Worst experiences

[peterCooper]

So, we've seen workspaces, we've heard tall tales and even (heaven forbid)
jokes. But where are the horror stories? Where are the properly
documented disasters? Where can we see what happens when everything
goes wrong?

Would you like to hear about the first three bottles that ended up on the
floor instead of in the bottle because I hadn't closed the siphon properly?
(The dog enjoyed that but seemed a little less perky the following morning)

Woud you lay your reputation on the line and tell all?

 

[MedPretzel]

Two words only:





Cabbage Wine

 

[peterCooper]

Two words are sometimes enough.

I had a member of my faculty use three words in a similar vein,

Brussel Sprout Soda</font></font>Edited by: peterCooper

 

[MedPretzel]

GROSS!!!!

I admire their courage, however.

Actually, this post kind of makes me sad. I have plenty of disasters to report, but I think Cabbage wine takes the #1 spot in my list of fermentation disasters. It's the ONLY wine that i haven't opened in 3+ years... I'm just simply too afraid.
<UL>
<LI>So, #1: Cabbage wine. No further comment.

<LI>Coffee wine? Yeah, if you hold your nose, it's drinkable.

<LI>Onion wine? Umm, actually not so bad, but some people beg to differ.

<LI>Exploding apple spice wine? Caused me to almost stop winemaking. It's a painful subject, and I think my clothes still smell of that wine. I haven't drunk an apple wine since.

It's also the only wine I've ever dumped down the drain.
<LI>Blue Moon River Wine? (Blueberry over-fermentation) Not so bad initially, but the cleanup was... (oh okay, I'll say it) a bitch. I actually had to buy a taller step stool to get the blueberry-ferment off the basement ceiling. It wouldn't have been so bad, but the ceiling decided to come down when I did this.

<LI>Bottles which slip out of your hands and land on a concrete floor is one of those things I don't wish on any of my enemies. Trust me on this one.

<LI>Exploding corks because you THOUGHT you degassed enough, but you didn't. That's why I always say, "Degas until you think you've degassed enough, and then do it 3 times after that." Cleanup is no fun.

<LI>Trying to use one of those damn cork-plunger thingies and leaning my whole weight on it and gosh-darn-it, instead of that damn cork going in, the bottle broke.

<LI>Opening an aforementioned wine and getting wine in your face because of "the bubbles." Not a good thing if you've got company over and you sort of want to show off your GOOD winemaking skills.

(BTW, the wine was excellent, my hairdo? Well, that was ruined.)</LI>[/list]


Should I go on? The sad thing is, if there's been a mistake, I've made it -- except (knock on wood) for sanitizing equipment. I'm Miss OCD with that one. Edited by: MedPretzel

 

[geocorn]

Thank you, Martina for the wonderful post.

 

[Cove Cottage]

Martina ... you are too funny! What in the world ever made you thing of Cabbage Wine? mwm

 

[smurfe]

Martina ... you are too funny! What in the world ever made you thing of Cabbage Wine? mwm

I often wonder that myself when I see the list of wines she makes. I have to say I am intrigued by them and wish to taste them cause when I see some of them I say" Oh yes, I just have to taste that in a wine" LOL


In regards to messes, I am the messiest wine maker in the world. It is always a "mopping" experience when I bottle or degas. I was bottling a batch a couple days ago and was so proud of myself for no mess. Within 15 seconds, I turned my back to do something for my daughter and you know it, the hose from the filter to the bottling bucket flew out on the floor and there ya go, a couple bottles on the floor.


I was degassing a batch last week and decided to leave it in the carboy to stir instead of moving it to a primary bucket. I had a huge foam explosion all over the place. It was quite the mess. I had never had a batch foam as much as this one. Won't do that again.


Smurfe

 

[MedPretzel]

Haha, well... Cabbage wine soundedinteresting at the time. You never know - it might be the next Shiraz in 100 years time?

Smurfe, I will have quite a few of my "vints" at George's reunion in the up-coming year. And, if my suitcase allows it, you'll all get quite a sampling of 187 ml bottles to take home with you. You might have to put up with me smelling, since I doubt that I'll have room for clothes.

I'm like you when it comes to mopping. I just have my mop ALWAYS handy. My winemaking place is thus probably the cleanest in the whole house. The messiest, but the cleanest.

 

[PolishWineP]

It took a while, but I got one! (Guess I've been really lucky.)


The first time Bert and I made wine we used a kit. We read everything with care and followed directions just as they were written. We got it racked into the carboy and we'd moved it into the office. Everything was going well. The bung and air lock where in the top but I wasn't satisfied. I thought the bung should go in just a bit more. Without the air lock on I gave it a good push and in it went. And that is all the way in. Poor Bert and son Brian just stood there. For some reason they think I have a temper and this could come out badly.

They stood there so quietly, wishing they weren't there and praying they would live through this. I looked at it and decided it certainly wasn't the end of the world but it sure was funny!

I just don't know why they think I have a temper?!

 

[MedPretzel]

They stood there so quietly, wishing they weren't there

We are very similar, and have very similar families, so it seems.

 

[PolishWineP]

Poor things!

Sometimes it's not so good being part of my family (or so I've heard) but most of the time it's great fun!

 

[geocorn]

All right, I will chime in! I have 2 worst experiences:


First is with my very first batch. I poured the concentrate into the bucket and did not realize the spigot was open. As a result, I had about 1 quart of concentrate on the carpet before I got it stopped. I decided to continue with the batch and it was still acceptable. I decided that if it was that good with a quart of concentrate missing, it could only get better. Look where that decision has led me!


Second is when I did not have a carboy handle on my Christmas ice wine. This was during the phase when I was operating out of my home and when I dropped the carboy, it shattered and the wine went under the rackholding all of the wine kits. We had to move over 100 wine kits so we couldget under the rackand it took us over 2 hours to clean up the mess. My darling wife's only comment to me was "All carboys shall have a handle!" Did I marry the right woman or what?

 

[PolishWineP]

You sure did, George!

She sure sounds smart!

 

[MedPretzel]

Man, those two pretty much take the cake, George.....

I feel for ya.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Continuing negative experience is needing to buy commercial wines until my
own supply is available...

 

[geocorn]

I only buy commercial wines for testing purposes. I want to make sure that I am not lulled into a false sense of security regarding the quality of the wine kits. So far, the commercial wines don't compare to my home made wines.

 

[Steve]

Ok, so the only bad experience thus far was just spilling some wine on the floor while bottling, until today...


I was degassing and stabilizing my Green Apple Riesling using my wine whip. All was going great until the drill slipped out of my hand and "snap" half the whip an the drill the other half in the bottom of the carboy...

I guess it is time to purchase a Fizz-x...

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

I think all of us who once had a whip have had it snap in a variety of
situations. The Fizz-X is the way to go.

 

[MedPretzel]

The Fizz-X is the way to go.

Good to hear that! I asked Santa for it!

 

[masta]

Thought I would add a few to this:


While making up my very first Braggot this morning I reached for the honey and one of my full jugs of maple syrup fell off the shelfand hit the floor. Of course the top popped off and at least a 2 cups spilled out on the carpet and on me in the fermentation room. Good thing the carpet is a really low pile, so I sopped up most of it with towel and just finished using the rug cleaner on the rest of it.


Quite a while back I was bottling beer and I was capping one of my 22 oz bottles and I must have put to much pressure on it and POW the bottle shattered sending glass and beer all over me and the floor. I picked up the big chunks of glass and continued capping since all the bottles were filled and I needed to get it done even though I was soaked with beer.