Mosti Mondiale Gas smell?

[Mharris335]

My last two white kits I have made both have a smell of Gas. I know both were degassed all the way. I wiped the heck out of each one and used a Mighty Vac too. Both kits are about 8-12 months old. It does smell a little like c02. Anyone got info on this. Once I open the wine and let it breath for a while it goes away. Is it still to young?

 

[ibglowin]

CO2 is odorless but not tasteless. Can you describe the smell?

 

[Dean]

by gas do you mean natural gas? They actually add H2S to that to make it smell bad. It's a common flaw in a lot of wines and can signify stress on the yeast, too much Sulphites, or a host of other problems.

The good thing is, is that its highly treatable!

 

[Bartman]

I agree with Dean (and Mike too). If you mean "gas" as gasoline or petroleum-product odor, that's another story. One or two white wines are known for a tendency towards that odor, but it's not really desirable. I think Gewürztraminer is one that sometimes has a faint petroleum-ish smell when opened.

 

[ibglowin]

Most likely a sulphur smell I betcha.

 

[harlantk]

For my curiosity here:
If this is a sulfur base smell, then is the copper wire stirring the best method to cure this?
Or what should be looked for before applying a treatment?

Tim

 

[ibglowin]

Sometimes just a good splash racking will do to get rid of it. If not, the copper wire trick is the next option.

 

[AZ_Sky]

Well, being a newbie myself I'm not sure - but here's some stuff I found....

http://www.nanaimowinemakers.org/Steps/H2S_Issues.htm

 

[Goodfella]

I used the copper wire trick on a peach wine that I thought could not be fixed.... Within 10-15 minutes stirring the smell was completly gone!!!


I could not beleive it... now the wine is great.

 

[harlantk]

I used the copper wire trick on a peach wine that I thought could not be fixed.... Within 10-15 minutes stirring the smell was completly gone!!!
 
I could not beleive it... now the wine is great.

Wunnaful!! Just Wunnaful!!!!
This is good news Goodfella

Tim

 

[Goodfella]

Yeah... It was last year, and I'm tellin ya, the smell was bad.


The wine is really good now

 

[Mharris335]

Sorry was out of town this weekend. Yes it is a sulphur smell. I really don't know how to discribe it, but when ever I don't get all the C02 out of the wine, I can taste it and smell it.
I did get the pressure up to 28 with my might vac. Could I have done something with getting it that high?

 

[grapeman]

CO2 and sulfur are two different things. Like ibglowin said, C02 is odorless, while sulfur smells like, well sulfur. If you helf a vacuum of 28, you do not have residual C02, but may well have plenty of S02 to smell, which is different than hydrogen sulfide (rotten eggs). The S02 comes from the potassium sulfide (k-meta or campden) while the hydrogen sulfide comes from a bacterial infection ornutrient starved fermentationfrom lack of sulfites or nutrients.

 

[Mharris335]

Ok, then I think it is the rotten eggs smell. I did not add a lot of extra k-meta to get this smell. I added it at clearing and 1/8 tbsp at 6 month. Will this smell go away with time?
By the way, I can get C02 even if the vacuum says 28. When I bottle my wines I always whip for 20 mins and always get more C02 after I do 24-30 Vacuum. I know my wine is not at 70 F., it is much cooler then that. I just bottled a White wine kit yesterday CC Yakima Riesling. I had the might vac at 25 for two hours. Then I whipped it and got a lot more c02. This is one thing about making wine kits that I don’t like. I spend so much time trying to get the c02 out.

 

[brushwood24]

I have a similar problem with not getting all the CO2 out (I think). I just bottled a rose zinfandel that I whipped then vaccum degassed at 20 for about 10 minutes and then 25 for 5 minutes. I thought that would be plenty of time but once I bottled it, bubbles form if I shake the bottle. Should I be giving it more time under vaccum?

 

[Mharris335]

I think that the trick is to warm up the wine to 70F. I use the brew belt to heat up the carboy to 70 before I degas. It still takes alot of time to degas even when I do it this way. Stop using the vacuum when the big bubbles start to come up. That means you are cooking it or thats what someone else said.

 

[brushwood24]

I have a similar problem with not getting all the CO2 out (I think). I just bottled a rose zinfandel that I whipped then vaccum degassed at 20 for about 10 minutes and then 25 for 5 minutes. I thought that would be plenty of time but once I bottled it, bubbles form if I shake the bottle. Should I be giving it more time under vaccum?

I forgot to mention. The wines are at 78-80 degrees when I degas them.

 

[ibglowin]

How soon are you guys trying to bottle?

I keep my carboys at 72-74 degrees until they are degassed and fined. Usually about 25 days or so and then I let them drop down to room temps. I only degass for about 15 mins total. One time, that's it. I do however let them bulk age for 6-7 months. I have just never had a problem with residual CO2.Even with my whites that I only let bulk age for 3 months before bottling.

Just trying to see what the missing piece of the puzzle is here and the only thing I can come up with is your bottling after only ~ 28 days or something.

 

[brushwood24]

I did bottle the rose pretty early. It was only about a month old when I put it into bottles. I've got other wines that I am bulk aging but I've been getting a little impatient to get an early drinker done, so maybe I just rushed this one too much.

 

[Wade E]

I degas my wines at 75* with 16-18" of vacuum and that removes all the C02 needed. If you are cooler then that you will not get enough C02 out of your wine. You also do not want o totally remove every bit of C02 out of your wine as it will leave your wine flat meaning it will also pull out taste from your wine. Get yourself any bottle of commercial wine and I guaranty that there will be some C02 in it. If you have a sulfur smell it will not go away in the bottle and must be removed from the bottle and either splash racked or splash racked and stirred with a clean copper wire. There is also a additive called Bockskin which aids in the removal of this H2S problem. It is usually caused by not enough nutrients when fermenting or temps that made the yeast stress out while fermenting. When making anything but a kit wine I add both nutrient and energizer to all my wines. These 2 additives are different and different things for your yeast so dont think that just adding one is sufficient.