# My Mullberry wine stinks



## Madriver Wines (Aug 3, 2009)

As the title states the Mullberry is stinking pretty bad. It isn't so much a sulpher smell but it is bad. Not like any I have made to date. The taste is not so bad but I cant get past the smell.I used Montrachet yeast and didnt have energizer so I put 1/4 tsp extra nutrient in 3 different times during primary fermentation. It semed to help at the time but wore off quickly. I used Wade's recipe but for 4L. The Sg to start was 1.085 and now is .996 after 2 weeks in the secondary. I was thinking of splash racking it and adding Ascorbic acid to retard oxygenation. Any advise will be appreciated, Steve


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## smurfe (Aug 3, 2009)

Try the racking you suggest. It will more than likely help. The non use of energizer isn't really that big of an issue. You did use nutrient which was most important. This is one of the main reasons I rarely use Montrachet yeast. I use Champagne yeast for almost all of my fruit and white wines.


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## Madriver Wines (Aug 3, 2009)

Yea I know , went by Wades suggestions ha ha. Thanks smurfe I will rack it tomorrow and reply, Steve
No need to dump it yet??


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## Wade E (Aug 3, 2009)

This is why I use energizer. The Montrachetreally needs the yeast hulls and B-complex to thrive well but if its not sulphur smell then thats not the problem. What were the temps while you were fermenting. You really should be fermenting fruits like these in cooler temps to avoid problems.


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## Madriver Wines (Aug 4, 2009)

The temps were in the 73 to 75 most of the time with one afternoon of 78. I splash racked it and degassed. It must be SO2 Wade as it smells like sewer. It stunk up the kitchen and released alot of stench but I am still po'ed.  It had to happen on a batch I _picked_ the berries instead of _buying_!! Any ideas on stench removal? Long term bulk aging is the only next step I have now.
Thanks everyone,
Steve


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## Madriver Wines (Aug 4, 2009)

smurfe said:


> Try the racking you suggest. It will more than likely help. The non use of energizer isn't really that big of an issue. You did use nutrient which was most important. This is one of the main reasons I rarely use Montrachet yeast. I use Champagne yeast for almost all of my fruit and white wines.


 I really like the Champagne also. I used the Montrachet on 2 blueberry batches with success but then I did have the energizer for those. It let off alot of stench so maybe that and getting off the Lees will help. 
Luc any ideas? I have put out a fruit fly trap per your blog so I am hoping to get that little bastard!


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## Tom (Aug 4, 2009)

Just a FYI.
On all my fruit wines I use Cote des Blancs. To date (kmock on wood) I have not had a problem gettin it started except my Cranberry. Yes I add nurrient every time.
Just my .02 cents worth.


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## Madriver Wines (Aug 7, 2009)

*Update*

The splash racking seems to have reduced the stench. That and a good degassing I suppose. I am going to let it sit for quite a while and check it again. Real bummer though.


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## jlmclean (Aug 7, 2009)

Madriver; I'm showing my ignorance here, what's degassing? Also, what's splash racking?


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## BettyJ (Aug 7, 2009)

So Steve, you think that your wine was contaminated? Did you wash your fresh fruit with K meta? COuld it be too much K meta? I would be interested in how this plays out... 

I had a 5 gallon batch last year of mango that I still don't understand what happened (other than the temp was too high - could have gotten >90 degrees). It smelled horrible right after fermentation and tasted worse - acid and metallic. I bought an acid test and it was high, treated it with max Calcium stuff, used fining agent - nothing worked. I kept a few bottles for cooking that now taste "ok", but had a brown/ rust colored sediment in the bottles and still tastes slightly metallic.


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## Madriver Wines (Aug 9, 2009)

Jimclean
Degassing is removing the co2 from the wine by stirring it. Most use a whip that attaches to a drill but I dont have one so I stir it in the carboy or jug till my arm says stop. Splash racking is racking but adding air by letting the wine splash off of the sides ect. . This causes it to give off gas and in my case stench.
Bettj
I am pretty sure it was from the yeast not getting all the nutrients it needed. When I racked off the lees this last time the lees smelled of the same stink I was trying to get rid of. I have used Montrachet with nutrient and energizer with sucess but was out of energizer. I used sulfites (1 campden tablet) at the beginning.


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## Madriver Wines (Aug 9, 2009)

Bettyj you may be right about the temp being too high 90s. That can leave a bad taste in the wine .


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## donnaclif (Aug 17, 2009)

it was long back i had tried to make mulberry wine my self the must had a very pungent smell, sort of like sulfur or rotten egg, somebody had suggested me to rack it utill the smell is gone.. i gave it a regular splashing & racking na dit really helped!


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## Wade E (Aug 17, 2009)

Mine was just racked and it smells wonderful.


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## Manimal (Aug 17, 2009)

If it smells like sewer or rotten egg, the problem is likely Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) not SO2 (sulfur dioxide.) Anything that stresses the yeast can cause an H2S problem, such as temperature issues, insufficient nutrient, etc. Vigorously racking the wine and aerating it can often remedy the situation, but if it continues to stink pretty bad, you might want to consider using copper sulfate to treat it. Copper is toxic, though, so you want to make sure you really know what you're doing with it first.


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## Wade E (Aug 17, 2009)

Before using the sulfate try stirring i with a sanitized copper pipe or some copper electrical wire for a few minutes, it works and will not poison you.


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## Madriver Wines (Aug 18, 2009)

Wade E said:


> Before using the sulfate try stirring i with a sanitized copper pipe or some copper electrical wire for a few minutes, it works and will not poison you.


