just received my erhrenfelser kit today and it had a small leak somewhere. I have alerted George to the problem just in case anything is wrong. My question is when I start this kit tomorrow and open the juice pack, is there anything in particular I should look for to tell me whether the kit is alright or not? Thanks in advance, Ron.
RJ Spagnols leaky kit
- Thread starter rrussell
- Start date
Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2005
- Messages
- 15,188
- Reaction score
- 1,207
This is out of the March newsletter:
LEAKING WINE KITS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~We have been having more of an issue with leaking wine kits than ever before and it is not with just a single manufacturer. The issue appears to be with the bag itself, as all of the manufacturersuse the same bag supplier. The problem kits seems to have all been made about the same time last fall.
The bags used in the wine kits are a 2 ply bag. The concentrate/juice is poured into the bag, then the cap assembly is attached. During the filling process, some of the juice can wind up between the layers of the bag. If enough pressure is exerted on the bag, the trapped juice can leak out. It does not take much juiceto soak into everything andmake a complete mess of your shipment. Normally, the leakage should be contained by the plasticwrap, but it the box isturned upside down, the juice with leak from the top of thewine kit box andget all over everything.
When this happens,the juice is not contaminatedand the wine kit is still good. If you receive a leaking kit, examine the juice inside the bag. Specifically, you are looking formold or signs thatfermentation has started. Both of thethese signs indicate that oxygen hasentered the bag and your juice is contaminated; however, if you do not see either of these signs, the juice isstill good and should nothave any problems.
If you decide the wine is still good, be sure to keep the date code. If you run into any issues along the way, we can still get the kit replaced, but the manufacturer will want the date code, since thistells them when the kit was made. If they have a significant problem with a particular date code, they need to know about it to determine what went wrong with that batch so they can modify their processes to make sure it does not happen again.
If you receive a leaking wine kit and have any questions about it, please don't hesitate to contact us. If there is a problem with the kit, we will replace it.
LEAKING WINE KITS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~We have been having more of an issue with leaking wine kits than ever before and it is not with just a single manufacturer. The issue appears to be with the bag itself, as all of the manufacturersuse the same bag supplier. The problem kits seems to have all been made about the same time last fall.
The bags used in the wine kits are a 2 ply bag. The concentrate/juice is poured into the bag, then the cap assembly is attached. During the filling process, some of the juice can wind up between the layers of the bag. If enough pressure is exerted on the bag, the trapped juice can leak out. It does not take much juiceto soak into everything andmake a complete mess of your shipment. Normally, the leakage should be contained by the plasticwrap, but it the box isturned upside down, the juice with leak from the top of thewine kit box andget all over everything.
When this happens,the juice is not contaminatedand the wine kit is still good. If you receive a leaking kit, examine the juice inside the bag. Specifically, you are looking formold or signs thatfermentation has started. Both of thethese signs indicate that oxygen hasentered the bag and your juice is contaminated; however, if you do not see either of these signs, the juice isstill good and should nothave any problems.
If you decide the wine is still good, be sure to keep the date code. If you run into any issues along the way, we can still get the kit replaced, but the manufacturer will want the date code, since thistells them when the kit was made. If they have a significant problem with a particular date code, they need to know about it to determine what went wrong with that batch so they can modify their processes to make sure it does not happen again.
If you receive a leaking wine kit and have any questions about it, please don't hesitate to contact us. If there is a problem with the kit, we will replace it.
