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Smells like rotten...

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M

Marcut79

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 28, 2011
14
0
0
Udine (close to Venice) Italy
Hello!
this is my first experience...
after 6 weeks of fermentation i rack about 15 liters of mead to a new carboy and i put inside a tablet of sulphite to stop "kill" the yeast.
I taste the "mead" and it taste not that great and smells a bit like "rotten"...
what can i do?
is it normal?
i read a lot in this forum and most of the time i understood that the time will improve the quality... is this the case?

i will age the mead in a carboy and i added vaseline oil... airlock present too...


Bye!
Marco
 
Marcut79 said:
Hello!
this is my first experience...
after 6 weeks of fermentation i rack about 15 liters of mead to a new carboy and i put inside a tablet of sulphite to stop "kill" the yeast.
I taste the "mead" and it taste not that great and smells a bit like "rotten"...
what can i do?
is it normal?
i read a lot in this forum and most of the time i understood that the time will improve the quality... is this the case?

i will age the mead in a carboy and i added vaseline oil... airlock present too...
Click to expand...
Well, sulphite won't kill the yeast, it will just "stun" it. If the fermenting has finished, it is normally "stabilised" with sulphite and sorbate as the sulphite stuns the yeast and the sorbate (potassium sorbate) stops the yeast from multiplying any further.

The rotten eggs smell ? well if the mead is still fermenting, then it would be wise to aerate it by stirring and adding some nutrients of some sort, as the sulphur/rotten egg type smell is usually caused by stressed yeast. It creates a bit of a paradox as adding nutrient after the 1/2 sugar break point, is considered a waste of time as the yeast won't metabolise inorganic nitrogen at that stage, and I'd suspect it might be hard to find "Fermaid O" in Italy. So you could try boiling some bread yeast in a little water, then let it cool to room temperature, and then add it in while stirring the must.

I seem to recall something about after too long, if the sulphur issue isn't sorted out, then it can cause longer term (possibly permanent) damage ?

I don't know why but I'm thinking it's something to do with mercaptans in such cases....... one of the more knowledgeable people will have to confirm or deny that......
 
what a pity, i hope i can recover...
i add a bit of nutrient for the yeast and i start the air pump for about 10 minutes... then i try to smell the mead and it seams like there is no egg flavour anymore... i put back the airlock and now i cross my fingers!
 
Marcut79 said:
what a pity, i hope i can recover...
i add a bit of nutrient for the yeast and i start the air pump for about 10 minutes... then i try to smell the mead and it seams like there is no egg flavour anymore... i put back the airlock and now i cross my fingers!
Click to expand...
Well done then, that might have done the trick, if so, then all power to you my friend.

Perhaps you can read the "NewBee Guide" in the yellow box on the left of the page. There is good advice for the newer mead maker, yet it's aimed at those who have access to the US market for some materials. Often we in the EU can find some equivalent materials to use......
 
I would also suggest reading the plethora of threads that discuss trying to stop a fermentation.

The rotten egg scents you encountered may have resulted from you stressing the yeasts by trying to stop them when it was still going strong.

Aeration is indeed the right way to go and helps eliminate the sulphur smells, but you need to check daily and be sure you don't aerate this late unless it actually needs it!
 
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