Plastic smell in final product...

[EB1811]

Need some help here guys.

I just filtered my wine and was getting ready to bottle and it has a strong smell of plastic to it. All of my equipment is food grade, Vinter's Best primary, Better Bottle secondary and for bulk ageing. So I'm kind of at a loss as to what could have made it smell like that.

Any ideas on cause or how to fix it?

Thank you!

 

[tonyt]

Is it a kit? How long since you added k meta? What kind of filter? How did it taste/smell prior to filtering?

 

[EB1811]

It's a kit, Red Mountain Cab from Cellar Craft. Smelled of plastic before filtering, that's when I noticed it. I added the kit's K-meta on September 19th. Filter is a Buon Vino mini-jet.

My primary fermentation averaged around 75 degrees I'm wondering if that was too high and maybe contributed?

 

[BernardSmith]

Is the smell plastic or could it be burnt rubber?
http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/shared/pdfs/SulfurOffOdor.pdf

 

[EB1811]

Definitely a plastic smell. It's been driving me crazy trying to figure it out.

 

[Runningwolf]

I would pour half a glass and add an old penny to it. Swirl it around and let it set about five minutes covered. Pour a second glass (same style) and cover it. after five minutes smell the first glass with a penny and than the second glass. I the odor went away than your problem is H2S and easily fixed.

 

[sour_grapes]

I would pour half a glass and add an old penny to it. Swirl it around and let it set about five minutes covered. Pour a second glass (same style) and cover it. after five minutes smell the first glass with a penny and than the second glass. I the odor went away than your problem is H2S and easily fixed.

Why an old penny? I know that new pennies have a zinc core, but their outer cladding is pure copper. I should think they will behave identically as far as H2S adsorption (although it will be easier to find a shiny new penny than a shiny old one!).

 

[EB1811]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to say thank you for the help and the quick responses. Sadly, I tried the penny experiment and it didn't seem to work. The smell is still there. The only way to describe it is a plastic smell on top of the fruit smell of the wine. Its an obvious smell when you first smell the wine but it's harder to detect and gets overpowered by the fruit when you keep smelling it, if that makes any sense.

 

[wineforfun]

Why an old penny? I know that new pennies have a zinc core, but their outer cladding is pure copper. I should think they will behave identically as far as H2S adsorption (although it will be easier to find a shiny new penny than a shiny old one!).

Pennies prior to 1982(actually some of the '82's are also, this is the year the switch was made) are 95% copper.

On a side note, if the gov ever starts allowing pennies to be melted, those are the ones you want to be "collecting" as they have the most copper in them. Pennies with 95% copper are actually worth 2.14 cents in melt value due to the copper content.

 

[EB1811]

Tried it with a penny from 76, no joy...

 

[sour_grapes]

Why an old penny? I know that new pennies have a zinc core, but their outer cladding is pure copper. I should think they will behave identically as far as H2S adsorption (although it will be easier to find a shiny new penny than a shiny old one!).

Pennies prior to 1982(actually some of the '82's are also, this is the year the switch was made) are 95% copper.

Yeah, but I am contending that it does not matter what the core is (for this application), as the reaction only happens on the surface. The overall composition is irrelevant.

 

[jamesngalveston]

if its not h2s, then i would say that its leeched the plastic from the better bottle...
not that said.
the bottles may be made are blown in the US....the plastic they use could be from mexico,china,japan,korea,thailand, where there is not very ridgid mfg stantards.
it may meet pet standards, but when you get down to it...i doubt every batch of plastic is checked.
When i first started i bought some...I tossed all of them about 2 months ago and went to all glass in all sizes.

 

[jamesngalveston]

did you have a lack of any nutrients in your wine when it started...was it under stress at any point....
bernard smith may have an answer.....

 

[EB1811]

I added the yeast nutrient (enzyme pouch) provided by cellar craft after I transferred to carboy for secondary fermentation on day 9.

I did, however, use BDX yeast instead of the yeast provided by the kit. The primary fermentation was fast, done by day 9, and it foamed up quite a bit.

 

[jamesngalveston]

well that rules out a nitrogen deficency.

 

[EB1811]

I'm going to switch over to glass carboys for my next kit, hopefully that will solve the problem in the future.

 

[cmason1957]

I have used better bottles for wines I have bulk agreed for at least 3 to 6 months, without any noticeable smells. I don't think they are part of the problem.

 

[Runningwolf]

I'm a fan of glass, but I have never heard of anyone getting off odors from a Better Bottle.

 

[jamesngalveston]

i was just guessing, I have no clue, but what could it be....

 

[Runningwolf]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to say thank you for the help and the quick responses. Sadly, I tried the penny experiment and it didn't seem to work. The smell is still there. The only way to describe it is a plastic smell on top of the fruit smell of the wine. Its an obvious smell when you first smell the wine but it's harder to detect and gets overpowered by the fruit when you keep smelling it, if that makes any sense.

It makes perfect sense. When testing wines for aroma you need to go with your first smell most of the time. By the time you try smelling it 3-4 times you lose your sense. I go outside and get fresh air or another thing I have is a little tub of ground coffee to smell. This recharges your senses to go back to the wine.