What does this mean, Help please?

[vvolf34]

Ok on 1/1/2010 I started an RJS Piesporter. I am sure you all remember my fruit fly post. On how one slipped under my lid.

Well when I racked the second time to stabilize and add the F-pack per directions, as I was standing there I smelled something awful. It smelt like vinegar. So my first thought ahh crap this batch is ruined and that fly killed it. Well I took a sample and tasted it, it does not taste like vinegar, so I think ok... I should be good.

Last night I racked it off the lees to bulk age and I am hit with that smell again, it actually burns my nose. Taste test it again and it just has that really hot young taste to it, no vinegar taste.

I am a bit confused, not sure if it is vinegar or SO2? I am trying to think back now and it might smell more like K-meta solution, but being a mild asthmatic I try not to smell k-meta directly.

Any suggestions on what it could be? Once I have racked it, smelling the carboy it does not smell like vinegar, my wife said no last night to vinegar smell. But this morning, it is starting to develop that stink again.

 

[BobF]

Does it smell like rotten eggs? Might be h2s. Wade can tell you how to fix that

 

[vvolf34]

No it is not rotten egg smell. I should have grabed a bottle of vinegar to do a side by side. It burned my nose and kinda made my eyes water. Kinda burned my lungs for a little bit and I was wheezing and coughing for a bit taking a bigger whiff than I should have.

 

[summersolstice]

Keep the vinegar away from your wine making room. It can contaminate the entire room.

 

[rawlus]

very unusual... when you are racking, are you racking into a carboy cleaned with kmeta? as the wine goes in it pushed the k-meta gas out. perhaps that's what it is?

 

[Malkore]

burned your nose...acrid smell...that's the CO2 blanket on top of the wine most likely.

 

[Tom]

I would not worry to much now. Have you made this kit mfgr before? Im thing what you smell is the yeasties doing their thing. Whats the starting and present gravity?

 

[vvolf34]

I just started using K-meta, before that it was Five Star Iodine. The first racking I did to stabilize was with Iodine, this last time I used K-meta.

I have not used this kit before it is the first time. However it has already been, degassed, stabilized and I added the F-pack. The Ice Wine kit from W/E that I did days before this one, does not smell like this at all.

I did not take a final SG reading after adding the F-pack, but my SG before stabilizing was .995

It is very acrid smell. But a taste test seems ok, just really hot is all.

 

[BobF]

As rawlus said ...

Sounds like you're getting a whiff of k-meta as the wine pushes the fumes out of the carboy. I get this every time I rack something.

 

[vvolf34]

That might be it, I haven't used K-meta before. And I try not to smell it when I use due to asthma....

Will it just about knock you on ur *** from taking a big whiff of it? Because it just about knocked me down, burning my nose and I was coughing from it.

 

[BobF]

It's pretty nasty if you get a nose full of it!

 

[xanxer82]

I have athsma too. Got a big whiff a short while back and ran for my albuterol inhaler.

 

[BrewPahl]

I read in the old days if a mouse died getting into the wine (what a joyous way to go btw) the Italians would retrieve the mouse, cremate it, then add the ashes to the wine affected to prevent it from going bad. What did you do with the fruit fly? I would presume you just tossed it? Oh man your wine is screwed.....lol. I also am screwed because I broke a mirror 6 1/2 years ago.....he he

 

[Wade E]

Sounds like the kmeta to me, Also, every wine (especially reds) produce some amounts of acteic acid(vinegar) and some produce more then others so it actually could be a mixture you are smelling.

 

[bruno]

I'm bulk aging some peach wine now that a couple of month ago, gave off a vinegar type smell. Racked and tasted it last week and it was fine, the vinegar small was gone. I've had this happen a couple of times before and I think it's just a phase it goes through.

 

[St Allie]

I read in the old days if a mouse died getting into the wine (what a joyous way to go btw) the Italians would retrieve the mouse, cremate it, then add the ashes to the wine affected to prevent it from going bad. What did you do with the fruit fly? I would presume you just tossed it? Oh man your wine is screwed.....lol. I also am screwed because I broke a mirror 6 1/2 years ago.....he he

LMAO!

Once upon a time, mirrors took 7 years in the process.. modern methods mean you can have a replacement mirror within 2 days.

( I've met a few old italians..run while you still can!)

Allie

 

[NSwiner]

I have no input into what the smell is but i can tell you i switched to Aseptox for sanitizing .Because I found our son was having a hard time breathing when i was doing up batches of bottles and my throat was very sore from using other product .It cost a tiny bit more but you only use 1tsp instead of 1 tbsp per liter so it really lasts longer .

 

[vvolf34]

Well it is the K-meta, I racked the Skeeter Pee which had a slight rotten egg smell and it gave off the same smell as when I did the Piesporter. I was so used to the Iodine solution I had no idea what K-meta smelled like. So I feel a lot better now. Thank you for the support.