Sludge anyone?

[jet]

I had to go with a new producer for my frozen sauvignon blanc. I agitated the pail periodically while it was thawing. Once thawed, I made my adjustments and stirred them in gently using my drill stirrer. I came back a few hours later to pitch the yeast, and the must appears to be 60% sediment. Is this kind of thing typical? Was I just lucky with my last producer?

 

[Julie]

I didn't get any in any of my buckets that i bought from Luva Bella's

 

[Rocky]

I think I would take them back to the producer. That is an awful lot of lees. You will be lucky to net 3 gallons from that. If you have a credible producer, he will replace the bucket.

 

[jet]

I think I would take them back to the producer. That is an awful lot of lees. You will be lucky to net 3 gallons from that. If you have a credible producer, he will replace the bucket.

It was mail-order, so taking it back is not a viable option.


I was pleasantly surprised this morning to discover that the sediment has compacted down to about 2" in each primary. My mood upgraded from distraught to unhappy.

 

[jet]

Both batches had fermentation problems and the yield from the "5.25gl" pail was 4 gallons.

The vendor looked at the pic and said he thought it was normal, but he still sent me another pail. The second pail was the same way. I mixed it with my drill attachment, waited several hours and racked off the sludge into a primary fermenter. Yield was again about 4 gallons.