I will try that, thanks. The smell improved alot with the first splash racking so after 2 weeks i did it again. I will let it sit for a while and check it.


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## donnaclif (Aug 19, 2009)

Manimal said:


> .... you might want to consider using copper sulfate to treat it. Copper is toxic, though, so you want to make sure you really know what you're doing with it first.


but i have heard that Copper sulfate is poisonous. is it true?


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## Wade E (Aug 19, 2009)

It is very true!!!!!!


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## donnaclif (Aug 21, 2009)

then how do you recommend using it. i am not much of wine maker. i am a more of a wine enthusiast.. however would love to try it myself


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## Madriver Wines (Aug 21, 2009)

Wade is saying use a copper wire or pipe not the powder form.


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## Wade E (Aug 21, 2009)

In the right amount which is very littel copper sulfate is safe but to much of something will kill you or make you very ill. Using the copper pipe or wire method will not harm you!!!!!!


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## Madriver Wines (Aug 22, 2009)

A copper pipe in the wrong place can kill you too, or hurt really bad lol.


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## BobF (Oct 24, 2009)

Madriver Wines said:


> As the title states the Mullberry is stinking pretty bad. It isn't so much a sulpher smell but it is bad. Not like any I have made to date. The taste is not so bad but I cant get past the smell.I used Montrachet yeast and didnt have energizer so I put 1/4 tsp extra nutrient in 3 different times during primary fermentation. It semed to help at the time but wore off quickly. I used Wade's recipe but for 4L. The Sg to start was 1.085 and now is .996 after 2 weeks in the secondary. I was thinking of splash racking it and adding Ascorbic acid to retard oxygenation. Any advise will be appreciated, Steve


 
Do you have an update and a synopsis of what solved the problem?

I have a jug of strawberry that smelled awefule out of the primary. After the first racking it seemed better, but I just racked again and it still stinks.

I aerated the bejeesus out of it after racking this time ... I guess I'll see what happens.

BTW, re: copper pipe ... I've lived in houses with copper plumbing most of my life and I haven't been poisened that I'm aware of!!!!


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## arcticsid (Oct 24, 2009)

Bob there talking about copper reacting with other chemicals in wine. I'm sure we all realize fertilizer wouldn't harm you, but mix it with the right things and the whole ball game is changed!

I too, would like to know if this has been resolved.

Mad, we need an update!!

Troy


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## BobF (Oct 24, 2009)

arcticsid said:


> Bob there talking about copper reacting with other chemicals in wine. I'm sure we all realize fertilizer wouldn't harm you, but mix it with the right things and the whole ball game is changed!


 
I don't regularly mix fertilizer with food and drink. OTOH, I often mix water with food and drink that has traveled through and rested in copper pipe. ::


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## Wade E (Oct 24, 2009)

As far as poison goes the Copper sulfate that is used to fix a H2S problem in wine is very poisonous at the wrong dose so I never recommend using it just in case of a slip or momentary lapse of mind.


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## Madriver Wines (Nov 4, 2009)

Ok 
I used a copper pipe 3/8" by 2 foot long and stirred like crazy. I could not smell anything when it was in the wine but could when I removed it?? I cleaned up 3 pennies and dropped them in the wine for a day or two and then removed them.  After all my efforts it still had some stink left. Not nearly as bad as when it started out. I bottled it a couple weeks ago and will let it sit till spring. Here is hoping all the effort pays off I was really looking forward to drinking  some of it.
Stinky Steve


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## Madriver Wines (Nov 4, 2009)

BobF said:


> Do you have an update and a synopsis of what solved the problem?
> 
> I have a jug of strawberry that smelled awefule out of the primary. After the first racking it seemed better, but I just racked again and it still stinks.
> 
> ...


 
You may not of been piosoned but it looks like ya got bugs lol.


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## waynemart (Nov 6, 2009)

Madriver Wines said:


> As the title states the Mullberry is stinking pretty bad. It isn't so much a sulpher smell but it is bad. Not like any I have made to date. The taste is not so bad but I cant get past the smell.I used Montrachet yeast and didnt have energizer so I put 1/4 tsp extra nutrient in 3 different times during primary fermentation. It semed to help at the time but wore off quickly. I used Wade's recipe but for 4L. The Sg to start was 1.085 and now is .996 after 2 weeks in the secondary. I was thinking of splash racking it and adding Ascorbic acid to retard oxygenation. Any advise will be appreciated, Steve


Don't give up on it. I made a watermelon wine last year and I thought I was going to puke when it came time to bottle. I almost threw 20 gallons down the drain, but decided to bottle it anyway. After a year, it melowed out and ain't half bad. I bet in another year it will be some pretty fine stuff. A similar thing happened with a batch of strawberry and pineapple. After a year, the pineapple is still nasty, but not as bad.


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## Madriver Wines (Jan 29, 2010)

I forgot to mention that I used the 3/8" copper pipe as a racking cane when I bottled the wine. Thinking was that one more exposure to the copper and alot of surface area, since it was all going thru the small opening, would help. My plan is to open a bottle over the 4th and see what I have??


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## Madriver Wines (Jul 9, 2010)

Well I did open a bottle and the smell was gone. Good flavor but not all that full bodied. A friend dropped off 9 lbs a couple weeks ago so I started 2 gal with that. These were very ripe so maybe I will get better results. I used Red Pasture yeast this time so I had no stench.


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