Funky Odor

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selbynina

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This question has propably been asked a hundred times but here goes: my must is in the fermenter, and as of today is reading 0 brix. I'm assuming that fermentation is more or less finished, but I'm getting a pretty strong rotten eg smell from the must. If fermentation basically finished, what is giving off the smell and how do I fix, if I need to? Thanks
 
First, relax :) you are probably ok.
What kind of must? what is the recipe? Did you add any camden or other additives? Wwhat was the OG. Any information you can give will help answer the question.
 
I have to disagree on this one. If you have rotten egg smell you need to correct it soon otherwise it will be very hard to correct later. This is a common problem if the yeast doesn't have enough nutrients or of the grower over sprayed the grapes. The best thing to do is aerate the wine by splash racking from one carboy to the next and back again. The idea is to vigorously rack oxygen into the wine to push the rotton egg odor (H2S, Hydrogen Sulfide) out of the wine. It may take several rackings to get the odor out. Try racking 2 or 3 times and see if you still smell the odor, if so, try a few more times. If you get the odor out, add some potassium metabisulte or campden tablets to prevent oxidation and spoilage.

PS. By splash racking you want the wine to splash to push the odor out.
 

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