Rubbery Bandaid Smell and Taste Strawberry Wine

[seth8530]

So, my girlfriend decided to pick and make a strawberry wine. The FG is sitting around .990 The original gravity was 1.03-1.04 before sugar was added to bring it up to 1.100 ish. ( bad notes)

55 lbs of fresh picked strawberries were used to make 5 gallons of wine. It was aged on light french and medium american oak spirals.

I apoligize for the bad notes, this was her first batch of wine and she did not take great notes.

So the issue is that the wine currently has a band-aid rubbery smell and taste to it. As well as a very strong strawberry taste. The colour is bright red (Awesome). Any thoughts on the taste? Something that will most likely age out? Anyone know the cause of it?

 

[ShawnDTurner]

Sounds like Brett, but I will let others chime in! Cheers

 

[Pumpkinman]

I'll have to agree, Bandaid smell is one of the aromas associated with brett.
I'd distance my wine and equipment from that batch!

 

[Norske]

This is from my copy of wine flaws''''''

FLAW - Band-Aid odor;

CAUSE - Too little yeast is trying to complete
the fermentation.

Resolution if any;

Add Yeast Nutrient to the wine. The
addition of more Wine Yeast may be
necessary. If the odor does not
improve, you can rack the wine in a
splashing manner to release the odor
once the fermentation is complete.
Then treat the wine with 1.5 Campden
Tablets per gallon.

 

[Arne]

Is she using all new equiptment? If so, see if the bung smells like you are saying the wine smell. If smelling directly out of the carboy, you can get the new bung smell from it. Arne.

 

[seth8530]

Thanks for the replies everyone. The equipment was all new. The wine went completely dry ( Brett needs sugar right unless it developed during fermentation)..

The thing is about the smell and taste is that it is not truly unpleasant, just kind of young smelling in a way.... But, it is disturbing that the smell is associated with brett. I figured brett would of been more unpleasant on the palate. Perhaps I should keep that equipment separated from the rest for now and wait and see what happens with time before I declare it brett for sure and the equipment used with that wine ruined?

I suppose it is possible that the wine did not have enough nutrient during fermentation, but I think she added nutrient.... The questions is whether or not it was enough...

Or it could be brett...

Or it could be just the new bung smell...


Hmm, so many choices....

 

[Boatboy24]

My money is on bung odor. Mmm, sounds delicious.

I sniffed 4 wines yesterday - Carmenere, Malbec, Pinot Noir and Amarone. Every single one of them smelled about the same. My bungs are almost all over a year old, and I still get that smell when I sniff from the top of the carboy. Thief some into a glass and it's a very different story.

 

[Dend78]

yeah that bung smell/taste hangs on forever, give it some time let it age it seemed that after a month on my first DB i made with all new stuff it all came out of it, there was for sure the smell and taste to the wine though until it aged out.

 

[jswordy]

Any thoughts on the taste? Something that will most likely age out? Anyone know the cause of it?

Yes, it will age out. Causes cited are as many as you care to think about - yeast stress, "bung taste" from bad rubber in the bungs, etc. I have done specific experiments to see if this flavor will age out. It does.

 

[Arne]

Yes, it will age out. Causes cited are as many as you care to think about - yeast stress, "bung taste" from bad rubber in the bungs, etc. I have done specific experiments to see if this flavor will age out. It does.

Are you sure you have aged wine?? Didn't know that was possible. LOL, I believe I'll join ya. Arne.

 

[jswordy]

Are you sure you have aged wine?? Didn't know that was possible. LOL, I believe I'll join ya. Arne.

Once I stepped up to Brute-sized batches, it has been easy to accumulate bottles. I have about 200 in the root cellar right now, another 40 in the Vinotemp, and 65 in carboys waiting to get bottled. That doesn't count the wine that's not ready to bottle yet.

Here's the post I made about my experiment...

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f6/apple-wine-bung-taste-aging-experiment-result-38795/

 

[robie]

Hey Jim, good to know you have finally accumulated a good month's supply of wine!!!

Just kidding! That really is the way to be able to stay away from the wine until it is ready - make lots of it; maybe even hide some or at least separate some from the rest and mark it "do not touch" 'till...

 

[jswordy]

Hey Jim, good to know you have finally accumulated a good month's supply of wine!!!

Hey let's not exaggerate - no way that would last me a month!

 

[sdelli]

I had a rubber smell once... Found out the so2 crashed on me... Brought it back up and in a couple weeks it was fine again.. It did take more then usual though since some had to bind.

 

[sdelli]

Seth,

Here is some info for you on that if you think it might be Brett.... I still think good levels of so2 will help it though...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brettanomyces

 

[seth8530]

Thanks for the postings everyone.

Sdelli, I just read the wiki article, I am starting to think it is not brett, the only flavour/aroma it comes close to matching is bandaid and that might be because it smells so rubbery. The taste is kind of like a rubbery warm plastic kind of smell. The over all taste is very strawberry taste that kind of turns into that rubbery kind of taste.

jswordy, I will give your topic a looking at when I get a chance!

 

[GreginND]

Personally I am not a fan of strawberry wine. And it is because of the funky aftertaste I always taste in them. Perhaps I am more sensitive to it than others because folks have told me they don't taste the off taste. I notice it in nearly all strawberry wines. So, I wonder if what you are tasting/smelling is from the strawberries themselves as opposed to another flaw.

That and the color usually turns into a very unappealing orange. For me there are better fruits to ferment.

 

[sdelli]

I don't think you do either....

 

[botigol]

Based on my one, and hopefully only ever (fingers crossed), brett infection I would say that it could be early in the infection or it is something innocuous like the bung. I would probably splash rack it and definitely hit it with a dose of SO2, then wait to see what develops. If the smell and/or flavor become stronger it would pretty much have to be brett. I have had Band-Aid/rubber smells come and go in ciders and apfelwein, but I haven't made a strawberry wine yet so I don't know if it gives off odd odors or not.

 

[seth8530]

Thanks for the advice everyone, we dosed it with SO2. Hopefully, it will come around with some time. If it starts to get stronger then we will know its brett, if it stays constant or starts going away in a few months then perhaps its just going through a phase or perhaps just a stressed fermentation.