Sulfur on the nose, but not on the palate?

[SouthForkBrew]

Hey All! Long time brewer, but brand new to mead here. I made a simple mead a couple years ago and there is still this sulfur on the nose that I cannot seem to get past. I know where it comes from in the beer world, and how to get rid of it if it does, but this has me stumped. Here are the details:

I used 12lbs of local sourwood honey to 3 gallons of RO water. Heated water to 150, stirred in the honey, and let it stand for 15 minutes. Chilled and pitched 3 packs of D-47 yeast. Aerated and dropped in 2 cloves uncrushed. It was regularly degassed and I used a prescribed amount of DAP as well. Fermentation was CRAZY slow, to the point where I was worried about it but later read that this is normal for this yeast. After 6 months I racked with campden tablet and potassium sorbate before back sweetening with more of the same honey. There were two more rackings over the next year before I bottled it and let it cellar for another year. I just assumed that the sulfur aroma would go away with time but it hasn't. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. And don't hold back if I've completely ****ed up somewhere and not known it. This is how we learn right!? Cheers!

 

[Dgallo]

Hey All! Long time brewer, but brand new to mead here. I made a simple mead a couple years ago and there is still this sulfur on the nose that I cannot seem to get past. I know where it comes from in the beer world, and how to get rid of it if it does, but this has me stumped. Here are the details:

I used 12lbs of local sourwood honey to 3 gallons of RO water. Heated water to 150, stirred in the honey, and let it stand for 15 minutes. Chilled and pitched 3 packs of D-47 yeast. Aerated and dropped in 2 cloves uncrushed. It was regularly degassed and I used a prescribed amount of DAP as well. Fermentation was CRAZY slow, to the point where I was worried about it but later read that this is normal for this yeast. After 6 months I racked with campden tablet and potassium sorbate before back sweetening with more of the same honey. There were two more rackings over the next year before I bottled it and let it cellar for another year. I just assumed that the sulfur aroma would go away with time but it hasn't. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. And don't hold back if I've completely ****ed up somewhere and not known it. This is how we learn right!? Cheers!

Wish I could help…you’d figure if it were sulfur dioxide it would clear up with time especially with the number of racks you implemented post fermentation. If I were you I’d buy a copper rod and next time you try a bottle, right after you open it and before pouring, swirl the rod in the bottle for a minute. The copper should cause any bond sulfur dioxide to break its bonds and rapidly evaporated from the mead, so you shouldn’t get it on the nose once you pour it in the glass. If it’s still present after that, I’d take a look at possible wild yeast contamination where similar biproducts could be produced

 

[Raptor99]

I use D47 yeast for my meads, and the fermentation is usually finished within a week. But the pH and temperature could be factors. D47 is known to be more sensitive to adverse conditions, If the nutrients are too low, it can produce off odors and ferment very slowly. It is best to use a nutrient calculator and SNA to feed the yeast properly. Organic nutrients work better than DAP.

Treatment depends on the type of sulfur odor. Removing H2S is fairly easy if you don't wait too long. You can double dose of Kmeta and rack it back and forth 2-3 times. Does it get any better when you do that?

Over time, H2S can change to disulfides and mercaptans, which are very difficult to remove. A very carefully measured amount of copper can help with that, but too much copper is not advisable. Here is a link to a research article on this: Development of sulfur off-odors post-fermentation – OWRI Updates