast starter, then use Fermaid K for feediing.

If you feed too much or too late in the primary fermentation cycle, not all the nutrient will be used up by the yeast. Maybe that's why you still detect it, but maybe it wouldn't matter. Yep, I'd change back, too.

Hopefully, with a bulk aging of at least six months, all that taste will precipitate out as sediment.

 

[mikez104]

Thanks for the info everyone. I just got home a little while ago so sorry for the delay. I will try the penny trick and see what happens. The fermentation went very well and pretty fast. I started a thread about a while back.
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10759&highlight=mikez104

I dont remember it smelling bad when I took it out of the primary. It had issues clearing then after the bentonite it cleared ok but now it stinks.

My yeast nutrient also is in little balls. Thats all my local brew place had. Here is what I used.

IMG_1125_1 by mikez104, on Flickr

I'm not going to tie up one of my 3 carboys up for six months over this. If the splash rack and copper dont work, it will be down the drain.

 

[djrockinsteve]

I use the nutrient up front then sometimes if ferm. slows I will add 1 teaspoon per 6 gallon pail of the superferment to get it very dry. Usually an extra day does this anyway without the superferment.

I still wouldn't dump but I understand.

 

[mikez104]

Well, I took about 10~12oz out and poured from glass to glass around 4 times aerating it very much and the smell almost vanished. I took 3 old pennyies and did the swirl thing and the smell is almost gone. Awesome. I'll splash rack it and give it the copper treatment and wait a while. Looks like it may be ok. I'm not going for some great vintage. I just wanted to try out the skeeter pee and consume it.

Thanks for the suggestions. Looks like it may be ok.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

I guess the the best thing that can be said is, if you had to dump a batch of wine, be glad it's Skeeter Pee. Anything else and it would have likely cost more.

 

[robie]

Glad it is going to work for you. Next time you will know what to do if it should happen again.

 

[mikez104]

Thanks again.

 

[hoffman13954]

I have two batches right now with the same issue. One is a red Pinot Noir and the other is a white Pinot Grigio. I believe that my mistake was not racking enough. Both have the rubber smell. What I am guessing is that I have Mercaptans in the advanced stage. I have spent many hours looking for a cure. I have ordered some chemicals to correct it. I think the best information I have is from http:/www.bcawa.ca/winemaking/h2s.htm and www.homebeerwinecheese.com They use copper sulphate (which is a poison), ascorbic acid, and deoderizing carbon to correct it depending on which stage it is in. I tried stirring a copper penny in a small amount of my white and the odor remained the same. My guess is that I will have to treat with the ascorbic acid, then the copper and probably the carbon. The bad news is that the fix is iffy whether it works or not. I ordered everything from Presque Isle. Wish me luck!! If anyone has any do's or don'ts for this problem, all information and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[tomm292]

I have made skeeter pee for the first time as well, and also have the same problem, the burnt ruubber pee. After a couple days thinking what could have gone wrong i think maybe i figured it out. I added the lemon juice, inverted the sugar, and poured it on to the lemon juice. Maybe the hot sugar mix scalded the lemon juice, and the batched was doomed from there on.
I should have cooled the mix down first, or at least added cold water to it, then added the lemon juice.
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated, thanks

 

[wineforfun]

What are your hydrometer readings? Starting and now?

Did you add yeast nutrient to it?

 

[Tnuscan]

Hi,
Hate your having these problems. Some lemon juices will contain oil from the peal, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Bisulfite, Sodium Sulfite, are preservatives. Try using fresh lemons and see if there is a difference in your success. I used the smaller green bottle that states 100% on a batch, the larger generic one that's also 100% but there was a difference between the two. I also typed in (ingredients in lemon juice) and was surprised with what I read. So give fresh squeezed a try. Or really feed those yeast good on the start, their in there with a lot of acid.

 

[Winenoob66]

Hi you can fix this problem with Reduless. I'll put a link at the bottom for you, be careful when using copper to stir your wine. To much copper can hurt you.

https://morewinemaking.com/products/reduless.html

 

[tomm292]

First i would like to thank everyone for the quick responses, it was not expected but very much appreciated.
The starting sg was 1.07, and finished at 1.
The only thing that was deviated on the recipe was inverting the sugar and not letting it cool before pouring on top of the lemom juice. Other than that i followed the recipe to the T.
The ingredients on the lemon juice are as follows:

water
concentrated lemon juice (contains sulphites )
lemon oil
sodium benzoate

this is exactly as listed on the bottle.

