Funny things you've done while learning...

[CK55]

I found out the hard way that the glue on the bottom of boxes (i.e., cases) for wine bottles can degrade under "winery conditions." I have picked up boxes, only to have several bottles of my new wines tumble to the floor. And this has happened more than once -- slow learner

Lol oops

 

[bstnh1]

Lol oops

I store my wine in wine boxes from the grocery store laid on their side. Before I use them, I slap a strip of 3" wide reinforced filament tape across the bottom. Haven't had one fail yet!

 

[dallase]

My first kit, I opened the wine bag and started pouring it in my 7 gallon bucket. After about 0.5 gallons filled the bucket, the juice bag slid out of the kit box, and displaced that 0.5 gallons of wine all over the room and ceiling.

Always take wine bag out of the box when doing a kit!! Even if they have a fancy little spout that hooks into the cardboard.... its not worth the risk.

 

[dallase]

My next screw up was in my temperature controlled deep freeze. I had a couple carboys of wine in the bottom, and a few bottles on the raised step inside deep freeze. So I was using the top of deep freeze as a table top while I was stirring a new wine. The vibration made one of the bottles roll down and strike a 5 gallon carboy of pinot noir. I could hear the carboy explode.

I quickly cleared the top and opened the deep freeze, it looked like chain saw massacre. Suddenly I feel a stream of wine hit the toes of my shoes.... I had no plug in the freezer because I wanted it to have a bit of air and be able to drain small amounts of moisture from condensation. I stuck my finger in the hole for a couple minutes while I tried to think of a solution, because god knows where I put that drain plug. I removed my finger and scrambled to quickly gab a 5 gallon bucket to cover the drain hole and start catching the wine.

I lost about a gallon on the floor. The rest went down the drain. Half my carboy was left along with about 2 gallons of wine,
but I pitched the whole lot because I didnt feel like drinking glass shards.

So 2 lessons here:

1). Dont put bottles above carboys in deep freeze!

2). Put drain plug inside freezer in case you ever need it. Or just keep drain plug in, and use an old towel to break seal and provide small about of air into freezer.

 

[bstnh1]

Upteen years ago, somewhere around 1972, I bought a couple of cheap 1 gallon wine kits at a discount store. They had 1 gallon plastic jugs, a stopper, an airlock and some Camden tablets. All I had to do was add some juice and some sugar and PRESTO! In no time at all, I'd have delicious home made wine. So I bought some apricot juice and some pineapple juice and dove into wine making. I followed the directions and set the jugs on top of the refrigerator to ferment. When it was done, I filtered it through cheesecloth and bottled it up in some 1/2 gallon glass, screwtop soda bottles and stashed it away on a shelf in the basement. K-meta? Nope. Sorbate? Nope. Had not heard of that stuff. Just added one Camden tablet and bottled 'er up. It was a bit fizzy, but hey, that'll go away, right? A couple of days later there was this loud boom in the basement. When I went to investigate I found one bottle of wine all over the place along with glass from the soda bottle. I passed it off as a one time happening, cleaned up the mess and went back to living. A few hours later,,,,,, another blast from the basement. Same deal, wine and glass everywhere. At that point, I figured going near that stuff could be hazardous to my health. So I donned a heavy winter coat and shielded myself by holding up a thick comforter in front of me as I approached the remaining bottles. I managed to remove the caps on the remaining bottles and watched them fizz over the top like warm beer. I even tasted some of the apricot wine and won't even attempt to describe the foul, fizzy taste. I did not venture back into wine making until 40 years later - much older and much wiser!

 

[Ignoble Grape]

Upteen years ago, somewhere around 1972, I bought a couple of cheap 1 gallon wine kits at a discount store. They had 1 gallon plastic jugs, a stopper, an airlock and some Camden tablets. All I had to do was add some juice and some sugar and PRESTO! In no time at all, I'd have delicious home made wine. So I bought some apricot juice and some pineapple juice and dove into wine making. I followed the directions and set the jugs on top of the refrigerator to ferment. When it was done, I filtered it through cheesecloth and bottled it up in some 1/2 gallon glass, screwtop soda bottles and stashed it away on a shelf in the basement. K-meta? Nope. Sorbate? Nope. Had not heard of that stuff. Just added one Camden tablet and bottled 'er up. It was a bit fizzy, but hey, that'll go away, right? A couple of days later there was this loud boom in the basement. When I went to investigate I found one bottle of wine all over the place along with glass from the soda bottle. I passed it off as a one time happening, cleaned up the mess and went back to living. A few hours later,,,,,, another blast from the basement. Same deal, wine and glass everywhere. At that point, I figured going near that stuff could be hazardous to my health. So I donned a heavy winter coat and shielded myself by holding up a thick comforter in front of me as I approached the remaining bottles. I managed to remove the caps on the remaining bottles and watched them fizz over the top like warm beer. I even tasted some of the apricot wine and won't even attempt to describe the foul, fizzy taste. I did not venture back into wine making until 40 years later - much older and much wiser!

Yup - same story. I can never seem to wait long enough for fermentation to complete, entirely...entirely...entirely... I just want to bottle my baby up.

"It'll be fine," I say to myself...

