Fruit Fly Corpses

[Zog]

I don't know how they got in there put I have a few dead fruit flies and what looks like assorted fruit fly parts in my wine. I noticed them after I racked from the primary to a carboy. I have no clue how they got in there, the primary had a tight lid and an airlock filled with sanitizer solution. I saw some dead ones ones in the airlock before I racked it, but I didn't think they could get through. A few must have had scuba gear.

In any case, any ideas about how to get them out? They don't seem to be floating to the top or sinking to the bottom. Will they settle to the bottom when I clarify the wine? Siphon it back into the bucket a little at a time and spoon them out as they come through?

 

[robie]

I'll bet they will settle to the bottom, just like everything else.
However, I would be tempted to go ahead and rack through a very fine strainer right now, just in case they decide to dissolve.

The alcohol should kill anything they brought with them.

I'll bet there are other people on this forum who have gone through this, they could help from an experienced point of view.

This might be a good reason to start using vodka in your air locks. I just may, myself.

 

[Runningwolf]

I am not sure why vodka would be any different then K-meta. Did you have the little cap on your air locks. I know some people leave them off but I always keep them on just for that reason. Like Robie said you could stain your wine through a funnel with a very fine sceen if it has one in it. If they are floating in the carboy I have found the easiest way to a floater out is with a paper towell. You don't disturb the water and the floater kind of attaches itself to it.

 

[robie]

I am not sure why vodka would be any different then K-meta.

You are probably right. If they could swim through kmeta, they could swim through anything. My vote is that they got in some other way - beneath an unsealed-down lid or while you were racking.

Regardless, I'd strain them little guys and save the wine!!!!!
I'm sure you will agree, it would take a lot more than a few fruit flies for me to sacrifice my work.

 

[Zog]

I had the cap on the airlock. It has five or six little holes in it, but evidently these are large enough for a fruit fly to squeeze through.

If I rack it through a fine sieve would that also filter out stuff that shouldn't be filtered out? I think the wine is just about ready to clarify and stabilize, by the way.

 

[robie]

I had the cap on the airlock. It has five or six little holes in it, but evidently these are large enough for a fruit fly to squeeze through.

If I rack it through a fine sieve would that also filter out stuff that shouldn't be filtered out? I think the wine is just about ready to clarify and stabilize, by the way.

That's right, you are still in secondary. What do you think, runningwolf, he should be able to wait a few more days, then rack/strain? I have never had this happen, so I yield to the experienced.

 

[Runningwolf]

I would wait.

 

[Larryh86GT]

I had the cap on the airlock. It has five or six little holes in it, but evidently these are large enough for a fruit fly to squeeze through.

I have found fruit flies in the 100 proof stuff in my air locks also even though I had the caps on the air lock.

 

[closetwine]

I had this happen to me recently. I wsa ready to backsweeten tough so I pored my syrup a little high and overflowed them out. I would get them out ASAP just to be safe.

 

[Sirs]

one good tidbit is to put cotton in tops of the S-lock not a bunch just enough to keep anything from getting by as the little buggers can get in those holes.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

Is it possible those fly parts were in the empty carboy or racking cane before you put the wine in? Could be you didn't notice them in there until later.

I wouldn't worry about them too much. If they're going to do any damage, it's already done. My guess is they'll settle out when the wine clears. If not, imagine the "legs" your wine will have!

You could send a frog in after them.....

 

[Zog]

They weren't in the carboy, siphon or tubing. All those had been cleaned, sanitized and put away in plastic after last use; then re-cleaned and sanitized before I used them again. Robie suggested that they may have slipped in while racking as the lid was open enough to allow the siphon through. That seems the most likely scenario.

I'll check the SG later today and if low enough I'll rack it through one of those "gold" coffee filters (not the paper kind).

 

[ffemt128]

one good tidbit is to put cotton in tops of the S-lock not a bunch just enough to keep anything from getting by as the little buggers can get in those holes.

That is a really good suggestion. Gasses would still escape and nothing can get in.

 

[BIGJEFF]

Robie suggested that they may have slipped in while racking as the lid was open enough to allow the siphon through.

Because of fruit flies were really bad her this year, I started using saran wrap to cover the opening of my primary, fixing it to the tube with an elastic...I also do that when racking from carboy to carboy.

 

[Zog]

Bug free.

Siphoned from the carboy back to the primary bucket using a sanitized metal coffee filter as a strainer. Also used a bottle filling wand in case I needed to stop in a hurry. Kept the bottom of the filter and the tip of the wand just under the surface of the wine to minimize splashing. Only two were trapped in the filter, but there was another half a dozen or so in the lees.

Even though the fruit fly population has plummeted since I festooned the house with traps and the weather has turned cooler, I still covered the bucket with plastic wrap when siphoning back to the clean carboy, as Bigjeff mentioned.

Thanks for the help.