Help

[Linda Spinden]

I was on vacation and I had a solid bung in the carboy that popped out. The wine kit was finished fermenting and was ready to bottle. I am not sure how long it was off, at most 7 day. Do you think it will be safe to bottle. Thanks in advance.

 

[hounddawg]

I was on vacation and I had a solid bung in the carboy that popped out. The wine kit was finished fermenting and was ready to bottle. I am not sure how long it was off, at most 7 day. Do you think it will be safe to bottle. Thanks in advance.

first take a glass sweeten to taste then taste, you'll have your answer safely,
Dawg

 

[G259]

I would, make sure you add pot. meta. (maybe some extra) beforehand. Just wondering, why did it pop out, CO2 degassing? Active (but weak) ferment? You will have to resolve those questions first, others?

Did you add pot. sorbate? We don't know where it stands at this point.
It popped out for SOME reason!

I would take some time to monitor the wine before bottling.

 

[hounddawg]

I would, make sure you ad pot. meta. (maybe some extra) beforehand. Just wondering, why did it pop out, CO2? Active (but weak) ferment? You will have to resolve those questions first, others?

she's got 1 of 3 things, wine, cooking wine, vinegar, and yes CO2 or mild ferment either way gas popped the bung,,,
Dawg

 

[G259]

Yes, but pre-bottling is not the time to guess, am I right?

 

[KCCam]

Not a lot of information (none) to go on. It’s a kit “that’s ready to bottle”. If it’s a kit, did you follow the directions carefully? If so, then it’s finished fermenting, it has K-meta, and Sorbate, and it’s clear (implied by being ready to bottle). The only thing I can think of is that it’s not quite degassed well enough, but it’s clear, so it’s probably close. If it was me, I would check the SG to make sure it’s the same as when you left, rack it off of any sediment, give it a good stir to drive off any CO2, maybe add a touch of K-meta (as suggested) if you have any, and wait a while (as suggested), maybe a week, and check again. If all the above is true, and nothing changes in a week, my guess is it would be safe to bottle.

 

[BernardSmith]

I was on vacation and I had a solid bung in the carboy that popped out. The wine kit was finished fermenting and was ready to bottle. I am not sure how long it was off, at most 7 day. Do you think it will be safe to bottle. Thanks in advance.

Hi Linda - and welcome. Not an answer to your question, but a thought: You say that you had inserted a solid bung. That suggests that you had fully degassed or were certain that there was so little CO2 in the carboy that it made good sense to treat the carboy as if this was a large bottle and you were simply bulk aging the wine. Solid bungs, in my opinion, are not usually a good idea except if you are holding the bung in place with one hand while shaking the contents of the carboy with the other. The thing about solid bungs is that any small increase in pressure from the inside can help force the bung out of the mouth of the fermenter. Drilled bungs tend to stay in place better because they allow for the expansion of air or the release of CO2 to escape into the airlock and so the bung itself is not shifted as easily. Which is to say that when I age my wines I age them under an airlock that I tend to routinely inspect to make certain that the liquid is still filling the S bend.

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

My personal opinion is that your biggest worry would be if a bug got in it because the airlock was off...I fight little fruit flies quite often I'm the summer/early fall months. So I would check visually for any little insects, give it another dose of Potassium Metabsulfite and, as long as it tastes okay, not worry about it.

I do agree with @BernardSmith...I never use a solid bung...it's always an airlock.

 

[hounddawg]

My personal opinion is that your biggest worry would be if a bug got in it because the airlock was off...I fight little fruit flies quite often I'm the summer/early fall months. So I would check visually for any little insects, give it another dose of Potassium Metabsulfite and, as long as it tastes okay, not worry about it.

I do agree with @BernardSmith...I never use a solid bung...it's always an airlock.

you need to know how much that little bugger drank,,,
Dawg

 

[Val-the-Brew-Gal]

you need to know how much that little bugger drank,,,
Dawg

Not too much...they usually succumb to alcohol poisoning fairly quickly...damn light weights

 

[Linda Spinden]

Thank you for all of your help. Test test was good! This was an Island mist kit and was degassed and airlock on for the 28 days. We did not have time to bottle before a trip so we put a solid bung in. I will use the airlock all the time now. It never stays in well anyway. Thanks again.

