I just bottled my first batch of wine this weekend. I used the drilled
rubber carboy stoppers for my airlocks on this batch. After bottling I had
maybe 400 mls of wine left and decided to drink it rather than pour it out.
I detected a slight rubber flavor in the wine obviously from the carboy
stopper. It wasn't terribly noticeable but was still there. Is this
something that will dissipate after it ages in the bottle? I have several
other wines nearing completion and will need to be bottled soon. I'm going
to be disappointed if after all of this work this rubber flavor is going to
be evident in all of them after I pull the cork this fall. What can I do to
avoid this in the future, if at all?

Thanks! Jeff

Rubber stoppers will not impart any flavors to the wine.
I rather think there is something else going on.
Does it smell / taste sulphuric ?

Luc

J Scott wrote:

I just bottled my first batch of wine this weekend. I used the drilled
rubber carboy stoppers for my airlocks on this batch. After bottling I
had maybe 400 mls of wine left and decided to drink it rather than pour it
out. I detected a slight rubber flavor in the wine obviously from the
carboy
stopper. It wasn't terribly noticeable but was still there. Is this
something that will dissipate after it ages in the bottle? I have several
other wines nearing completion and will need to be bottled soon. I'm
going to be disappointed if after all of this work this rubber flavor is
going to
be evident in all of them after I pull the cork this fall. What can I do
to avoid this in the future, if at all?

Thanks! Jeff

--
http://www.wijnmaker.blogspot.com/

Jeff:

Can you please explain how the rubber stopper (which isn't made of
rubber) came in contact with the wine? Or somehow imparted it's
flavour to the wine?

Steve

On Sun, 18 May 2008 19:47:42 -0500, "J Scott"
wrote:

I just bottled my first batch of wine this weekend. I used the drilled
rubber carboy stoppers for my airlocks on this batch. After bottling I had
maybe 400 mls of wine left and decided to drink it rather than pour it out.
I detected a slight rubber flavor in the wine obviously from the carboy
stopper. It wasn't terribly noticeable but was still there. Is this
something that will dissipate after it ages in the bottle? I have several
other wines nearing completion and will need to be bottled soon. I'm going
to be disappointed if after all of this work this rubber flavor is going to
be evident in all of them after I pull the cork this fall. What can I do to
avoid this in the future, if at all?

Thanks! Jeff

J Scott wrote:

I just bottled my first batch of wine this
weekend. I used the drilled
rubber carboy stoppers for my airlocks on this
batch. After bottling I had maybe 400 mls of
wine left and decided to drink it rather than
pour it out. I detected a slight rubber flavor
in the wine obviously from the carboy
stopper. It wasn't terribly noticeable but was
still there. Is this
something that will dissipate after it ages in
the bottle? I have several
other wines nearing completion and will need to
be bottled soon. I'm going to be disappointed
if after all of this work this rubber flavor is
going to
be evident in all of them after I pull the cork
this fall. What can I do to avoid this in the
future, if at all?

Thanks! Jeff

Suspect mercaptans and not the stoppers. What you
smell is possibly a result of reductive
reactions.

Some of the things that can prevent this are
keeping your pH below 3.7, proper level of SO2
and sanitary wine making. BTW - sanitary does not
mean sterile.

Actually, Steve, the stoppers are indeed rubber. The catalog from which I
ordered them clearly said "rubber stoppers" and below it said "gum rubber".
The wine did not come into contact with the stoppers which is why I am
puzzled.

On May 19, 7:34*pm, "J Scott" wrote:
Actually, Steve, the stoppers are indeed rubber. *The catalog from which I
ordered them clearly said "rubber stoppers" and below it said "gum rubber"..
The wine did not come into contact with the stoppers which is why I am
puzzled.

I would agree with Paul. This likely has nothing to do with the
stoppers, especially if they don't come in contact with the wine. One
side note, white stoppers seem to be food grade, black ones may not
be.

Does it smell like natural gas? The tracer they add to natural gas
(which is odorless) is mercaptan; another description is skunk. You
can turn that around if it hasn't been affected for a long period of
time.

Joe