WineXpert The Blob

[James]

I have had my Australian Gren/Mouv. in the secondary for 19 days. A little long I know but I thought it was OK. I stirred and added sorbate, meta, and chitosen as per directions. SG was stable at .998. It was moderately foamy when I stirred. Topped up and air locked. Checked this morning before work, OK. Now I'm home from work and wine has been pushed through the air lock and there is a gelatenousmass, the blob,that has floated to the top of the carboy. Wine smelled and tasted fine last night.


What have I done? Am I sunk on this batch? Help!

 

[Angell Wine]

Was it still foamy when you put the air lock back on ?

 

[masta]

I have seen this type of mass called the blobcome to the top of a carboy before and don't get concerned as it will settle out as time goes on. Not sure why it pushed up through the airlock but I know this has been discussed before and I will look for it to help explain what and why.

 

[James]

Angell,


It still had a little foam on top when I finished stirring last night. I checked before I went to bed and nothing was out of the ordinary.

 

[masta]

James,


A quick search of where I remember seeing this and here is the answer what it is and solution straight from Tim V. of Winexpert:


"Stir the blob until it collapses and settles into the wine: it's a foamy matrix of trapped gas and sticky finings (Chitosan). Busting it up with vigorous stirring will take care of it, and it won't return."

 

[Angell Wine]

Sometimes the foam and solids from the lee's will make a type of moraine(like you would see on a lemon pie). The foam will dry out a little to from a cap like blob.
Masta: you type faster than I can.Edited by: Angell Wine

 

[Wade E]

Never heard of this. I had all my sediment float to the top from not
prpoerly degassing though. Could be the same thing with a different
clarifier.

 

[James]

Thanks,


I will take care of "the blob" in the morning. It does look like part of the lees that floated. It is not very appetizing.

 

[Waldo]

I had the same thing happen on one of my Port kits a long time ago. (Pictures were posted on here somewhere) and it ended up being fine after I stirred it back up as George advised doing at the time.

 

[PeterZ]

Flotation clarification is very common in industry and municipal waste water treatment. With flotation clarification (or concentration of a desirable product in some industries) air is introduced into a rapidly moving stream of cloudy water, usually through a venturi, and the fluid then enters a large tank. The air attaches to the particles and floats them to the surface, where they are skimmed off.

This technique is typically used with solids that are very close to the same density as water, meaning they would settle very slowly. The same kinds of clarifiers are used for this process as are used for settling.

The Blob is an indication of insufficient degassing prior to adding the clarifier. The upside is that after stirring back in (which will release the gas that made The Blob float) the chitosan will work just as well as if this had never happened.

 

[James]

I stirred "the blob". It broke apart easily and I have not seen it since.


PeterZ, your professional analysis is always very interesting and right on target, however, comparing what was floating in my wine to s__t skimmings in a waste treatement plant makes me want to have a beer tonight.


Thanks for the help.


James

 

[jsmahoney]

euuueww!

s___t skimmings!