 

[Scooter68]

Not too much...they usually succumb to alcohol poisoning fairly quickly...damn light weights

If you find dead bugs, keep it to yourself, we wouldn't want anyone to get in trouble for cruelty to insects.... these days one never knows what you can get in trouble for...

 

[KCCam]

There could only be one in there. No room for another one more than 6’ away!

 

[mikewatkins727]

Thank you for all of your help. Test test was good! This was an Island mist kit and was degassed and airlock on for the 28 days. We did not have time to bottle before a trip so we put a solid bung in. I will use the airlock all the time now. It never stays in well anyway. Thanks again.

Solid bung? Change in atmospheric pressure can push out the bung.

 

[Scooter68]

Unless you have an airlock of some variety on a container of wine that you are aging... Any 'Seal' like a solid bung, anything that does not allow pressure release is risky as you have found. Better to use, (worst case scenario) a piece of a zip-lock bag over the top with a strong rubber band, than a solid bung. At least then the pressure can seep out and not pop the top open and expose your wine to critters, dust, and oxygen.

Even with an airlock strange things can happen for instance, I have 5 wines in 3 gallon GLASS carboys under airlock. These wines have all been aging at least 9 months. Last night I found some of the Black Currant wine pushing up into the airlock stem - for whatever reason the wine expanded (no foam at all) or the glass shrunk (??? Unlikely ???) and I had to pull the airlock and refresh it as well as draw off the excess liquid and use that to 'check' the condition of the wine. (It was very good by the way). I normally leave about 1-1/2 inches of space in the neck for this reason but somehow that wasn't enough this time. This was the 3rd time this has happened with one of these batches of wines. Again ZERO foam or evidence of any fermentation just something expanded/contracted and the airlock protected the wine but ....

 

[KCCam]

Solid bung? Change in atmospheric pressure can push out the bung.

Or rise in temperature, which increases pressure.

 

[KCCam]

Last night I found some of the Black Currant wine pushing up into the airlock stem

Just spit-balling here... Is there any chance a very slow fermentation is creating very small bubbles that stay in suspension, thus adding volume? Did you check a sample for dissolved gas (shake a half-filled test tube)?

 

[Johnd]

Just spit-balling here... Is there any chance a very slow fermentation is creating very small bubbles that stay in suspension, thus adding volume? Did you check a sample for dissolved gas (shake a half-filled test tube)?

I don't think so. Once the wine is saturated with dissolved CO2, and no more can dissolve, you get bubbles. The temperature of the must can and does affect the amount of any substance that can be dissolved in a solution, higher temp, more dissolved, and the opposite. Temperature and / or pressure are most likely to be the culprits if a wine is suddenly taking up more volume than previously.

A few years back I had several carboys in the wine room topped up pretty close to the bung, as is my practice. We had a little tropical depression pass through here, temps in the room didn't change, but the pressure dropped more than normal, and had some wine seeping out of my vented silicone bungs.

 

[KCCam]

topped up pretty close to the bung

Ahhh, I’m picturing 2 or 3 inches. Pressure won’t affect the volume of a liquid, but temperature sure will. I did a calculation that I’m pretty sure is accurate: 1°F change in temperature would cause almost 3/16” rise in the neck of a carboy (well, mine, at least - 1 1/4” diameter). So a 6°F change makes it rise over 1”!

 

[hounddawg]

Ahhh, I’m picturing 2 or 3 inches. Pressure won’t affect the volume of a liquid, but temperature sure will. I did a calculation that I’m pretty sure is accurate: 1°F change in temperature would cause almost 3/16” rise in the neck of a carboy (well, mine, at least - 1 1/4” diameter). So a 6°F change makes it rise over 1”!

can you get it to rise so i don't need a straw
Dawg