Stinky popcorn smell

[heatherd]

I am making pinotage from South African grapes. Used RC212, but did not do MLF. This batch was started in March. I have added kmeta every so often.

I racked today and tasted the wine to see if it needed any adjustments. It smells and tastes really bad, like spoiled buttered popcorn.

I splash racked, added 1/2 tsp kmeta. What more can be done?

If this is diacetyl, then what is the fix, if anything? Are there other nasties that smell similar?

Thanks for any advice,
Heather

 

[acorn]

Diacetyl would give buttery flavor/aroma, but it is not stinky. One thing that comes to mind that, sort of, fits your bill is Lactobacillus (or lactic taint bacteria) that smells like spoiled milk. However, it would be helpful if you could state some of the other characteristics of the wine, such as varietal, S.G., pH/TA, temperature, and yeast used.

 

[sour_grapes]

Have you had Pinotage before? To my tongue, it has a curious, gamey taste (same as Cinsault). I could imagine a young Pinotage having a taste similar to what you describe....

 

[heatherd]

I have had pinotage, and that gamey taste is an accurate description. This is both a very strong spoiled butter/popcorn smell and taste. I could smell it when I took off the airlock.

The varietal, yeast, are above. SG is now 0.090. Temps are ambient in my home so 68-72.

Thanks,
Heather

 

[heatherd]

To provide an update:
Still stinky.

I splash racked, added a double dose of kmeta, and let it age.

Now, it is slightly less stinky.

Today, having read that pinotage may benefit from copper sulphate, I added some sanitized pennies. I also oaked the check out of it. I topped it off. We shall see.

If the pennies don't work, I will look into copper sulphate.

Heather