I tried the copper with a small glass of the wine, maybe a little smell was knocked down, but the taste still was not very appealing.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Tnuscan]

First i would like to thank everyone for the quick responses, it was not expected but very much appreciated.
The starting sg was 1.07, and finished at 1.
The only thing that was deviated on the recipe was inverting the sugar and not letting it cool before pouring on top of the lemom juice. Other than that i followed the recipe to the T.
The ingredients on the lemon juice are as follows:

water
concentrated lemon juice (contains sulphites )
lemon oil
sodium benzoate

this is exactly as listed on the bottle.

I tried the copper with a small glass of the wine, maybe a little smell was knocked down, but the taste still was not very appealing.

Thanks again for the help.

tomm292,
Don't give up on it yet, pretty much all of it is concentrated, but it will still ferment to dry. I've used different ones and reached dry with them. If you followed the instructions then you added the nutrients. I only got 1. on your final sg reading. Was that 1.000 or higher? Try pouring it from one pail to another a time or two. Was it degassed good, How and how long. I don't think pouring your heated simple syrup in hurt anything.

 

[tomm292]

Nutrients were added at the 2nd step,
i already cleared and degassed it. It was degassed under vacuum pressure, and there wasnt anything left in it. It has been racked twice, and just waiting for the last of the fine matter to settle out. Its crystal clear except the bottom 1" at this stage. Maybe i cleared it too early ?
Maybe its a result of the generic lemon juice ?

I dont have a problem starting over, just dont want to make whatever mistake i made again.

thanks

 

[JohnT]

That "burnt rubber" smell could be a di-mercaptans issue.

Di-mercaptans are the result of H2S issues. Copper treatments alone will not cure this. You need to first apply a light treatment of ascorbic acid to allow the di-mercaptans to break down, then add a treatment of copper.

It is easy to detect. take 3 50ml samples of your wine.

To the first, add nothing, this is your control.

Add 1ml of .05% copper sulfate to the second and swirl,

Add 2ml of 1% ascorbic acid solution to the third, swirl and wait a minute or two, and then add 1 ml of .05% copper sulfate solution. Swirl again.

Now compare them. see if any are markedly improved..

Now

 

[Tnuscan]

tomm292,

That's some great information, when JohnT posts I usually make notes.

When I used the generic brand I noticed a small off smell not bad, but there. I can live with it, just won't be sharing it, just yet. But I like to experiment a little, while I do it will sit in the corner.

If you want to toss it I understand, I've done the same. When I suggested using fresh squeezed your just eliminating a few possible negatives, that may become a hindrance.

With this drink, on a hot summer day, I fill a Tall glass with ice, pour the SP to the brim and enjoy.

 

[tomm292]

Thanks everyone for the info, i will definitely keep it in mind. This was actually my first attempt at wine, thought this recipe would be a slam dunk. I do have a second batch on the go, but with berries. Its still fermenting away, and if it still resembles anything that it is now, it will be very good. I take a little sip here and there to see how its doing.
For the ease and cost of the ingredients, i think i will just start another one. Maybe this time no inverting the sugar , or at least cool completely before starting. Would a little more nutrients or energizer at the beginning help, or just stay to the recipe again?
Would running the failed batch through a still be worth while, or would it just be crap in , crap out ?

thanks again

 

[Tnuscan]

Thanks everyone for the info, i will definitely keep it in mind. This was actually my first attempt at wine, thought this recipe would be a slam dunk. I do have a second batch on the go, but with berries. Its still fermenting away, and if it still resembles anything that it is now, it will be very good. I take a little sip here and there to see how its doing.
For the ease and cost of the ingredients, i think i will just start another one. Maybe this time no inverting the sugar , or at least cool completely before starting. Would a little more nutrients or energizer at the beginning help, or just stay to the recipe again?
Would running the failed batch through a still be worth while, or would it just be crap in , crap out ?

thanks again

Nutrients pre, and mid fermentation, stirring helps a lot,(oxygen). I try to be careful with nutrients in the ending of ferm. Try smaller batches.
For a confidence booster make some Dragon Blood. It's a winner!!

 

[tomm292]

thanks again for the info, dragon blood is whats fermenting right now. I was trying to decide whether to try the skeeter pee again, or go with a second dragon blood. Just wanted to make sure i had enough on hand for the summer.


thank you everyone once again for all your help.