Brettanomyces yeast infection

[wood1954]

Well the good news is MLF worked really well, this years harvest is nice and mellow. The bad news is that it’s all contaminated with Brett. It smells like sewage. I’m debating tossing all 24+ gallons. By not adding so2 after fermentation so it could undergo MLF I-must have allowed the Brett yeast to proliferate. Another hard lesson learned. I could smell it even before I removed an airlock.
At least 2020 vintage turned out wel. This is a tough hobby, I would never do this for a living.

 

[Chris Johnson]

I go light on SO2 until ML is done and then hit it with oenobrett and SO2. Maybe worth a try for you?

https://laffort.com/en/products/oenobrett/

 

[stickman]

I suspect H2S is the problem, it's much more likely than brett. You can test by stirring a small sample with copper wire, if the smell goes away it's H2S. Don't drink the sample. There are products on the market to treat H2S such as Reduless.

 

[wood1954]

I just sent my stash of reduless to Riceguy, it doesn’t smell like h2s tho, it smells like my neighbors barn. I just had hand surgery on my hand but once it’s healed up I’m going to try racking several times and add so2, see what happens.

 

[Khristyjeff]

When you said "neighbor's barn" I thought of this from Wine Folly:

Microbial and Bacterial Taint …aka I think something is growing in there

• How you can tell: Again, there are many other bacteria involved in winemaking. They impart certain positive flavors but also produce signature wine faults. For example, if your wine smells like a gerbil cage, sommeliers call this “mousy,” often found in natural wines.
  When you try a wine and breathe out and get a whiff of hay bail, this is called “ropiness” and suggests another over-productive wild microbe.
  
  Think of microbes like spices. In the right quantities, they add an appealing complexity but too much overwhelms the wine.
• What it is: Many microbes live during the wine fermentation in addition to yeast. If one of these colonies becomes too aggressively present pre- or post- alcoholic fermentation, you can start to get various off aromas. In small amounts, they add appealing complexity, but if the colony becomes too vigorous, these flavors are considered faults, like too much salt in a dish.
• Can I fix it? Unfortunately, no. Once it’s in there, that’s what you’ve got! Grab the microscope and go exploring!

 

[Rice_Guy]

A sewage/ H2S smell would indicate that it is in the system. If H2S is in the mix one should still be able to remove it with the copper treatment, ,,, just in case, I will put the Reduless in with the juice order Wednesday.

I just sent my stash of reduless to Riceguy, it doesn’t smell like H2S tho, it smells like my neighbors barn. I just had hand surgery on my hand but once it’s healed up I’m going to try racking several times and add so2, see what happens.

 

[RottenGrapeJuice]

Well the good news is MLF worked really well, this years harvest is nice and mellow. The bad news is that it’s all contaminated with Brett. It smells like sewage. I’m debating tossing all 24+ gallons. By not adding so2 after fermentation so it could undergo MLF I-must have allowed the Brett yeast to proliferate. Another hard lesson learned. I could smell it even before I removed an airlock.
At least 2020 vintage turned out wel. This is a tough hobby, I would never do this for a living.

Do you have all the 24 gallons in one vessel? I’ve been hesitant to buy a larger variable volume container for fear of exactly this: if something goes wrong, it’s ALL shot. Just not sure yet if I use carboys instead the likelihood of infecting one carboy, but not the others. I guess it depends on what happened. If one container is dirty, should stay isolated to that container. If it’s the equipment, you will probably infect all the carboys anyway.

 

[wood1954]

A sewage/ H2S smell would indicate that it is in the system. If H2S is in the mix one should still be able to remove it with the copper treatment, ,,, just in case, I will put the Reduless in with the juice order Wednesday.

Keep half of it, I really think it’s Brett not h2s

 

[Nebbiolo020]

If it is Brett and it’s a carboy or stainless tank etc use some iodophor on it which is broad spectrum and I’ve used equipment that has been in sour beers in wine and non sour beers with no signs of infections. Seriously used a bucket that had pediococcus and Brett in it.

 

[wood1954]

sounds like i need to really clean my wine making space. My neighbor uses iodophor for cleaning his beer equipment, ill give it a try. I have the wine in 4 carboys, luckily haven't put any in my new barrel!

 

[wood1954]

Turns out I was wrong, no Brett. I sent a sample to Lodi wine lab and they said no Brett. I racked a few times and used Reduless twice and got rid of the smell. I left the wine on about 2” of lees after AF for a month , it must have been the source of the h2s. So next year I’ll rack off the gross lees and a couple days later rack off the fine lees and hope the MLF goes well.

 

[CDrew]

Turns out I was wrong, no Brett. I sent a sample to Lodi wine lab and they said no Brett. I racked a few times and used Reduless twice and got rid of the smell. I left the wine on about 2” of lees after AF for a month , it must have been the source of the h2s. So next year I’ll rack off the gross lees and a couple days later rack off the fine lees and hope the MLF goes well.

You could also use one of the H2S preventing yeasts, like Avante or Bravo. These are excellent yeasts, with no downside that I have yet noted.

 

[wood1954]

I did use Avante, there must have been some wild yeast lurking in the lees, another lesson learned. If I’m not sulfuring after AF I need to clean up the wine while it goes thru mlf.