This is the my first batch of Merlot and it seems I got off on the wrong
foot. The Merlot starting SG was 1.092 and TA: 1.05%. I used Lavlin V1...
yeast. Fermentation started easily and went without issues until I noticed
an H2S smell towards the end of fermentation. The fermenetation appeared to
have finished so I pressed and put in DJ. The SG turned out to be 1.010 and
ended up overflowing out of the DJ several times. I cleaned up took a
little out and finished fermenting without further incident. A few days
later I racked to a clean DJ, added oak chips and MLF expecting that I had
beat the H2S smell. Now 3 weeks into MLF I notice that it still has a
noticeable H2S smell.

Should I rack and aerate now in the middle of a vigorous MLF fermentation or
should I wait a few more weeks for MLF to complete before racking? I want
the MLF fermentation to complete.

thanks
Sarge

Sarge wrote:

......

> Should I rack and aerate now in the middle of a vigorous MLF fermentation
> or
> should I wait a few more weeks for MLF to complete before racking? I want
> the MLF fermentation to complete.
>
> thanks
> Sarge

Treat as soon as possible. It will only get worse if you wait.

Sarge wrote:

......

> Should I rack and aerate now in the middle of a vigorous MLF fermentation
> or
> should I wait a few more weeks for MLF to complete before racking? I want
> the MLF fermentation to complete.
>
> thanks
> Sarge

Treat as soon as possible. It will only get worse if you wait.

Sarge,

I had a Cab that went that way on me last year and caught it early on. I
simply added an 18-20 inch section of clean sanitized copper tubing to to my
siphon hose and racked twice through the copper. Noticed an immediate
reduction in the odor and at my next scheduled racking found no H2S smell.


Tom
"Sarge" > wrote in message
...
> This is the my first batch of Merlot and it seems I got off on the wrong
> foot. The Merlot starting SG was 1.092 and TA: 1.05%. I used Lavlin
> V1...
> yeast. Fermentation started easily and went without issues until I
> noticed
> an H2S smell towards the end of fermentation. The fermenetation appeared
> to
> have finished so I pressed and put in DJ. The SG turned out to be 1.010
> and
> ended up overflowing out of the DJ several times. I cleaned up took a
> little out and finished fermenting without further incident. A few days
> later I racked to a clean DJ, added oak chips and MLF expecting that I had
> beat the H2S smell. Now 3 weeks into MLF I notice that it still has a
> noticeable H2S smell.
>
> Should I rack and aerate now in the middle of a vigorous MLF fermentation
> or
> should I wait a few more weeks for MLF to complete before racking? I want
> the MLF fermentation to complete.
>
> thanks
> Sarge
>
>

Thanks for the practical suggestion Tom!
I think it would likely remove the H2S smell. Is it possible copper ions
remain in the wine after this? What can you do to remove the copper from
the wine after this treatment?
Sarge

"Tom" > wrote in message
...
> Sarge,
>
> I had a Cab that went that way on me last year and caught it early on. I
> simply added an 18-20 inch section of clean sanitized copper tubing to to
my
> siphon hose and racked twice through the copper. Noticed an immediate
> reduction in the odor and at my next scheduled racking found no H2S smell.
>
>
> Tom
> "Sarge" > wrote in message
> ...
> > This is the my first batch of Merlot and it seems I got off on the wrong
> > foot. The Merlot starting SG was 1.092 and TA: 1.05%. I used Lavlin
> > V1...
> > yeast. Fermentation started easily and went without issues until I
> > noticed
> > an H2S smell towards the end of fermentation. The fermenetation
appeared
> > to
> > have finished so I pressed and put in DJ. The SG turned out to be 1.010
> > and
> > ended up overflowing out of the DJ several times. I cleaned up took a
> > little out and finished fermenting without further incident. A few days
> > later I racked to a clean DJ, added oak chips and MLF expecting that I
had
> > beat the H2S smell. Now 3 weeks into MLF I notice that it still has a
> > noticeable H2S smell.
> >
> > Should I rack and aerate now in the middle of a vigorous MLF
fermentation
> > or
> > should I wait a few more weeks for MLF to complete before racking? I
want
> > the MLF fermentation to complete.
> >
> > thanks
> > Sarge
> >
> >
>
>

Sarge,

I had a Cab that went that way on me last year and caught it early on. I
simply added an 18-20 inch section of clean sanitized copper tubing to to my
siphon hose and racked twice through the copper. Noticed an immediate
reduction in the odor and at my next scheduled racking found no H2S smell.


Tom
"Sarge" > wrote in message
...
> This is the my first batch of Merlot and it seems I got off on the wrong
> foot. The Merlot starting SG was 1.092 and TA: 1.05%. I used Lavlin
> V1...
> yeast. Fermentation started easily and went without issues until I
> noticed
> an H2S smell towards the end of fermentation. The fermenetation appeared
> to
> have finished so I pressed and put in DJ. The SG turned out to be 1.010
> and
> ended up overflowing out of the DJ several times. I cleaned up took a
> little out and finished fermenting without further incident. A few days
> later I racked to a clean DJ, added oak chips and MLF expecting that I had
> beat the H2S smell. Now 3 weeks into MLF I notice that it still has a
> noticeable H2S smell.
>
> Should I rack and aerate now in the middle of a vigorous MLF fermentation
> or
> should I wait a few more weeks for MLF to complete before racking? I want
> the MLF fermentation to complete.
>
> thanks
> Sarge
>
>