Lalvin RC212 & N requirements

[jet]

You and me both. lol. I don't trust the mag's that well either, but some typically have some articles written by people in the industry with real knowledge. Gotta weed through what's truth and what's not. I too use mostly lalvin yeasts. I have had only a few h2s problems ever, which were caused by specific things in a batch and not consecutive.

I previously gave Winemaker mag more credibility than the internet but less than books. The article in question looked OK. I've used DAP several times with white juice and other strains. I'm not sure if it was the grape solids that pushed it over the edge or the specific yeast.

At this point, I'm pointing the finger at the DAP.

 

[jet]

Just happened to be looking back thru my notes and I came across my other major failure, which was a mead. Three little letters jumped off the screen at me, D-A-P. At this point, I'm now ready to burn that witch at the stake!

 

[FlashJT]

I realize this is an old thread, but after searching hight and low for information this morning, this thread seems like the best fit for my question and I'm not a fan of creating a whole new thread for a similar question....so here goes:

I started my first kit red wine Thursday night (10/4/12). It's a Wine Expert Italian Amarone, and uses Lalvin RC212. I follwed the directions exactly with no deviations. When I checked on it this morning (Saturday 10/6 - 36 hours after pitching yeast), I could hear the yeast going strong. The sound coming from the primary is the same is you would hear from a soda that's just been poured. However, there was also a VERY STRONG sulfur odor.

I've never had sulfur problems with my wines in the past (even with Skeeter Pee, which I suppose is supposed to be prone to sulfur problems). What really concerns me is that this is occuring after only 36 hours!?! That seems quick for sulfur problems to start creeping in, doesn't it? Fermentation temperature is 73F, so I don't think the yeast are strained because of the temp.

Being that this is a kit wine, should I do anything at this point? I whipped up the must really good to try and dissipate the sulfur and add oxygen for the yeast. My gut is telling me that I should add some yeast nutrient ASAP to help these guys out, but since it's a kit I'm fearful of doing anything that's not in the instructions.

I've e-mailed the folks at Wine Expert, but not sure they'll respond to me until Monday at the earliest. Usually seems like sulfur problems are most easily solved when caught early, so I'm hoping you guys have some ideas for me to try in the mean time. The sulfur smell wasn't there last night when I did the daily stir and bag-push-down, so it's definitely early in the sulfur game.

Just hope this doesnt ruin the wine. This is the most expensive kit I've tried by far, so I'd hate for it to be a dissapointment.

 

[FlashJT]

Well, for better or worse, I decided to add some DAP. Never had a batch of wine put off a sulfur smell like this so I'm kind of panicking and had to do something. I've whipped it a couple of times today to try and get the sulfur out of the liquid. Seems to help some, but over the course of the day it seemed to go back to where it started.

The fermentation is just going nuts. It started out at 1.090 48 hours ago, was down to 1.080 this morning, and as of a few minutes ago it was down to 1.060. 20 points in 12 hours? Holy cow! Assume the rapid fermentation could have something to do with the smell do, but the fermentation temperature is only around 76F now, so not terribly warm.

I'm stumped. Hopefully things improve otherwise this is on track to be a very disappointing kit.

 

[FlashJT]

I'm just going to take over this thread and use it all for myself Lol. Sorry to keep posting, but I wanted to provide an update on how this is going, because I seriously hate going into a thread where someone just disappears and never says if their recipe turned out ok, or if their solution to a problem worked. So here goes:

I added 6tsp of DAP last night (1tsp per gallon) around 2am and stirred vigorously with my degassing tool. Still stunk horribly when I went to bed, but I'm happy to report that the smell seems to have gone down DRASTICALLY over the last 8 hours. The room is no longer overpowering with sulfur smell when you walk in, and even putting my nose right up to the primary it's a night and day difference.

So, here's to hoping the DAP solved the problem and things will be smooth sailing from here on out. This will be my final post in this thread unless the problem resurfaces in the future.