The Blackberry wine has been moving right along this week. I've been battling a continuing problem of an H2S smell (rotten eggs) coming from the must. At first I thought the yeast needed more nutrients, but it kept coming back. The next possibility was the pH being too low for the yeast. So I bought some Potassium Bicarbonate to raise the pH a bit. The pH (based on a sample I boiled the CO2 out of via the microwave) is now 3.34, which is within range for the yeast. The third possibility that I am aware of for causing that smell would be the temperature not being within range. But, as it is in my house which is at 75o F, that can't be it either.
I stirred the heck out of the must, to get all of the H2S smell out of the wine. Then I added a LOT more yeast nutrient, as I'm now left with that being the only possibility. I've never made a Blackberry wine before, so maybe you just need a lot of nutrient to keep the yeast happy during fermentation. If anyone else out there has experience with Blackberry wine, I'd love some sort of confirmation.
At this point, the Blackberry wine is smelling great again. Stay tuned, it will be racked into a carboy in another 2 or 3 days.
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