Who ever smelt it, dealt it
That smell would be my first batch of wine. Of course, the easy direction and simple process did not warn me of a special problem with the fermentation and the obnoxious rotten egg smell that could happen. Ah, this is nature at its finest. Turns out, I have a problem with some radical sulfur particles combining with some excess hydrogen and creating Hydrogen Sulfate (H2S).
After reading up on the issue and some ideas of what to do about it, I decided to hit the local Homebrew store and get some live help. This issue seems to happen from time to time and the big wineries use a solution of Copper Sulfate in a small, non-lethal dose. I say non-lethal because copper sulfate is poisonous. I am trying to stay away from poisoning my wine (and myself) just to have it smell good.
The kind gentleman at the store (Paul), ensured me that this happens periodically and most of the time, it clears itself up. There is also yeast nutrient and racking techniques that can help. Over the next week, I have to monitor the progress of the smell and act accordingly.
During this whole stink bomb explosion, I measured the specific gravity of the wine. I am down to 1.020. I only have .010 to go before racking into my carboy. I will do this on Monday night after 24. I am hoping once I remove the wine from the yeast sediment at the bottom of the primary fermentation vessel, the H2S rotten egg smell issue disappears. Paul from the homebrew shop told me to keep trying. I will gain a lot of experience at making wine dealing with issues when they arrive. Hopefully, this will be one lesson I pass.
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