Help. Wine mess :-(

[blizzardppc]

Hi people,

My first time on this forum, so hi.

A few months ago I used one of the 1 gallon wine kits to make my first wine, that didn't go too bad and has all been drank, so I decided to experiment and make 1 gallon of my own "cheepo" wine.

Basically I used a bottle of blackcurrent cordial, boiled up to get rid of any preservatives, added 500g of wite sugar, yeast + nutrient, and water and off it went.

All was looking good, so 2 days ago I topped it up to the shoulder with tepid water as I was going out.

Well, I got home last night to a mess. It looks like it's fermented really fast and bubbled up all the way through the airlock, a good bit of wine all over the airing cupboard and no water in the airlock any more.

I cleaned it up, refilled the airlock with water and I've left it be, but it doesn't seem to be fermenting much any more, just a little.

Could this rapid fermentation have spoiled it? What should I do now?

 

[St Allie]

hello blizzardppc and welcome,


I'm doing a blackcurrant cordial too, it's just bubbling slowly after the initial furious ferment..if it's still fermenting, let it finish. some wines go off with a bang and then settle down.

Allie

 

[blizzardppc]

hello blizzardppc and welcome,


I'm doing a blackcurrant cordial too, it's just bubbling slowly after the initial furious ferment..if it's still fermenting, let it finish. some wines go off with a bang and then settle down.

Allie

Well it must have started of with a mighty bang to make the mess it did. I will check tonight to see if it's still fermenting, I think it was bot seemed to be very quiet.

Out of interest what did you put into your cordial based wine? specifically how much sugar did you use.

 

[smurfe]

This is common with many wines. I have had a few gallon batches do this. I am sure the wine is not spoiled just because it did this. To assure fermentation is still in progress you simply need to take a few hydrometer readings. Take one every couple days to see if it is still dropping. If so, it is still going. If not hopefully it is at the desired terminal point and fermentation is done and ready for the next step.

Also, welcome aboard. Glad you chose to become a member here. Look forward to reading your posts.

 

[Madriver Wines]

Also, welcome aboard. Glad you chose to become a member here. Look forward to reading your posts.

I agree with smurfe, welcome. I had a strawberry do that to me because the primary I was using was too small. It pushed right thru the airlock and made a nice mess. Fortunately I had put the primary in a glass baking dish and it caught the over flow. I just went with a bigger primary the next time.
Also if the temp was high you can get volcanic fermentation!
Steve

 

[blizzardppc]

Excellent, thanks people.

I'll take a hydrometer reading tonight, and compare in a few days.

 

[cpfan]

I always use a primary that is large for the volume of wine. For example I use a 12 US gallon primary for 6 US gallon batches. That way a vigourous primary ferment stays in the primary.

You can probably get a nice 3 USG plastic pail from your local ice cream shop that will work well for a gallon batch. My local store rinses them out well (I clean them anyway) and includes a lid. I am using one as my wine equipment cleaning bucket, another as a fermenter, and we use a third for washing windows or floors or whatever.

That reminds me I should drop in to see about grabbing a couple more.

Steve

 

[St Allie]

Well it must have started of with a mighty bang to make the mess it did. I will check tonight to see if it's still fermenting, I think it was bot seemed to be very quiet.

Out of interest what did you put into your cordial based wine? specifically how much sugar did you use.

the recipe I used is here.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3655

I used a local blackcurrant juice with no preservative in it, so didn't have to boil it first.

Allie

 

[Wade E]

It went crazy because you added the warm water to it which raised the temp a lot. You dont top up a wine that isnt done fermenting.

 

[Luc]

boiled up to get rid of any preservatives,
?

I have to do some research on this, but as far as I know boiling does NOT get rid of preservatives. Well maybe it blows away the sulphite but no other chemicals might be affected by boiling as far as I know.

Boiling does however change the flavor of juices. Some sugars might caramelise and some other processes happen that change flavor. So be carefull with boiling juices and fruit.

Luc

 

[St Allie]

I have to do some research on this, but as far as I know boiling does NOT get rid of preservatives. Well maybe it blows away the sulphite but no other chemicals might be affected by boiling as far as I know.

Boiling does however change the flavor of juices. Some sugars might caramelise and some other processes happen that change flavor. So be carefull with boiling juices and fruit.

Luc

Luc, a number of uk websites have recipes for a ribena (blackcurrant cordial) based wine, the ribena we have here has preservatives in it too. They all recommend boiling to drive off the preservative and their wine seems to ferment ok, not sure why.

I didn't try the boiling method, just chose a preservative free cordial for mine. I think it is preservative 202 in ribena

Allie