Spontaneous Shiraz Eruption

[Mamgiowl]

No fear - I'm not brave enough to confront a resentful, furious Shiraz.

[lockwood1956]

Maybe a top hat, tail coat, chair and whip are in order?

[goldseal]

Mrs. Goldseal only lets me use the whip on weekends.

[lockwood1956]

[Mamgiowl]

Mrs. Goldseal only lets me use the whip on weekends.

ROFLMAO

[Zebedee]

Mrs. Goldseal only lets me use the whip on weekends.

Ahh... now I understand the shortage of pics from grapefest... X rated are not suitable for this site.

[lockwood1956]

[goldseal]

Ahh... now I understand the shortage of pics from grapefest... X rated are not suitable for this site.

There were some particularly scary pics of Karl.

By the way, I'm SURE this Shiraz still smells eggy (stabilising at the moment). Nobody else can smell it though

[goldseal]

It' not a happy day in the Goldseal household.

I was planning to bottle the Shiraz today, but Mrs. Goldseal had a taste, and said something was wrong. It's that eggy taste/smell again . Stirred with a sanitised copper pipe and it abated, but I can't get rid totally.

So, instead of bottling, we spent ages racking to DJs and stirring with copper. I'll wait a bit longer before opening a DJ to see if it is still there. If so, I'll be taking a sample back to the HBS to see if they can tell me how this can happen to a kit wine.

[goldseal]

Well, I emailed the HBS, who in turn passed it on to Ritchie. This is the reply I got. Your comments are welcomed :


Some 'YEASTS' do produce more hydrogen sulphide than others, particularly
red yeasts.
The kit to keep it must have sulphite. to make it stable in the Box and
therefore a long ferment,
or leaving on the lees too long will also give added sulphide.
I recommend to add more sulphite say 50 p.p.m. to the gallon
initially. (1 campden tablet to the gallon).
This then turns the suphide to sulphate and it drops out.
The chemistry behind this is that Hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide
react together to
produce water and elemental sulphur H2S +S2 -> H2o +2s the sulphur
precipitates and is removed
by racking or filteration. (Quote from professor G. Fowles. P228 Wine making
in Style.)
I hope that no more sugar was added to the kit as some suppliers now add
sodium metabisulphite
to sugar.(Noted on the packet!)

[fatbloke]

Well, I emailed the HBS, who in turn passed it on to Ritchie. This is the reply I got. Your comments are welcomed :


Some 'YEASTS' do produce more hydrogen sulphide than others, particularly
red yeasts.
The kit to keep it must have sulphite. to make it stable in the Box and
therefore a long ferment,
or leaving on the lees too long will also give added sulphide.
I recommend to add more sulphite say 50 p.p.m. to the gallon
initially. (1 campden tablet to the gallon).
This then turns the suphide to sulphate and it drops out.
The chemistry behind this is that Hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide
react together to
produce water and elemental sulphur H2S +S2 -> H2o +2s the sulphur
precipitates and is removed
by racking or filteration. (Quote from professor G. Fowles. P228 Wine making
in Style.)
I hope that no more sugar was added to the kit as some suppliers now add
sodium metabisulphite
to sugar.(Noted on the packet!)

So you reckon that that's why it was a bit on the "eggy" side then Pete ?

So what's the recommended "cure"?

I understood that some reds will smell a bit eggy if they have insufficent nutrient, and guessing from the "answer" it's for different reasons ?? or am I just being thick ?

regards

JtFB

[goldseal]

Well ....

I thought H2S was produced by some yeasts if there was insufficient nutrient, or if there was too much sulphur in the must in the first place.

I would be interested to know how this could happen in a kit (or if there any other reasons I could have H2S in the wine).

More pressing, I think, is a second opinion on their advice.

[rjb222]

The way I read what was said is take a free so2 reading bring total so2 to 50ppm this will react to form Sulfate and that will drop out and fix the problem. Just use a titration measuring device from there you will be able to do a math equation to come up with the right amount to add.

[Duffbeer]

Well ....

I thought H2S was produced by some yeasts if there was insufficient nutrient, or if there was too much sulphur in the must in the first place.

I would be interested to know how this could happen in a kit (or if there any other reasons I could have H2S in the wine).

More pressing, I think, is a second opinion on their advice.

It's all in yer head, eggy wine. eggy wine, eggy wine, 1 2 3 walk like a chicken, have you considered changing ones Y fronts, sock's maybe, they have a big impact on bouquet you know. Just kidding mate keep onto em!!

[lockwood1956]

The way I read what was said is take a free so2 reading bring total so2 to 50ppm this will react to form Sulfate and that will drop out and fix the problem. Just use a titration measuring device from there you will be able to do a math equation to come up with the right amount to add.

Problem there is that titret (or other sulphite) test kits are not readily available here in the UK