Growth in carboy?

[Runruh130]

Hey WMT,

I am seeing some white and bits of green growth around the neck of my carboy. The wine smells really good for how young it is. Is this something I should be concerned about?

- Racked off Gross Lees on 12-1-2021
- MLB and was added on 12-1-2021 in the clean and sanitized carboy.
- 1/4tsp S02 added 1-5-2022

 

[Tin_Man]

Hi Runruh,

That might be Flor yeast. It doesn't look like much in the pictures. Flor yeast will only colonize the top of the wine that's exposed to oxygen, so no growth will ever be submerged in the wine. If it gets any worse, you can gently skim the yeast off the top (easier said than done) and then top off the carboy completely so that there is zero headspace/oxygen, and maybe hit it with a touch more SO2.

Sparging the carboy with Nitrogen gas will definitely help if you happen to have some. Eliminating oxygen is key.

 

[Runruh130]

Hey, thanks for the response and reassurance. I ended up racking the wine and doing a dose of SO2 just to be safe.