Did anyone here get Chilean pails from M&M Grape?

[Chateau Joe]

Hi,

My LHBS sells pails of frozen chilean juice from M&M. He gets the frozen pails because it saves him money on shipping. Anyway all of the pails came in at 5.5 gallons instead of normal 6 gallons. We are looking into this but I was wondering if it happend to anyone else?

 

[Pumpkinman]

I purchased 13 pails from M&M.
All of the pails had 6 gallons even after I drove just under 2 hrs each way.
The same thing use to happen to me (only getting 5.5 gallons) when I bought mine from one of the lhbs, not to mention the he charged approximately $30 more per bucket than what I paid at M&M.
I'll never purchase locally again!

 

[Pumpkinman]

By the way, how does getting the pails frozen save him on shipping?

 

[Chateau Joe]

By the way, how does getting the pails frozen save him on shipping?

The store ordered 62 pails and it looks like most of them were shorted a 1/2 gallon.

When you get a pail of fresh juice it is delivered in a refrigerated truck from Conn. to Northern NY. The shipping charges on a refrigerated truck are about 3-4 times the cost of standard delivery. The frozen juice pail we get are picked and sent that same day so they are still frozen when they arrive and you have time to get ready while they thaw. they are frozen so no need for a cold truck.

 

[blazerpb]

I'm guessing that when you freeze liquid it expands. M&M using a 6 gallon pail of frozen liquid probably uses 5.5 gallons so they can put the cover on. Only a hunch

 

[Chateau Joe]

Blazer, when you get frozen pails they come in a 7.5 gallon pail to allow for expansion. We have always gotten a full 6 gallons in the past.

 

[blazerpb]

That makes sense. I made the mistake last year of putting extra strawberry juice in a container to back sweeten a fruit wine only to find my freezer smelling great a week later and a layer of frozen juice over my vegetables.

 

[robie]

Hm-m-m-m--m - Someone could take 1/2 gallon of must out of 62 pails and reap about 5 extra pails. Would be hard if the pails are still frozen, though.

Hopefully no dealer would do that and I am not accusing anyone of this, but someone should be willing to explain why the pails were short.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Like I said in my earlier post, this is the first time that I've gotten the full 6 gallons, I picked them up from M&M myself.

 

[Chateau Joe]

Hm-m-m-m--m - Someone could take 1/2 gallon of must out of 62 pails and reap about 5 extra pails. Would be hard if the pails are still frozen, though.

Hopefully no dealer would do that and I am not accusing anyone of this, but someone should be willing to explain why the pails were short.

Realistically this holds no water since pails are sealed, you know that. Nobody would buy a juice pail frozen or otherwise with the seal missing.

 

[robie]

Realistically this holds no water since pails are sealed, you know that. Nobody would buy a juice pail frozen or otherwise with the seal missing.

As I said, I am not accusing the dealer of anything. This however, likely started all the way back when the juice was packed. Would the packers in Chili short on purpose? If you are buying 6 gallons, you should get 6 gallons. Again, someone should be able to give them the correct answer. Enough said.

 

[carmine]

As I said, I am not accusing the dealer of anything. This however, likely started all the way back when the juice was packed. Would the packers in Chili short on purpose? If you are buying 6 gallons, you should get 6 gallons. Again, someone should be able to give them the correct answer. Enough said.

You should call M&M and talk to Nick Or Frank Musto and ask them why the pails are a half gallon short?

 

[robie]

You should call M&M and talk to Nick Or Frank Musto and ask them why the pails are a half gallon short?

I agree that the person shorted should do exactly that... that's my whole point. However, that's not me, I am not the person who purchased the buckets.

There should be a good reason why the buckets are short. That is a significant amount of must, 2 to 3 bottles of wine!

I can assure you I don't suspect M&M of anything sinister. They are a reputable firm with too much to loose to do something that ridiculous.

 

[Runningwolf]

First off the pails are probably processed in Canada and then shipped to M&M. It was said the pails were all sealed. It would not be worth any persons time to open and remove a half gallon from so many pails. Is it possible the M&M requested the 5.5 gallon volume from the processor since they were freezing them for shipment?

What I can tell you is the pails you get from Luva Bellas and Presque Isle for about $52 contain 750-1500 ml extra juice over 6 gallons.

 

[Boatboy24]

I'm gonna ask a few dumb questions, so please forgive me. Has it been confirmed that these buckets are actually short a half gallon? How? Was only one bucket checked, or were there several?

 

[Pumpkinman]

When I purchased my buckets from the LHBS that didn't store his correctly, they had started to ferment, you could tell as soon as you looked at them, the lid was swollen, the air vent on the lid was peculating away, losing wine at every "burp", this was multiplied by the fact that his cheap arse would travel 2 hrs each way with a non refrigerated van because he didn't want to pay freight, and I'm certain that the way this knucklehead drove only caused more to spill out, and yes the lids were sealed.

I never had a 6 gallon bucket fill a 6 gallon carboy, I was lucky to have them fill a 5 gal. carboy after fermentation and racking it off the lees.

Since I decided to pick up my own buckets at M&M, I've had to purchase a few more 6 gallon Carboys to accommodate the wine.

If you have questions, call them, they are very easy to speak to, but by no means do I believe that they would intentionally short someone.

 

[Chateau Joe]

I'm gonna ask a few dumb questions, so please forgive me. Has it been confirmed that these buckets are actually short a half gallon? How? Was only one bucket checked, or were there several?

Yes. Almost everyone who received shipment here were shorted. I spoke with a person yesterday that mentioned his pails were low almost a gallon.

Yes, Nick is aware.

I'm keeping my mouth shut, or in this case, my fingers quiet because M&M is not happy with me. Apparently from what I hear they are going to attempt to make this right. Will have to wait and see.