my 2nd gallon of wine ever. (My first batch turned out ok)

[shinyheatherlee]

my 2nd gallon of wine ever. (My first batch turned out ok)

my yeast seems to have turned into a spongy-type creature at the top of my wine. it's been 2 days since i started it and it's behaving completley different than my 1st batch did. my first batch *foamed* a lot and eventually sank down and bubbled like crazy. i assumed that is what i would see this time... instead of foaming, the yeast has turned into weird floaty stuff that gathers at the top (no matter how many times i shake it down) and turns into an almost solid sponge several inches thick just floating at the top-- is this OK? do i need to do something? it's still bubbling, and seems to be fermenting- could it be from too much headspace? (i've got quite a bit)

 

[Julie]

Welcome shinyheatherlee to winemakingtalk. I moved your post to the General Winemaking Forum.

It would help if we know what kind of wine you are making and if it is from juice, fruit or grapes. By the sounds of it, you just have a cap on top, you need to stir at least once a day.

 

[olusteebus]

You are probably too young to know this but something similar happened in the mid 50's. The person making the wine did not stir the wine enough as Julie is recommending. The winemaker just kind of ignored it and pushed it aside. It was months before he went to the cellar to start another batch. Several weeks went by and no one had heard from him. A relative went to the cellar to see if he could find any evidence why the winemaker was missing. He was immediately consumed by that , . . . . . that spongy creature

The spongy creature escaped and was a very serious threat to the whole city and eventually the nation. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of first responders and a weird scientist, the spongy creature was overcome and it pretty much disappeared.


A documentary film was made and is available and you can find it. it is called "The Blob". I strongly recommend renting it.






and, stirring the wine like Ms. Julie suggested

 

[K-9]

what yeast did you use? I have heard a certain yeast that does produce 'foam' as opposed to naturally fermenting and having a cap there. with a cap you do see the grape skins and remnants along with some fermentation foam but not just thick foam from my experience, at least.

 

[Julie]

Ha Ha Ha, Olusteebus, I never knew you had a mischievous side to you! Nice story.

 

[Tom_S]

A documentary film was made and is available and you can find it. it is called "The Blob". I strongly recommend renting it.

Yeah, but in the movie they lied and tried to say that it came from outer space.

 

[olusteebus]

Yeah, but in the movie they lied and tried to say that it came from outer space.

Yeah, back in those days, they did lie and say things they could not understand came from outer space. Now they lie and say things they can't understand was a naturally occurring thing and it did not come from outer space. I myself do not believe our government when it comes to things like that.

It has gotten to where all you can do is just carry your tinfoil hat with you at all times. That's what I do.

 

[shinyheatherlee]

lmao Olusteebus... thank you for that

it is a mango wine (trying nectar), and i used lavlin 1118 -- after searching all morning, i did find someone making a mango wine and pictures of it in the tub, and it looked sorta like what i have-- it just looks so crazy in the glass it scared me lol - my last wine i used a general concentrate recipe and it did *not* do this- but the pulp in the nectar helped make a cap makes total sense- now i feel silly but at least i've been swirling it around- lol i'm a noob and this is why i'm sticking to 1 gallon batches for now

thanks~!

 

[Julie]

don't feel silly, we have all been there at some point. Are you starting your wine in a gallon glass jug? I would suggest fining a bucket that is food grade that you could do gallon batches in and rack to the gallon jug once the wine is below 1.010.

 

[Arne]

don't feel silly, we have all been there at some point. Are you starting your wine in a gallon glass jug? I would suggest fining a bucket that is food grade that you could do gallon batches in and rack to the gallon jug once the wine is below 1.010.

And make sure the bucket is at least 2 gallon, maybe 3, so you have room for all the ingredients and space for the ferment to rise and fall as the ferment progresses. Also, this will allow you to make a bit more than a gallon of wine so you have a little to top off with when you rack. Arne.