recurring rotten egg smell

If made several batched of various fruit wines. My latest is blueberry(from puree/concentrate) I noticed a STRONG rotten egg smell after about 4 days in the primary. Talked with m local homebrew shop and added some nutrient and energizer. The smell went away for 3 days but returned. Added some more energizer and was good for 2 days but it's back again. SG still at 1.03(OG of 1.09). Whats going on? any idea?

squirt17 said:

If made several batched of various fruit wines. My latest is blueberry(from puree/concentrate) I noticed a STRONG rotten egg smell after about 4 days in the primary. Talked with m local homebrew shop and added some nutrient and energizer. The smell went away for 3 days but returned. Added some more energizer and was good for 2 days but it's back again. SG still at 1.03(OG of 1.09). Whats going on? any idea?

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Stressed yeast! I have no idea why- it could be pH related, or ingredient related, but you could add more nutrient and stir. Some yeast strains produce more sulfur than others, but it should never be that bad.

You could measure the sulfites in your wine with a kit. If deficient treat it. Many times concentrated and or juices from stores are treated with sulfites. Did you add any SO2 to it? It could have stressed the yeast. If you racked it over copper it could help.

My Ciders that used EC-1118 seemed to do the same thing, however, the smell subsided after bottling and conditioning for a month.

Do you notice that the smell subsides after a long time of conditioning?

I did add 2 campden tabs when I mixed the ingredients the day before pitching the yeast. Although I didnt expect any issues in a 6 gallon batch and only 2 tablets.

I have splash racked to aerate but it didnt really help. This is the first batch that has ever given me this recurring problem so I dont know how its going to turn out after bottling and aging.

I added some additional energizer last night at it smells fine this morning. In all, I've added enough nutrient and energizer for 3 or 4 batches. It just doesn't make sense.

I have never used Camden tablets before, but I have heard they cause a sulfury smell. I would say to continue your process, and give it a few months to condition. My smells subsided even when in bottle.

Almost positive that your rotten egg problem is due to the yeast, and most specifically the temperature in which the yeast is fermented. Depending on the type of wine (I haven't had this problem with wine, but I have with beer) some don't follow the conventional temperature guidelines as others.

I had this problem most often when I was brewing lager, which requires fermenting at the lower end of the yeast temperature range.

One other possibility is simply the strain of yeast that you used. Some yeast will simply reek of sulfur even in the secondary. This smell may simply go away once the process is finished, it really just depends.

http://www.grapestompers.com/hydrogen_sulfide.aspx

This helped me.

Dicky