 

[M38A1]

I can add to my Cherry Kool-Aid attempt a bit more..... As I was racking it off for the first time I thought it was really strong. Like REALLY strong flavor. I racked and as I got about half-way in the 1gal secondary I was running out of fluids. Hmmmmm...... Why so? Turns out the white grape juice I bought was only 1/2gal, not a full gallon. Another 'whoops' moment. Like the dragon blood I'm trying with fresh fruit - live and learn from the experiences and try not to make the same errors again.

 

[meadmaker1]

I found out the hard way that the glue on the bottom of boxes (i.e., cases) for wine bottles can degrade under "winery conditions." I have picked up boxes, only to have several bottles of my new wines tumble to the floor. And this has happened more than once -- slow learner

This was pissing me off but now its funny
Ive been reglueing wine boxes right and left some twice. It makes sense that glue wont stick to glue already there so it lets go again.
Learning all the time LOL.

 

[mainshipfred]

Upteen years ago, somewhere around 1972, I bought a couple of cheap 1 gallon wine kits at a discount store. They had 1 gallon plastic jugs, a stopper, an airlock and some Camden tablets. All I had to do was add some juice and some sugar and PRESTO! In no time at all, I'd have delicious home made wine. So I bought some apricot juice and some pineapple juice and dove into wine making. I followed the directions and set the jugs on top of the refrigerator to ferment. When it was done, I filtered it through cheesecloth and bottled it up in some 1/2 gallon glass, screwtop soda bottles and stashed it away on a shelf in the basement. K-meta? Nope. Sorbate? Nope. Had not heard of that stuff. Just added one Camden tablet and bottled 'er up. It was a bit fizzy, but hey, that'll go away, right? A couple of days later there was this loud boom in the basement. When I went to investigate I found one bottle of wine all over the place along with glass from the soda bottle. I passed it off as a one time happening, cleaned up the mess and went back to living. A few hours later,,,,,, another blast from the basement. Same deal, wine and glass everywhere. At that point, I figured going near that stuff could be hazardous to my health. So I donned a heavy winter coat and shielded myself by holding up a thick comforter in front of me as I approached the remaining bottles. I managed to remove the caps on the remaining bottles and watched them fizz over the top like warm beer. I even tasted some of the apricot wine and won't even attempt to describe the foul, fizzy taste. I did not venture back into wine making until 40 years later - much older and much wiser!

Brother I wish you had pictures wearing that protective gear.

 

[winemaker81]

When transferring wine from primary to secondary, DO NOT use 1 gal jugs with screw caps to hold the extras until you can figure out how you’re going to do MLF. Bad, baaaad things will happen when you unscrew the cap.

It could be worse. I know one person who exploded a gallon jug. He bottled in used gallon wine jugs and was going to take one to a party. The wine was stored in a cold cellar -- he brought the jug up and left it on his kitchen counter. Came back some hours later to find the jug had exploded, blowing out a side of the jug and spraying large chunks of glass. He unscrewed the caps of the remaining jugs and found that he an active fermentation, and apparently the screw cap was stronger than the side of the jug.

He became an enthusiastic user of hydrometers afer that.

Ive been reglueing wine boxes right and left some twice. It makes sense that glue wont stick to glue already there so it lets go again.

I use clear packing tape to secure the bottoms of boxes. Run a couple of strips in both directions, half way up the side of the case. If the tape loosens, you'll see it before picking up the box.

 

[winemaker81]

I made wine for 3 years before knowing what a hydrometer is. Made a batch of wine -- I think it was from Welches Grape Juice. Bottled the wine and put it away to age ... at that time, 4 weeks was aging.

I was in college, living with my parents. My dad told me that one of my bottles had broken in the cellar where I stored them. Cleaned up the mess, but upon examination, the bottle wasn't broken. The cork had been pulled, laying on the floor. This made no sense.

I checked the bottles every few days and found some had the corks pushing out. So I pushed 'em back in! Yeah, this kept repeating itself.

Made my second trip to the closest supply store -- was told I had an active fermentation. Guy convinced me I needed a hydrometer, same thing he said at the first visit but I disbelieved him. Bought the hydrometer, pulled all the corks and poured the wine into a bucket. Sure enough, SG was 1.015 ...

 

[Dennis Griffith]

Amazingly so.

The same thing happened to my brother with his sparkling wine he was making, except it was in my parents new kitchen. Needless to say, they were not impressed with the hole in the ceiling and the wine sitting in the ceiling light fixture.

 

[M38A1]

I can add another one (also posted as a question in the beginners section)

I've never used sparkloid before and last night was my first time with it. Not knowing how it works or it's properties, I mixed up enough to treat two 3gal carboys. I got the hot mix in the first one (forgot to stir it - whoops) and started transfer racking of the second one. Got a bit distracted and maybe 45min later I was ready to add the mix to carboy #2. I was quite surprised to see a brown plug/slug of gelatinous jello looking stuff in my sample tube. It was kind of fun to look at, play with once I got it out. And it stayed quite firm for a while just sitting in a pan of water taunting me. Well, I thought it was taunting me or just plain old funny for this newbie. I learned not to mix this stuff up ahead of time.