First kit - stinky wine. Please help!

[PumpkinDad]

Hi everyone,

I am making my first kit, a CC Sterling Tempranillo. It smells of sulphur and I'm wondering why. Here's a rundown of the batch to help diagnose.

I admittedly made a few mistakes along the way, but I think they were minor:

* Working area is colder than I like... ambient temp in the low 60s. Fermentation temp was 62-72 degrees (warmer in the beginning).

* Topped up with an extra three liters of water in the primary than recommended due to a measuring error.

I racked at 7 days. SG of 1.001, temp was 64. TA was 6.4g/L. pH at 3.49. At that time, the SO2 measured out at 26 mg/L using a Vinmetrica SC-200.

At 10 days, I smelled a distinct sulphur smell but the secondary was still bubbling so I left it to finish.

Today is day 13. Airlock has slowed to one bubble every 5-10 minutes or so. SG of .998, PH at 3.5, TA at 5.6g/L. I tried to measure SO2 but it was off the charts, at least 100 mg/L. That made no sense to me. Tasted horrible, extremely bitter.

I splash racked to a smaller 5g carboy to take it off the fine lees. Lots and lots of bubbles/foam as I did so. Added the 4g pack of meta as directed (even though I was hesitant to do so. Trust the kit, I told myself.) Added potassium sorbate and stirred. More bubbles/foam. I'm about to add kieselsol/chitosan but before doing so, took a sample upstairs.

I asked my wife and she said it smells like a diaper (it does). I poured a glass and swirled vigorously for about 10 minutes. As I did so, the smell dissipated. It didn't completely go away, but it got pretty mild and you can even smell a gentle aroma of fruit. It is somewhat bland but mild on the front of the tongue, really bitter on the back of the tongue.

Will the K/C clarifying agent take care of this? I was planning on bulk aging for a few months rather than bottling right away so wasn't planning on degassing. That said, would an allinone help?

 

[PumpkinDad]

Oh, I wanted to add that the yeast used was EC-1118.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Pumpkindad (like the name ) -
I want to start by saying -my compliments for having all of your levels available!
Did you add any meta prior to taking the SO2 reading of 100 ppm? This is very odd.
If it is still slightly fermenting, I would go ahead and splash rack it to a clean carboy again, see if that helps the smell at all.
At 100 ppm SO2, I wouldn't have added any meta, we look to keep it around the 50 ppm range.
All of the foam and bubbles appears that it needs to be degassed, this would make the wine taste very tart and bitter, but also, it is a very young wine. The All in One will degass the wine very efficiently, the difference will be like night and day.
I wouldn't any fining agent at this point (K/C clarifying ), I'd hold off until we get this one issue resolved.
If the wine doesn't taste like sulfur, there is still time to correct this, if all else fails, we can always treat it with Redulees, but let's keep that option as one of the last.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Agree with Pumkinman, it's really hard to screw up a kit. Even if you added all the k-meta they give you and measured right away, you shouldn't get 100ppm.

The wine is way too young to judge taste, especially in a kit. They "transform" a whole lot in resting.

Also, lots of bubbles means trapped CO2. You need to degas a lot with some kits and your cold temps don't do you any favors getting the gas out. Any way for you to warm your carboy up to a bit over room temp?

 

[PumpkinDad]

Hey PumpkinDad,

I think I recognize your name from BigPumpkins! I got a 140 pounder this year (first success after four years trying).

The wine does not taste like sulfur at all, it just smells right now. Swirling seems to get rid of a lot of the gas and that does make it smell a lot better. Been looking at other posts and perhaps I should try stirring with a copper wire? (I already splash racked into another carboy.)

 

[PumpkinDad]

DoctorCAD,

I could bring the carboy upstairs which would bring the temp up to maybe 70. My only other option would be to go find a heating blanket.

 

[PumpkinDad]

Sorry, I meant PumpkinMan! (Autocorrect)

 

[PumpkinDad]

I did end up adding K/C last night and had to stir again this morning, so I went to the hardware store and got a short length of 3/8" copper pipe. The carboy smelled much less like sulfur this morning. For comparison, I put some of the extra aside in a 1L bottle last night and you can certainly tell the difference. That said, it is still noticeable.

I stirred for about two minutes with the rod but can't tell if there is any difference at this point. I'm thinking that perhaps I should let it sit for 12-24 hours and perform another SO2 test...?

 

[PumpkinDad]

Good news! After reading a number of other threads, it looks to me that the problem is hydrogen sulfide. This is also confirmed by the fact that it smells like rotten eggs (and not matches).

The carboy had about 1/2" of sediment on the bottom from the K/C. I put the copper pipe into a clean carboy and sheet racked over it, discarding the sediment. Lots of bubbles again. Repeated back into the original carboy (again, lots of bubbles). Smell has gone down dramatically.

I had a little left over so I performed another SO2 test and I'm now reading 40ppm. What a big difference!

And finally, I had just a wee bit left for a wine glass. I am swirling it right now and still see bubbles on the sides of the glass. The fruit smell is stronger than the sulfur now. In fact, I detect just a bit of the latter. I don't have the most sensitive nose but clearly things are on the right track. At this point, I think I'm done so I'm going to let it sit in the carboy for a couple of months before bottling (I may degas it with a vacuum pump at some point as well).

My take on this CC Sterling tempranillo... It has a dominant cherry aroma. Slightly sweet on the front of the tongue, still somewhat bitter on the back (but a world better than yesterday). Very full bodied... reminds me a lot of a malbec.