What the heck is this!? (growth)

[Just-a-Guy]

So, I took some frozen blueberries and boiled them in spring water, cooled it and used it to make a must, which I just moved out of the primary after two weeks. At the time, I set aside a 1/2 gal clear jug of the juice, with no additives, in the fridge. Pulled it out just now for topping up, and it has this growth along the TOP of the jug (which was laying on its side). The picture is lousy, it was more white when it came out of the fridge, like a series of honeycomb-like growths, sticking down from the top (side) of the jug. What the heck???

Help?

 

[Julie]

First off, don't cook the fruit not only will possibly have a pectic haze In your wine but you lose flavor as well. It looks like it is just pulp in the jug.

 

[Just-a-Guy]

First off, don't cook the fruit not only will possibly have a pectic haze In your wine but you lose flavor as well. It looks like it is just pulp in the jug.

Oh... man. I think I'll write a book - how to make every single mistake imaginable in making wine, by just a guy.

 

[Julie]

Oh... man. I think I'll write a book - how to make every single mistake imaginable in making wine, by just a guy.

Lol, you haven't made any mistakes that the rest of us haven't made.

 

[Deezil]

Yeah, looks like pulp... It may have begun fermenting even though it was in the fridge. Smell it / shake it (lightly) to see if it foams.. The smell might be more towards what you find in the fermenting bucket, but the presence of CO2 is the surefire sign that it fermented

 

[Just-a-Guy]

OK, thanks guys. Sometimes I think I'm getting senile. I just had to unexpectedly bottle a batch of wine (Welch's, in honor of JohnT, one of my first attempts), because after racking the blueberry out of my primary into a 5, I realized this was only planned as a 3 gallon batch, and I didn't have any more 3 gal carboys. So emptied one into 15 nice bottles of grape juice wine, which my wife absolutely loathes. (More for me.) Then racked the blueberry into the 3. I'll now go and study that jug of ... stuff. I got so scared of it I just put it back in the fridge and ran away.

One of these days I'll get something right (actually, this JohnT is not bad).

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Well, to be contrary, steam juicing fruits works very well and tastes great, boiled elderberries work well in a wine. Not my first choice of how to make a wine by boiling the fruit but you havent totally screwed up, or even really partially screwed up, just not the best way possible maybe. Now was the stuff fluffy in your bottle? Next time add sulfites even to the juice you are saving and nothing wrong with freezing it next time. Dont forget to use pectinase, if you boil your fruit it is recommended to add like 50% more to make up for the extra pectins you extract when you cook the fruit. Some people say cooking sets the fruit pectins, but pectinases seem to be able to chew those up as some folks use jam to make clear wines. WVMJ​

 

[Just-a-Guy]

Um... well, I may have somewhat freaked out over nothing here. This jug was in one of the refrigerators in my bar, and it was up close to the freezer section... and it may just be that it froze. I tried to pour it into another jug, and it's too frozen. Hm. Letting it thaw now. We'll see....

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Can we change your tag from just a guy to just a goof Good news now you can use it, and if you drain it out before it totally thaws you can concentrate the flavors, so if you dont need the whole volume to top up just use what drains out before it fully dissolves. WVMJ

 

[Steve_M]

Actually looks like the thing from the black and white movie the BLOB

Steve

 

[Just-a-Guy]

Just to follow up, and further demonstrate my own stupidity... this morning, The Blob was completely gone (melted). I ran the juice through a strainer and got a small amount of solids from the blueberries. Added a wee bit of sulfite and pectic enzyme, and set the jug aside for use for topping up on the next racking. Smelled and tasted like... blueberries.

Thanks for the help, all.

 

[LeChat]

You should come to Canada this time of the year. Outside the window, it looks like a "growth" is taking over the entire city.

Yes, I am making fun of you for thinking a bit of frozen must was a growth

 

[Just-a-Guy]

You should come to Canada this time of the year. Outside the window, it looks like a "growth" is taking over the entire city.

Yes, I am making fun of you for thinking a bit of frozen must was a growth

I'm making fun of me, too. (But you can keep Canada... NY is cold enough. Plus, we don't think we're part of France.) (Ha ha.)