Luva Bella buckets disaster caught!!

[almargita]

Well after picking up my buckets from Luva Bell on Saturday, I placed them in my game room on the coffee table till I was going to start them. Figured I would let them warm up a bit before starting them. Sunday was busy all day so today I would start. Waking up this morning, went for the paper & smelled this yeasty smell. Checked & all my buckets had a big bow in the lids!! The Malbec already had a puddle on my coffee table but haddn't fallen to the rug yet!! Hurried & opened a the lids to relieve the pressure & start them going!! Had one of those Sham Well cloths from TV & it picked up all the juice from the table. Can't imagine if it overflowed to the rug, what a mess it would have been!! Going to have to re-thing my Primary staging area!! so just a word of caution, keep an eye on your buckets, they start quickly on their own........

Al

 

[Deezil]

Nice save!
That coulda sucked completely..

 

[Julie]

Well after picking up my buckets from Luva Bell on Saturday, I placed them in my game room on the coffee table till I was going to start them. Figured I would let them warm up a bit before starting them. Sunday was busy all day so today I would start. Waking up this morning, went for the paper & smelled this yeasty smell. Checked & all my buckets had a big bow in the lids!! The Malbec already had a puddle on my coffee table but haddn't fallen to the rug yet!! Hurried & opened a the lids to relieve the pressure & start them going!! Had one of those Sham Well cloths from TV & it picked up all the juice from the table. Can't imagine if it overflowed to the rug, what a mess it would have been!! Going to have to re-thing my Primary staging area!! so just a word of caution, keep an eye on your buckets, they start quickly on their own........

Al

LOL, Helen would not have been very happy at all if you lost the wine and the carpet

 

[Flem]

Al, you're a lucky man---so says your wife.
Great timing.

 

[ffemt128]

I picked mine up on the 24th, Immediately upon arriving home I opened the lids. I know they don't take long once they warm up.

 

[Rocky]

Al, did you remember to wring out the Sham Well into the primary? We don't want to waste wine!

 

[Julie]

Well Al, I guess I am going to have to give you a big thank you for this post. I read before I ran out the door for work and thought gee I better check mine. Since mine are in the basement I figured I had until this evening for them to warm up, the lids were bulging and one was starting to foam out the small hole. I hurried up and unsnapped the lids.

Did anyone get a Sauv Blanc, Riesling and Malbec? I need the sg's

 

[ffemt128]

I got a Sav Blanc. SG was 1.090 on mine.

 

[almargita]

my Malbec & Reisling were both 1.090

Al

 

[almargita]

Julie:

I also thought I had plenty of time also, thought it would be a least a couple days to fully warm up. The juice had a different idea. It was my Malbec that was coming out the sides & top. The others were just swelling the lids. Sure glad I checked also. Hopefully any others getting buckets will keep a closer eye on theirs.......

Al

 

[ffemt128]

I had this happen with the bucket of Niagra from Presque Isle last October except it was natural yeast causing the fermentation. Leaked all over the back of the Jeep. Even after steam cleaning the carpet, it still smelled of stale alcohol up until I traded it in. At least it was a white grape.

Good catch on the lids. It doesn't take much once they are stirred up in transport.

 

[Julie]

LOL, it was my Malbec that was coming out the top, I believe I caught it in time before it started to come out the sides. The other two were bulging pretty good.

I was very surpised by this, my basement is fairly cool, in the 60's and since these wines were innoculated with Lavlin 1118, I was planning on fermenting them on the cooler side, I figured the cooler temp would offset the agressive yeast. I am not using a brew belt, just plan on tring my best at a slow ferment. This is what I did last year and I was real happy on how they came out.

 

[Arne]

All this time we thought you guys were the expert winemakers with all the knowledge. Now we find you bring the ingredients home and it just happens. To all of you, good luck with the juice. Arne.

 

[shoebiedoo]

LOL, it was my Malbec that was coming out the top, I believe I caught it in time before it started to come out the sides. The other two were bulging pretty good.

I was very surpised by this, my basement is fairly cool, in the 60's and since these wines were innoculated with Lavlin 1118, I was planning on fermenting them on the cooler side, I figured the cooler temp would offset the agressive yeast. I am not using a brew belt, just plan on tring my best at a slow ferment. This is what I did last year and I was real happy on how they came out.

Good call on the brew belts. My Malbec buckets were foaming like buckets of soapy water. The Sryah was "steady Freddy" so I took the belts off. If last the Malbec you brought last weekend was last years then I want to duplicate EVERYTHING you did. That was awesome!!!!

 

[almargita]

I thought Julies Malbec tasted great also, I had to buy a bucket of the Malbec for myself to try..... Hope mine turns out as well......

Al

 

[Wade E]

These buckets are notorious for starting all on their own and already fermenting when you get them despite the cold temps they are kept in. I picked up 1 one time at a place that was storing them at 38*. The bucket was a few months old but kept in that cooler the whole time and when I got it home the sg was down to 1.030.

 

[Runningwolf]

These buckets are notorious for starting all on their own and already fermenting when you get them despite the cold temps they are kept in. I picked up 1 one time at a place that was storing them at 38*. The bucket was a few months old but kept in that cooler the whole time and when I got it home the sg was down to 1.030.

Wade the exception here is, Luva Bella's just started getting them in and they get deliveries weekly through May. They are kept very cold but will take off as they warm up. Now if there ditributors do not have the means to keep them cold they'll take off even quicker. Later in the season as they're winding down and have buckets left, the issue you had does happen.