Fruit flies

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The remedied

TAKE OUT YOUR SHOP VAC A BOTTLE OF YOUR BEST WINE!

NEXT PLACE YOUR SELF WITH IN ARM LENGTH WITH THE SHOP VAC,MAKE SURE THE BOTTLE IS NOW OPEN AND YOUR GLASS IS FILLED ,NOW SITTING BACK IN YOUR FAVORITE CHAIR TAKE A NICE MOUTHFUL OF YOUR FAVORITE WINE ,RELAX TO THE MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND OR THE TV IN FRONT OF YOU,WHEN FLIES START TO GATHER TURN OF THE SHOP VAC AND WATCH THEM DISAPPEAR.

NO STRESS........THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX:db
 
I liked the above, but I skipped the shop vac and drank until the flies disappeared.
 
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I like Joe's idea with the Shopvac. I set out a 2 liter bottle with the top cut off and flipped over inside the bottom. Added some wine and waited for the buggers to show up.
:hh :gb
 
You don't need a trap.

An open wide mouth container with some fermenting wine in it and a couple of drops of dawn soap to break the surface tension will work just fine if not better.
 
You don't need a trap.

An open wide mouth container with some fermenting wine in it and a couple of drops of dawn soap to break the surface tension will work just fine if not better.

This has been my experience as well. I use pint canning jars.
 
Sorry to rekindle an old tread but I am having some trouble that I believe is going to lead me to toss all my wine equipment and start over.

I believe I have a real bad case of Acetobacter infestation. The classic high acidity, vinegar taste and nail polish/perm solution smell.

Four batches of wine ago I was in the middle of a move and did not clean a plastic primary fermenter out after racking. Left the lees and all in the bottom for over two weeks... Smelled awful and was a swarming mess of flies. I cleaned it out a little better than normal and went back to making wine. The next batch was so bad that I couldn't drink it. So I did a little research and cleaned the primary supper well, sanitized like crazy and tried again. Not quite at bad but still a definite vinegar taste. After that I purchased a new primary and tried another batch. Still like vinegar. I did notice that the smells and taste developed later in the process (week 3 or 4).

During my last attempt to sanitize everything I used almost a gallon of bleach... I was confident that i killed that stuff, only to come back a week later and sniff a few piece of equipment and I still get a whiff of vinegar. I cant get rid of it and don't know what else to do except throw it all out and start over.

Any thoughts, anyone else ever run into this?
 
I would clean the equipment again. Try using a solution of screaming hot water and automatic dish washer detergent (the gel type). A good squirt of this in a gallon of screaming hot water should do the trick.
 
Just an aside...

If you folks are anything like me, and you catch a fruit fly in your wine, your simply grab it by the scruff of the neck, tap it one its back, and yell.. "Spit it out"!
 
Time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana :)
 

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