Ok..
I was nosing around on here and trying to find what exactly an infected batch smells like.. ie. what smells/type of smells say "this batch is clearly infected."? I have read the list of "typical" off-smells gets posted on here routinely, so I know the diacetyl, acetyl, and so ons. So would someone who knows, please tell me/us what an infected batch smells like??
I ask this as I am somewhat concerned about two of my batches in progress. One of which is the jasmine flowered OB honey mead, while the other is my original batch of red tea mead.
The jasmine flowered one has the worst smell coming out of the airlock. Yes, there is a little jasmine smell, and a little of the OB honey must. But the part that scares me is that there is a really nasty, but somewhat elusive smell there too. The only way I can think to discribe this smell is that it smells vaguely like the "high esters" in vomit.. Definately not what I wanted to smell coming out of my meads. Such an odd and nasty smell makes me wonder about infection. With a big goopy mass of jasmine flowers floating near the surface of the mead, its tough to tell if there is anything funky on or near the surface. I had this batch airlocked and it still is fermenting well, airlock bubbling happily along. I swirl it once a day to put the flowers back under the surface, since the CO2 pushes them up a little bit. When I swirl it, I get a huge rush of CO2 coming out of solution, but don't see any funky strings or other critters that shouldn't be there. I replaced the vodka in my airlock since it seemed to have gotten a little of the must up in it, but the vodka removed from the airlock smelled and tasted ok. (besides the vodka part)
The original red tea batch has an off odor to it as well, though definately a lot less concerning than the other one. This batch has an off odor that reminds me of a field of rape seed plants. The real "high" smell that is kinda unpleasant and vaguely sweet at the same time. Kinda like the sweetness of benzene but the oilyness of warm crayons/wax and a hint of mustyness from dirty socks. I really can't describe this smell any better, unfortunately. The funny thing is that this batch seriously got heat bit, and smelled like bubble gum afterwords due to all the acetylaldehyde mixing with the red tea. This might be the chemical progression of those two, but I don't know. The batch appears ok, with no visible critters. Though it is in a green glass bottle and any tough-to-see "hazy critters" would be almost invisible. Fermentation is slowing way down, but since the SG was 1.042 on 6/25 I would imagine the sugar content is pretty low.
So do either of these smells smell like infected batches? Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions??
hedgehog
I was nosing around on here and trying to find what exactly an infected batch smells like.. ie. what smells/type of smells say "this batch is clearly infected."? I have read the list of "typical" off-smells gets posted on here routinely, so I know the diacetyl, acetyl, and so ons. So would someone who knows, please tell me/us what an infected batch smells like??
I ask this as I am somewhat concerned about two of my batches in progress. One of which is the jasmine flowered OB honey mead, while the other is my original batch of red tea mead.
The jasmine flowered one has the worst smell coming out of the airlock. Yes, there is a little jasmine smell, and a little of the OB honey must. But the part that scares me is that there is a really nasty, but somewhat elusive smell there too. The only way I can think to discribe this smell is that it smells vaguely like the "high esters" in vomit.. Definately not what I wanted to smell coming out of my meads. Such an odd and nasty smell makes me wonder about infection. With a big goopy mass of jasmine flowers floating near the surface of the mead, its tough to tell if there is anything funky on or near the surface. I had this batch airlocked and it still is fermenting well, airlock bubbling happily along. I swirl it once a day to put the flowers back under the surface, since the CO2 pushes them up a little bit. When I swirl it, I get a huge rush of CO2 coming out of solution, but don't see any funky strings or other critters that shouldn't be there. I replaced the vodka in my airlock since it seemed to have gotten a little of the must up in it, but the vodka removed from the airlock smelled and tasted ok. (besides the vodka part)
The original red tea batch has an off odor to it as well, though definately a lot less concerning than the other one. This batch has an off odor that reminds me of a field of rape seed plants. The real "high" smell that is kinda unpleasant and vaguely sweet at the same time. Kinda like the sweetness of benzene but the oilyness of warm crayons/wax and a hint of mustyness from dirty socks. I really can't describe this smell any better, unfortunately. The funny thing is that this batch seriously got heat bit, and smelled like bubble gum afterwords due to all the acetylaldehyde mixing with the red tea. This might be the chemical progression of those two, but I don't know. The batch appears ok, with no visible critters. Though it is in a green glass bottle and any tough-to-see "hazy critters" would be almost invisible. Fermentation is slowing way down, but since the SG was 1.042 on 6/25 I would imagine the sugar content is pretty low.
So do either of these smells smell like infected batches? Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions??
hedgehog