Sulfur smell in first batch

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brianpablo

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Hi everyone - On Sunday I started my first batch of wine, a 6-gallon Winemaker's Reserve Malbec kit from concentrate. I got an original gravity of 1.090 and added one package of EC-1118. It started chugging right away and within the first few days had fermented down to about 1.060. I've tried to keep temperatures close to the 75 degree range that the kit recommends, but it's gone a bit higher than that - as high as 78 before I knocked it back down to 76 with a budget swamp cooler. That's about as low as I'll get it given that air temperatures are about 80 here.

My only concern is that I'm getting a noticeable sulfur smell out of it and want to make sure I handle it correctly. My prior experience with brewing has taught me that the best remedy for these things is to leave them alone, and I've mostly done that. I stirred once yesterday and plan to do so again tonight. The kit says I should add a yeast nutrient when it gets down to 1.040, which may be today at the rate things are going. So should I

1) Wait, do nothing and hope it goes away in secondary?
2) Stir it a bunch?
3) Wait for primary to finish and then stir a bunch and rack it?

I don't have a wine supply shop very close by so adding specialized wine chemicals is not much of an option, though I do have some gelatin fining lying around (not sure how old it is).

Appreciate any pointers here.

Thanks!
 
Like cmason, I would get the nutrient in there. Keep the o2 in there by stirring. If it doesn't go away you might have to help it leave. Check back in after a few days and let us know how it is going. And welcome to Winemaking talk. If you get a chance, go to the introductions thread and introduce yourself. Arne.
 
Agree with adding the nutrient now. I would also go so far as giving the wine a racking to remove the gross lees (if any). There should be plenty of active yeast suspended in the wine to finish off fermentation.
 

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