Pushed bung into carboy-Wine now tastes like rubbe

[JKsmith]

When racking my peach wine from primary to secondary, I accidentally pushed the white rubber air lock bung into the carboy. I know, I know, pretty stupid mistake. Well, it gets worse from there. My second mistake was thinking that since the rubber bung was made for this purpose, and was obviously food safe, it would be ok to leave it in the carboy until the next racking. I racked again a month later and although it tasted pretty harsh, as I was expecting, I really didn't detect anything out of the ordinary. Now, 2 months later, I just did a taste test and I can distinctly detect what I am interpreting as a a slight rubber taste. So, the question I have now is: have I forever ruined the entire batch? Or, will this off flavor fade with time? As you can probably imagine, I am just sick over this. Thanks in advance everyone for any input you can provide!

 

[Wade E]

Dont know myself as I have never done this but I would say it will fade over time.I hope!

 

[kutya]

I haven't done it either, but I'm with Wade, the taste will fade with time...

 

[pkcook]

I'm by no means a chemist and I don't know the exact chemical composition of the rubber the bungs are made of, but I would think that if exposed to alcohol for a month or two, they would begin to break down. I know that they will begin to break down if exposed to direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time.

 

[PolishWineP]

Is the wine still in the carboy or bottled? I think if it's in the carboy yet, I think there is hope.
What I would do is filter it into another carboy to remove any rubber particles that may be in there. I would give it a couple of months and give it a taste. It may improve over that time. It may not. If it didn't improve over the months I would try to fix the flavor issue with a flavor concentrate. You may not end up with the wine you started out making, but you could end up with a decent table wine.
**Pls note, these are the things that I would try. Bert may not agree with me.**

 

[smurfe]

If this wine hasn't been bottled, I would follow PWP advice and would do the same thing myself. I think I would rack it a couple times to aerate it a little and age a bit longerand then filter it and let it age a while longer.


I would also get another person to taste it that has no idea that you dropped the stopper in it to make sure you aren't just freaking out because you think you ruined your wine. You never know, it might be a psychological thing.


It is hard to tell if there truly is an after taste from the stopper if it will go away or not. Only time will tell about that.


Smurfe

 

[rshosted]

I was thinking, I might consider what the bung is. Probably it was still in tact when you got it out (or racked the win). So probably if anything it is an oil. So is there some additive like maybe calcium carbonate (just a small ammount you could put in? Then filter the wine to sterile .5 micron (though you wouldn't want to do that normally maybe). Then add a little more acid to recover the acid that was lost. Then probably another clarifier like KC clear or bentonite since clay will sometimes absorb the flavors too. Then if needed re-filter at .5 micron.

I'm still trying to think of something that might collect silicone that you could put into the wine.....

(that won't kill you or your wine)

I would probably do it all since it would be better than losing a batch...

 

[JKsmith]

Great advice everyone, thanks!!Now, I apologize for not mentioning this earlier but I honestly did not think about it until I was describing the problem to someone else. I oversulphited slightly and I'mtold that too much sulphite can cause a "rubber" like taste as well. I guess I had tunnel vision and all of my focus was on the bung and I might have overlooked a more obvious cause. Anyway, I sulphited at the rate of approx. 3/8 tsp /gal instead of 1/4 /gal because I was planning on bulk aging this wine for at least a year and my thinking was that in that amount of time, the extra sulphite would dissipate and not be an issue a year down the road. So, do you think what I am tasting is actually the sulphite and not the rubber bung? Again, I am fairly new to all of this so please forgive my stupidity as it relates to this situation!

 

[JKsmith]

Also, how effective is splash racking when it comes to driving off excess SO2, if that is indeed my problem,and what is the best way (also affordable) to check SO2 levels? Thanks!!

 

[masta]

Please don't say you added 3/8 tsp of k-meta per gal because if did the rubber like taste is most likely the sulfite. At that rate you added ~330 ppm of free sulfite which is extremely high.


Not sure racking and splashing can reduce the level from >300 ppm.

 

[JKsmith]

Yeah, unfortunately, instead of adding a total of 1.5 tsp I added 2.25 tsp. Do you think in a year's time it will dissipate to an acceptable level? (That plus several rackings?)

 

[bmorosco]

The rubber the bungs are made to keep air out or in...they are not made for contact with alcohol.. they will break down and just like oak become part of your wine..So I am not sure if you will ever get the taste out..

 

[masta]

You might be able to aerate the wine enough to reduce the S02 but I have my doubts. The best bet would be to make at least another batch and blend the two. You have enough sulfite in this batch to protect 6 batches!!


