So, at some point today my nephew pulled out the air lock from the stopper of my 5 gallons of pinot grigio. No idea when it happened but it did and I just noticed this evening. Any precautions I should take at this point?
Air lock
- Thread starter Matty_Kay
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Taste it, and if ok put the air lock back in and smack his hands.
Or skip propagating the violence and explain to him what he did wrong and why...
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I wasn't suggesting beating the life out of him,
. It was more tongue in cheek than anything.
HomeCraftingHobbyGuy
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You dont want it getting contaminated.
How long has it been fermenting for and how long was the air lock off for?
What type of yeast are you using and where is the wine that is being made being kept?
If you have pets or have it in a room that has mold and if the yeast isnt particularly active on top of it being exposed to the outside enviornment for too long can spoil it.
But i wouldnt worry too much just get the airlock back on as quick as possible.
tho i would hate to loose a 5 gallon batch it might be possible to use some capden tablets or something too kill off any bacteria and restart the fermenting with new yeast, but dont take my expertise im still a rookie and this is just a idea, im sure someone else can chime in and tell you if that is a plausible idea.
How long has it been fermenting for and how long was the air lock off for?
What type of yeast are you using and where is the wine that is being made being kept?
If you have pets or have it in a room that has mold and if the yeast isnt particularly active on top of it being exposed to the outside enviornment for too long can spoil it.
But i wouldnt worry too much just get the airlock back on as quick as possible.
tho i would hate to loose a 5 gallon batch it might be possible to use some capden tablets or something too kill off any bacteria and restart the fermenting with new yeast, but dont take my expertise im still a rookie and this is just a idea, im sure someone else can chime in and tell you if that is a plausible idea.
You didn't need any advice, you did the correct thing!
Julie
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I wasn't suggesting beating the life out of him,
I thought it was a good solution!!!!
So, I racked my pinot grigio this morning, all looked and tasted fine in the 5 gallon carboy. However, I was topping off from a half gallon of pinot grigio which my nephew also pulled out the air lock. When I was topping off, there seemed to be a relatively stringy type of white stuff coming to the surface. May just have been some residual yeast that fell out during bulk aging or possibly worse, just not certain. It wasn't noticeable when the half gallon was still, only when the jug was tilted when I started to top off. I'm wondering if my top off may have been contaminated while the airlock was off. I stopped topping off immediately and used a similar commercial wine I had on hand; now I'm just hopeful the 5 gallons isn't ruined b/c of the top off wine. Any thoughts as next steps or just sit and wait? I sulphited as I normally would as well.
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Floandgary
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Likely just some lees. Let everything sit for a few months then do a rackover. Things will clear naturally.
