Hydrogen Sulfide

[skitter]

Quick Question,

I was having a rotten egg smell in my wine using Montrache fermenting at about 75 (not ideal I know but bear with me here) after about 2-3 days. I kept stirring to degas and was hoping it would end up ok. I was reading a bit on here that Montrache does have those issues, however I was also reading the sooner you addressed the problem the better.

I added DAP at the end of the 3rd day hoping that would help, it didn't.

Today is the 6th day of fermentation and I just splash racked it (twice), and it smells like most of it is gone but I put it in the Carboy and there was still a bit of the smell.

If I check it in a couple days and can still smell it, instead of splash racking again can I thoroughly wash and sanitize a few pennies, leave it on those for a day and rack back off? I read about that being used before to resolve the issues and wanted to get ya'lls feedback. I don't have any copper sheathing, I will go buy some if I absolutely have to but would prefer not to.

Thanks,

 

[Turock]

OK--here's the formal answer: You should never use pennies or copper wire,etc. to rid yourself of H2S. It can put too much copper into the wine due to acidity of the wine,which can be toxic. You are far better off getting some Reduless and dosing the wine. I know that people use pennies,etc. but you shouldn't. The copper in the Reduless is only enough to get the job done. You can find it on the Morewine site.

 

[skitter]

OK--here's the formal answer: You should never use pennies or copper wire,etc. to rid yourself of H2S. It can put too much copper into the wine due to acidity of the wine,which can be toxic. You are far better off getting some Reduless and dosing the wine. I know that people use pennies,etc. but you shouldn't. The copper in the Reduless is only enough to get the job done. You can find it on the Morewine site.

Ok, so on the same concept of the winemaking sites that say to pour the wine over the copper sheathing, what about Racking it in a colander with pennies in it...

If I have to buy something I will. would prefer not to...

 

[NorCal]

Yes, same concept and not a good idea. Doing a proper trial and addition is only a few bucks. I wouldn't want to drink a wine with an unknown and uncontrolled amount of copper.

 

[JohnT]

It is all about control. With redueles, you can add a measured amount of copper. Using pure copper, you have no idea just how much copper is imparted to into your wine.

H2S issues involve very small amounts of the offending compound. Just 3 parts per million would lay you out. Consequently, it takes very small amounts of copper to correct your issue. In most cases, using pure copper is overkill.

 

[stickman]

I too agree with using trials to determine the copper addition, even very small amounts of excess copper will cause future problems for the wine. Just my opinion, but I wouldn't add copper before fermentation is complete.

 

[4score]

I just acquired a 1% copper sulfate bottle from More Wine. I'm going to use this with a sample of wine to first determine if I have an H2S problem. In relative terms, I'll use the 1% sample to test ONLY FOR SMELL as this level exceeds what you would want to actually treat the wine with. "If" the 1% cures the smell, then you know what you're dealing with.

According to More Wine.....

Step 1: Confirmation of presence of Hydrogen
Sulfide or mono-mercaptans
Obtain two 45mL samples of wine in glasses. Label one
“Control” and the other “+Cu.” To the glass marked “+Cu,”
add 1mL of 1% CuSO4 solution*1 (approx 50ppm - this is a
strong excess of Cu)*2. Cover both glasses with a watch glass
/ plastic wrap and swirl. Let glasses sit for a few minutes and
examine by smell.
*1 See the end of this sheet for instructions on the preparation of a
1% solution.
*2 High concentrations of copper are toxic, do NOT taste experimental
glass.
Note: If the experimental glass still carries sulfide-related odors this
can mean 1) the odors are disulfides or poly-mercaptans which will not
react with the copper; 2) the odor is dimethyl sulfide which will not
react with copper; 3) there is insufficient copper to react with all the
sulfides present. This third option is highly unlikely and would indicate
extremely high levels of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S). If the experimental
glass is odor free proceed to Step 2.
--------

They go on to tell you how to run small copper sulfate trials at safe levels to help you determine the absolute MINIMUM amount of copper necessary for the job. You should only do this is you have the confidence of correctly applying copper sulfate. But even if you don't plan to use it for the cure, it's still a good tool to use for initial testing.

 

[skitter]

ROger that...

I know for me the smell reduces every time I splash rack, but it builds back up quickly as fermentation continues.

I am fermenting a batch of Dragon's Blood right now, except I am using Montrache, I added the Fermax at the beginning as directed. I read about the possibility of H2S due to no nutrients and added pure DAP at the 4 day mark. I also added Fermax again yesterday (6 day mark - Half measure) to try to help it out. I really don't want to F up my first batch of wine.