dreaded egg smell

Arne · Nov 9, 2011

I'm kinda waitin to see if the smell left for her. And yes know all about the pennies being made of zinc. We tried to sweat (solder) one on a gas tank one time to fix a leak. Talking and not watching too close and what happened to the penny. Oh well, try another. Same thing happened. Next penny, watched as it heated up and it turned into a little silver ball and splatted on the floor. THe old pennies worked good to fix a leak in a gas tank, the new ones not so good. And while talking about that, the old welder here in town would always tell people. Sure I'll fix the hole in that gas tank. As long as you sit on it to hold it down. Arne.

robie · Nov 9, 2011

Arne said:
I'm kinda waitin to see if the smell left for her. And yes know all about the pennies being made of zinc. We tried to sweat (solder) one on a gas tank one time to fix a leak. Talking and not watching too close and what happened to the penny. Oh well, try another. Same thing happened. Next penny, watched as it heated up and it turned into a little silver ball and splatted on the floor. THe old pennies worked good to fix a leak in a gas tank, the new ones not so good. And while talking about that, the old welder here in town would always tell people. Sure I'll fix the hole in that gas tank. As long as you sit on it to hold it down. Arne.

There is enough copper plated on the pennies that they still work fine for dealing with H2S on a small scale. I test if the problem is really H2S by placing two shinny pennies in a cup of wine and stirring it really well for about 2 minutes.

Actually, that is a test Sadie should try, so she can confirm the smell is really H2S. two shinny, clean pennies (no tarnish) in a cup of wine, stirred for a few minutes should really lessen the H2S smell and taste. If stirred even longer, the smell should subside entirely.

She should try it and let us know, as well as whether or not fermentation is underway, by taking an SG reading.

dantrubak · Nov 9, 2011

I had a trouble wine and splashed racked it.

My way of doing it was to pour the wine into an open primary (ferment bucket) allowing it (the wine) to splash against the sides to introduce additional oxygen to the wine

I poured from bucket to bucket atleast 8 times till the smell went away and then poured the wine back into a secondary, added campden and an airlock and waited. About 6 months later their was no smell and the wine had cleared so it was bottled

Godfather · Nov 9, 2011

What you are experiencing is called Hydrogen Sulfide Contamination. You can run your juice through a strerlized copper tube or place a sterile copper tube in your carboy then splash rack

sadie · Nov 9, 2011

Sorry it took me a while to get back with everyone. You have all been so helpful and so quick with the replies too. I appreciate it so much!
I took an SG reading. It is at 1.070. Oh and me being the newbie I am thought I would remember the SG reading I took on monday. I know now that I need to write this stuff down. I will take another reading tomorrow. The stirring has helped a lot, the smell is slowly going away. Now I smell something weird and strawberries. I feel like I can just get this smell of eggs but not rotten.
I tried the penny test which actually worked!! I can only smell strawberries. Smells pretty good

robie · Nov 10, 2011

sadie said:
Sorry it took me a while to get back with everyone. You have all been so helpful and so quick with the replies too. I appreciate it so much!
I took an SG reading. It is at 1.070. Oh and me being the newbie I am thought I would remember the SG reading I took on monday. I know now that I need to write this stuff down. I will take another reading tomorrow. The stirring has helped a lot, the smell is slowly going away. Now I smell something weird and strawberries. I feel like I can just get this smell of eggs but not rotten.
I tried the penny test which actually worked!! I can only smell strawberries. Smells pretty good

Good! If the penny test works, you should be able to get rid of the rotten egg smell eventually. You can buy one of those copper pot scrubbers from most any grocery store. It is a copper mesh. Once fermentation is completed and you rack, clean the scrubber, sanitize it and put it down in the container with the wine. Stir it around with your spoon once a day. In a week, splash rack and remove the scrubber. You may have to repeat and splash rack a few more times, but you should be able to remove the H2S this way.

As I have written before, there is an additive called reduless that is made specifically for safely removing H2S from wine. With it, you don't have concerns about having to splash rack several times and possibly oxidizing your wine. I think it is a good product to have on hand, just in case. H2S has only happened to me one time, though. In most cases, it is preventable.

Take the SG reading again tonight and see if it has fallen at all. That will tell you if fermentation is underway.