Copper, H2S Treatment and Possibility of Poisoning

[Fekerley]

Sorry I need your help to figure out if things are okay with my wine as I have little experience in winemaking. A batch of red wine went off odour due to H2S. I was unaware of the right methods and products to remove the smell. I used pure copper treatment. Here's what I did:

- I picked up a piece of stranded electrical wire and removed the sheath. the piece was roughly 15cm (6 inches) long and 2mm (1/16 in) in diameter.
- I put it into the batch after the primary fermentation. It remained in there for about 8 hours. The batch was about 45 litres (12 US gallons).
- I removed the wire and siphoned the wine into the demijohns.

After this, the smell seemed to have gone away and the wine looked normal. I understand this is not a standard procedure and I should have used a precisely measured CuSO4 solution instead. This brings me to these questions:

- Is there a chance that I have poisoned my wine with too much copper considering the volume of wine, the size of wire and the duration of contact?
- After a few weeks, I noticed a faint trace of rotten egg smell again. Can this be an indicator of the wine being free of too much copper? While it's not perfect in terms of flavour, it is safe to drink or further treatment with CuSO4?

 

[Coffee49]

If the copper was sanitized prior to dipping for 8 hrs I would say you are OK, copper is used in distilling and I have read about aluminum foil being placed in odorous wine to remove smell. That 18 gallons is a large amount of volume, I would be patient and in 9-12 months time you will know.

 

[Kickass]

All of my potable water sits in yards of copper pipe waiting for me to open the faucet and pour a glass or cook with it or give to the dog. Unless I’m missing something, I’m not sure copper poisoning is a thing

 

[mabrungard]

In regard to pre fermentation, copper is definitely not a concern since yeast take up copper as part of their metabolism. Copper is very unlikely to make it into the final beverage.
In the case of post fermentation copper treatment, there could be copper in the beverage. The reaction between copper and sulfide is pretty quick and it shouldn’t take long to reduce levels to imperceptible. So it’s better to limit the copper contact time to less than an hour. I don’t know if that wine is ruined, but if it doesn’t taste metallic, it could be okay.

 

[Raptor99]

All of my potable water sits in yards of copper pipe waiting for me to open the faucet and pour a glass or cook with it or give to the dog. Unless I’m missing something, I’m not sure copper poisoning is a thing

Wine is a lot more acidic than water, so it would take up a lot more copper. Above a certain level, copper is poisonous. Here is one article on adding a carefully measured amount of copper to remove unwanted odors.

But if the problem is just H2S, you can remove that by adding a double douse of Kmeta and racking it back and forth 2-3 times. Mercaptans and disulphides are a different story, so it depends on the nature of your problem. Pesonally, I would not add an unmeasured amount of copper to my wine. But considering the size of your batch, I would guess that you are probably okay.

 

[Kickass]

@Raptor99 great points that I hadn’t considered. Thank you.

 

[Fekerley]

If the copper was sanitized prior to dipping for 8 hrs I would say you are OK, copper is used in distilling and I have read about aluminum foil being placed in odorous wine to remove smell. That 18 gallons is a large amount of volume, I would be patient and in 9-12 months time you will know.

The copper was sanitized. and I did my best to remove the sheath and any residue on it before sanitizing. hopefully it will turn out acceptable. Thank you for the reply.

 

[Fekerley]

In regard to pre fermentation, copper is definitely not a concern since yeast take up copper as part of their metabolism. Copper is very unlikely to make it into the final beverage.
In the case of post fermentation copper treatment, there could be copper in the beverage. The reaction between copper and sulfide is pretty quick and it shouldn’t take long to reduce levels to imperceptible. So it’s better to limit the copper contact time to less than an hour. I don’t know if that wine is ruined, but if it doesn’t taste metallic, it could be okay.

Thank you. The fermentation had gone very slow at the point that I added the copper. In fact the fermentation went crazy fast and I couldn't control it. After that there was very little activity. When I put the wine in the demijohns there was extremly slow bubbling. So if I understand your point correctly there is a chance that the copper has ended up in the beverage considering the low yeast activity.

 

[Fekerley]

All of my potable water sits in yards of copper pipe waiting for me to open the faucet and pour a glass or cook with it or give to the dog. Unless I’m missing something, I’m not sure copper poisoning is a thing

Thank you for the reply. Unfortunately, wine can be problematic. I just don't have the knowledge to decide if it has been.

 

[Fekerley]

Wine is a lot more acidic than water, so it would take up a lot more copper. Above a certain level, copper is poisonous. Here is one article on adding a carefully measured amount of copper to remove unwanted odors.

But if the problem is just H2S, you can remove that by adding a double douse of Kmeta and racking it back and forth 2-3 times. Mercaptans and disulphides are a different story, so it depends on the nature of your problem. Pesonally, I would not add an unmeasured amount of copper to my wine. But considering the size of your batch, I would guess that you are probably okay.

Yes I agree. Unmeasured copper treatment was a mistake to do. Thanks.