Gnats in airlock?

[Chilled]

After racking a Blackberry (from berries) batch, we had the sediment settling in wine bottles to try and salvage a little wine for topping up the carboys after the next racking.

The bottles had a bung and three piece airlock with Vodka in it. A couple months later there were tiny gnats in the airlocks.
Question-Did we let the Vodka in the airlocks get too low at some point?
Or, do gnats sometimes get into airlocks?

The 5 gallon carboys with the same style airlocks with Vodka had no gnats in them.

We are not going to use the wine that had gnats in the airlocks as it had a film on top of the wine.

Thanks for any advice or answers.
Dave

 

[cintipam]

Hi Dave

Just to clarify you have an airlocked partially filled winebottle from carboy dregs that now has gnats in the airlock and a film on top of the wine? I'm betting folks might want you to describe the film. But personally I know that if I used that bottle I would forever after worry about the wine I added it to. I would be more concerned about the film than the gnats (altho if it is a lot of gnats that might make a difference to me. You would probably remember if your airlock ever dried out and you had to revodka it. My thoughts are that it didn't just some fluke on how the airlock was put together with lid uneven or something. Anyway, I'm sure you will get lots of opinions.

BTW when I am trying to get wine from settled dregs I usually put it into the fridge. Chilling makes it clear faster plus no worries about gnats etc.

Pam in cinti

 

[jensmith]

Airlocks make the best fruit fly catchers. Those little buggers really like fermenting wine. They will squeeze into the smallest opening, but can't remember how to get back out. Once the wine is done fermenting the escaping gasses no longer smell so good, they will stop going in the airlock. Untill then just dump out the fly filled airlock and refill. The airlock is keeping the flies out of your wine. The wine will be fine no matter how many flies are in the airlock. The only concern is if the airlock backflushes. This happens with air pressure changes and when moving the carboy. Just gently pull out the airlock, change the vodca, and replace before moving. Or whenever you see flies in the airlock. ( I use water in my airlocks )

As for the film on top of the wine ends, this is most likly from stressed yeast. Not fruit flies. If you rack off the wine that comes to the top within a week or so you can prevent this from happening. For now rack off what looks clear, add sulfa and let sit for a week. If it is still iffy, but drinkable you can try other fixes. I do agree with not adding it to the bulk of your wine right now. It can be your "practice how to save bad wine".


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[reefman]

I have gnat traps setup in my wine cellar.
Take a 2 liter soda bottle, cut the top 4 inches off, drill a small hole (gnat size) in the cap, pour an oz or so of extra wine or grape juice in the bottom of the bottle, flip the top upside down and place it in the bottom half of the bottle (might have to tape it in place.)
Gnats go in the hole and don't know how to get out. After a couple weeks, I usually don't see anymore gnats.

 

[jensmith]

Extra wine??? What is that????


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[JohnT]

I doubt that they are gnats, but are fruit flies. There is a difference.

Fruit flies are highly attracted to co2 and, especially, the smells associated with fermenting fruit. The bad thing is that they can be carriers of acetobacillus (or bacteria that will convert wine into vinegar).

If I were simply loading my fermentation trap with water, I would be very concerned about this bacteria getting into the wine. You, however, use vodka which should kill off all of those nasty critters. I would just flush out the lock with water, then replace with fresh vodka.

One last suggestion, Be sure to taste the wine before you use it to top off. If it tastes fine, then go ahead and use it. I would also recommend that you first give it a treatment of k-meta if you are truly worried about bacteria that may have gotten into the wine.

 

[Chilled]

Many Thanks

Thank you all for your thoughts, comments and suggestions.
The helpful replies given on this forum are amazing.
I will have to make a fruit fly trap as suggested.

We have poured out the bottle with the film on it. Not worth the risk for 1/2 bottle of top up wine.

The next time I try this, I will place the dregs in the refrigerator to help avoid this happening again. Also, we forgot about the dregs and let them sit too long.

Again, thanks for your help.
Dave