Hey everyone, hope all your projects are going great(er than mine!) ! ',;~}~

I seem to have a problem with the 18 imp gal batch of fruit (plums,
blackberries and elder berries) wine I was/am making.

Well, about 3 weeks into fermentation, it started producing an off-smell
(sulphur), but I thought nothing of it - it was coming out of the wine, not
staying in, right? Anyhow, that only lasted about 3 days.

Well, gawd nose how long it's been fermenting now (about twice as long as it
usually takes me), but I'm still getting the odd bubble from two of the
three barrels, and what's more, there is an undesirable component to the
flavour (as sampled). My wife described the taste as 'like you put to much
Camden in it' - I don't believe I did, and was wondering if this
sulphur-ey/plastic-ey/rubbery taste could be that there 'mercaptans' (sp?)
demon I STR reading about here, and if so, is there _anything_ I can do
about it, or is all that wine basically posh drain-cleaner now?

If that isn't the problem, any other ideas?

I'll be gutted if all the work has been for nothing ;-(

Thanks for any and all help!

Cheers!



Shaun aRe

Yep, sounds like you've got mercaptan problems. Gentle aeration may help,
but mercaptans are much more stable and therefore harder to remove than
sulphides.

Copper Sulphate might help, but you are talking about very small additions
for small batches.

Rob L
"Shaun Rimmer" > wrote in message
...
> Hey everyone, hope all your projects are going great(er than mine!) !
',;~}~
>
> I seem to have a problem with the 18 imp gal batch of fruit (plums,
> blackberries and elder berries) wine I was/am making.
>
> Well, about 3 weeks into fermentation, it started producing an off-smell
> (sulphur), but I thought nothing of it - it was coming out of the wine,
not
> staying in, right? Anyhow, that only lasted about 3 days.
>
> Well, gawd nose how long it's been fermenting now (about twice as long as
it
> usually takes me), but I'm still getting the odd bubble from two of the
> three barrels, and what's more, there is an undesirable component to the
> flavour (as sampled). My wife described the taste as 'like you put to much
> Camden in it' - I don't believe I did, and was wondering if this
> sulphur-ey/plastic-ey/rubbery taste could be that there 'mercaptans' (sp?)
> demon I STR reading about here, and if so, is there _anything_ I can do
> about it, or is all that wine basically posh drain-cleaner now?
>
> If that isn't the problem, any other ideas?
>
> I'll be gutted if all the work has been for nothing ;-(
>
> Thanks for any and all help!
>
> Cheers!
>
>
>
> Shaun aRe
>
>

Robert Lee wrote:

> Yep, sounds like you've got mercaptan problems. Gentle aeration may help,
> but mercaptans are much more stable and therefore harder to remove than
> sulphides.
>
> Copper Sulphate might help, but you are talking about very small additions
> for small batches.

I thought the addition of asorbic acid was needed to break the
mercaptans down, or is that only for di-mercaptans?
/off to seach the archives

--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

"Charles H" > wrote in message
...
> Robert Lee wrote:
>
> > Yep, sounds like you've got mercaptan problems. Gentle aeration may
help,
> > but mercaptans are much more stable and therefore harder to remove than
> > sulphides.
> >
> > Copper Sulphate might help, but you are talking about very small
additions
> > for small batches.
>
> I thought the addition of asorbic acid was needed to break the
> mercaptans down, or is that only for di-mercaptans?
> /off to seach the archives

Robert, Charles - thanks both! I'll think about the CuSO4 thing and see if I
can't dig up some info myself. I'll be sure to pop back here too - cheers!

',;~}~

> "Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
> forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
> - W.C. Fields


I still love that quote, heheheheheh.........



Shaun aRe been trapped away from a corkscrew before - I just push the bloody
cork in with a stick or finger and have done with it. Determination is a
very flexible tool ',;~}~