Erik the Awful
Well-Known Member
I started a batch of banana wine on the evening of Nov 27th with 1 campden tablet per gallon in two buckets with 3 gallons each. I added pectic enzyme on the evening of the 28th and added the yeast (Lalvin EC-1118) on the morning of the 29th. I've been stirring the cap back down every evening. This morning (Dec 1st) one of the buckets smelled of sulphur, and the other not so much. I stirred them this morning, then again this evening, and the smell is stronger. From what I can tell, this isn't abnormal, nor necessarily even a bad thing, but I want to keep it from being a bad thing.
When I mashed the bananas and simmered them, I didn't add any sugar, because last time I attempted banana wine the primary turned to syrup and went bad. However, I'm reading that the sulphur might be caused by a lack of nutrients for the yeast. I was planning on racking both three-gallon batches into a single 5 gallon carboy for secondary fermentation on Dec 9th and topping it off with 8 cups/gallon sugar water. Do I need to go ahead and add the sugar water now?
Right now I'm seriously considering moving the buckets from the kitchen counter to the garage. The downside is I might forget to stir them, and I feel the need to stir them more frequently.
When I mashed the bananas and simmered them, I didn't add any sugar, because last time I attempted banana wine the primary turned to syrup and went bad. However, I'm reading that the sulphur might be caused by a lack of nutrients for the yeast. I was planning on racking both three-gallon batches into a single 5 gallon carboy for secondary fermentation on Dec 9th and topping it off with 8 cups/gallon sugar water. Do I need to go ahead and add the sugar water now?
Right now I'm seriously considering moving the buckets from the kitchen counter to the garage. The downside is I might forget to stir them, and I feel the need to stir them more frequently.