You should only be adding 1/4 tsp of k-meta to 6 gals not 1/4 tsp per 1 gal after it is complete to properly protect your wine for long term aging/storage.






Potassium metabisulfite, 1 gram = 150 ppm in 1 gallon, 30 ppm in 5 gallons
Potassium metabisulfite, ¼ teaspoon = 225 ppm in 1 gallon, 45 ppm in 5 gallons
Potassium metabisulfite, 1½ tablespoon to 1 gallon water makes ½% solution for washing equipment
Potassium metabisulfite, 2 oz. to 1 quart water makes 5% solution for sterilizing must (1 teaspoon solution per gallon of must)
1 Campden tablet contains 0.55 grams potassium metabisulfite, yielding 75 ppm SO2 to one gallon of must or wine

 

[Wade E]

Gee Masta, I think hes got me beat on that one. JK, I did the same
thing only in the beginning to a 6 gallon batch and a 2 gallon batch
before I even added yeast. I didnt even bother trying to fix mine
though becuse I didnt want to waste anymore time or money seeing as how
it was so far gone. I added the 1/4 tsp per gallon like you meant to.
You have taken it 1 step furter than me and I feel your pain. I hope
you can work it out seeing as how yours was already finished.

!


Edited by: wade

 

[JKsmith]

Well I just ordered a so2 titret kit from George so I can tell what my actual levels are. At that point, I'm sure I will see that it is too far gone to save. :-( To make matters worse, I just found out where part of my problem stemmed from. I was under the mistaken impression that K-Meta and Na-Meta were basically the same since campden tablets come in either form and the dosage rate is 1 tablet per gal. for both. Well, I assumed that the dosage rate would also be the same for the powdered versons. BIG MISTAKE!! In actuality, the dosage rate for k-meta is, as I thought, 1/4 tsp per gallon, however, the dosage rate for na-meta is 1/4 tsp per 5 gallons!!! So, not only did I over sulphite based on k-meta rates, I REALLY over did it when I used na-meta instead of k-meta. It's been a heck of a learning experience to be sure but I just hate the fact that I probably trashed what I think would have been a very good wine.

 

[Wade E]

Actually then, being if you used na=meta you are better off this way.
You would need more of this then k-meta. so its not AS bad as you
thought.

 

[JKsmith]

I think it's the other way around. But then again, at this point, don't listen to me!!

My thought process on this is as follows, since na-meta only needs 1/4 tsp to treat 5 gallons, and k-meta needs that same amount to only treat 1 gallon, would that not mean that the na-meta is 5 times more powerful than the k-meta and thus I added 1 entire tsp too much?

 

[masta]

Well I just ordered a so2 titret kit from George so I can tell what my actual levels are. At that point, I'm sure I will see that it is too far gone to save. :-( To make matters worse, I just found out where part of my problem stemmed from. I was under the mistaken impression that K-Meta and Na-Meta were basically the same since campden tablets come in either form and the dosage rate is 1 tablet per gal. for both. Well, I assumed that the dosage rate would also be the same for the powdered versons. BIG MISTAKE!! In actuality, the dosage rate for k-meta is, as I thought, 1/4 tsp per gallon, however, the dosage rate for na-meta is 1/4 tsp per 5 gallons!!! So, not only did I over sulphite based on k-meta rates, I REALLY over did it when I used na-meta instead of k-meta. It's been a heck of a learning experience to be sure but I just hate the fact that I probably trashed what I think would have been a very good wine.

Not sure where you are getting your info but I have never seen campden tablets that contain Na-Meta (Sodium Metabisulfite)...but then again I don't use them. They also contain more than just K-meta to help bind it together in a tablet form and they come in different strengths depending on who makes them!!!


Na-meta is roughly 7% stronger than K-meta (Potassium Metabisulfite) but for all practical purposes you can measure them the same way and the dosage rate is the same.


One campden tablet = 1/8 to 1/10 of a tsp of Na-meta or K-meta

 

[JKsmith]

Go to the Online store here and read the photographed labels on both the LD Carlson 1lb package of k-meta as well as na-meta. On the label, they clearly list the dosage rates for k-meta as 1/4 tsp per gal and on the na-meta they list it as 1/4 tsp for 5 gal. That's where I was getting my figures from. Also, you will see that George sells campden tablets made from both types. So, now I'm more confused than ever. If they are supposed to basically be interchangeable, why such a disparity in the labeling? Why does the na-meta appear to be 5 times stronger? HELP!!!!

 

[Wade E]

Yes you are right, I'm working to many hours and cant think straight
anymore. I guess I'll leave my wine alone tonight as I dont want ton
try any math on any batches tonight!