petey_c
Senior Member
I'm not too sure. Sulfates or hydrogen sulfide? Strong sulfur taste. Rotten eggs? No. More like a sulfur experiment in HS Chem class.... (But it HAS been awhile since I smelled rotten eggs.)
For those of you who are experiencing sulfur smells, here are some suggestions. Sulfur dioxide develops when yeast are stressed. You want to provide optimal conditions for your yeast. If you go to my home page and follow the recipe exactly, you shouldn't have SO2 issues. Using the right yeast will help considerably. Don't let the batch get too warm, I try to keep mine under 80*. Introducing some oxygen while the batch is fermenting also helps, I use a wire whisk and I beat the surface a bit. If you are starting your batch with the slurry from another wine, make sure the yeast are healthy; starting a batch with pre-stressed yeast is asking for trouble. During the early stages of the ferment, I cover my primary with a dish towel and use a large rubber band to hold it in place. If you are unlucky enough to get SO2 smells, at the first signs, check your temperature and lower if necessary, whip some air into it, or if you have another primary fermentor laying around, pour the batch back and forth between the primaries a couple of times to aerate it. Cheers and best of luck. Enjoy your Skeeter Pee.
Are you sure you aren't confusing so2 with h2s? h2s is what causes the rotten egg sulfur smell and is caused by stressed yeast. so2 is added to wine to stabilize it.
petey_c said:I conducted an experiment of sorts. Overwhelming smell of sulfur when I first removed the lid. Tried a half ounce of SP last night. DRY, but no sulfur taste. Okay, I can back sweeten and deal with that. Left it alone overnight (working mids this week, 10pm-8am) and tried an ounce this morning (still had the initial blast of sulfur). Still okay. Added a half teaspoon of sugar (to the half ounce remaining); better but not great. Not like drinking a sulfuric acid/lemonade like I imagined. I'm gonna let it sit for a few. My next question to our distinguished panel of experts is, how much table sugar to add to back sweeten? It's about 6 gals and FG of .991 (~10.3% ABV). If I could get a low ball park and then increase from there before I bottle... Thanks, Pete
Would it be ok to ferment the pee all the way to dry in an open fermenter (bucket covered with tea towel), and not rack it onto carboys until it's time for the sorbate etc?
How has the colour turned out for everyone, my 1 gallon batch tastes good but it's very pale.
petey_c said:Bridochristie, I used must from a red wine (Amarone) so my pee is kinda purple-ish. I just bottled it the other day and have two bottles sitting in the fridge chillin'. I'll try it after a couple more days.
Just cracked two bottles off the pee I had aging on raspberries. I sweetened as per the original recipe with these as well and they are just not doing it for me. With 2 tsp of sugar added to the glass they taste good, with 3 tsp and ice they are PHENOMENAL. Next batch I make I will hopefully have the keg setup and I will try sparkling and over sweetened.
mine is in the keg on tap and it is "phenomenal".. i dried mine out and backsweetened with a mix of xylitol and pure stevia.. the xylitol is not cheap and didnt want to use the full 2lbs as i had planned on so i used a little stevia to for the second lbs of the sweetener.. the xylitol seems to hit up front in the mouth as the pure stevia kinda has a darker more in the back of the mouth sweetness.. my gravity when done was at 1.012.. i dont like any of those other alcohol surgar sweeteners that have malto dextrin as the filler. they seem to coat my toung and get a little thick.. next batch is going to be a strawberry pee that i will use ony 100% stevia and mix to where i like it.. i dont think my gravity will be the same though.. sparkling is the best way IMO..
EDIT: forgot to mention that i dont go the route of stopping the fermentation and makes this is a diabetic friendly drink for some of my family
Ive got a strawberry pee in the secondary right now. I pureed 2 large flats of strawberries, added to the fermenter with 1 bottle lemon juice and the standard invert sugar amount. I used 3 sachets (15 g) of Lalvin 1116....so far its Great from the samples that I've pulled. So much Strawberry flavor and aroma! the only issue that I have so far is the Haziness. I used 2 tsp Pectic enzyme at the start and another 1 1/2 tsp after primary and its still very hazy (used isinglass as well) ...oh well I can deal with haze with a taste like that ...this will be a repeat for sure!
How long does the fermentation take? I started 6/14 and a couple weeks ago I was at 1.012ish.
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