Mosti Mondiale HELP KIt Trouble

[cindyjo]

Hello all,
I am finally starting a limited edition kit that I have been sitting on for more than a year, it is the MM outback shiraz. I was just pouring the juice bag into my primary fermentor and I ended up with a large mass off congealed grapes. I was able to clear the clog and get the rest of juice in bucket but am not sure what to do now. Is this kit a loss?? or is the mass really just juice and will still make a good wine. The juice smells and tastes OK, mass is floating on top of bucket... Any suggestions?? Called the store but they are already closed. Thanks
Cindy

 

[ibglowin]

So are you saying the large mass of congealed grapes was in with the 6 gallons of juice? The smell test and taste taste is always a good first indicator. Did the congealed mass dissolve into the rest of the must?

 

[cindyjo]

Thanks for your response Mike, Im a little frantic. Yes mass seems to be congealed grapes and was in juice bag and did seem to dissolve to some extent pretty fast. Smell and taste is good. I have decided to pitche yeast and see what happens unless I hear from someone that it is not worth it

 

[ibglowin]

I have not made any of the MM Limited Releases but perhaps they saved time and an extra bag by putting the grapes into the same bag as the juice.

Pitch the yeast! George might be in Saturday morning if you want to try another call just to confirm what you described.

 

[cindyjo]

This kit also came with an all grape pack as well so.. Yeast is pitched I figure I have nothing to loose I am prepared for worse but hoping for something drinkable eventually. As my father use to say "It will be interesting to see what happens. Thanks for your response

 

[Wade E]

Ive seen this before with kits that have sat around for awhile, there is no problem as long as the juice smelled and tasted ok and was of proper color.

 

[cindyjo]

Great Wade Thanks to both you and Mike for calming my fears. As of this morning things are bubbling right along so I will hope for the best.
It was pretty disgusting when the mass came out, it looked like the bag was givng birth or something and I had to pull it out with my hand. Yuck

 

[hannabarn]

Great Wade Thanks to both you and Mike for calming my fears. As of this morning things are bubbling right along so I will hope for the best.
It was pretty disgusting when the mass came out, it looked like the bag was givng birth or something and I had to pull it out with my hand. Yuck

LOL

 

[Wade E]

Cindy,,,, way to much info there!!!!

hehehe

 

[tonyt]

I have done several MM LE's. Never had any blobs but I actually wish I had. Sounds extra jammy. What was the SG, if it was extra concentrated I'll bet the SG is high and will make a 15% or so wine.

 

[cindyjo]

Sorry for long response time Just got my daughter off computer. SG was hard to read cause there were so many bubbles from the fermentation. Will try to test later and report. I just snapped lid on yesterday and have been stirring it daily like you are suppose to.
Which leads my to my next question. When stirring I realized there were still... sorry for lack of a better word... clots ofcongeled grapes floating around. I have visions of when I transfer to carboy these clots are going to clog my spigot, my tube an otherwise make a nuisance of themselves. Any experience or suggestions? I wonder if I stirred it with my power stirrer if that would help?? Thanks for the support

 

[v1rotate]

I doubt if the power stirrer will help. Do you have an auto siphon? If so, the sediment tip will help a little when you go to transfer to carboy. Yes, you will have to clean the tip a few times, but really the process isn't a huge deal. You might end up pouring some of the must through a colander or sifter, which is perfectly ok. Anyway you can get the must to the carboy is fine. It just takes some patience and there might be a small amount of messiness...

 

[PeterZ]

Put a piece of sanitized cheesecloth over the hole into the spigot. It's a messy job, but somebody's got to do it.

 

[cindyjo]

Wow those are both great ideas. It will be intersting to see how that goes. As usuall the smell is fantastic