Noticed a fly in my cider!

[gethighonyourownsupply]

Yesterday I set a 4.5L demijohn of supermarket apple juice with 250g maple syrup and a little bit of sugar going with some cider yeast. The yeast on top has gone frothy and fermentation is just starting as I'd expect but I've noticed that a tiny fly must have got in and stuck to the inside before I sealed it about 36hrs ago. Is it stupid to just let it run and hope for the best? The fly is stuck to the side of the demijohn just level with the top of the yeast froth. I'm thinking that if I open it up to scoop him out with something I might make it worse/"burst" the fly/break legs off or something. Are there any other options or, if it was carrying germs, would it be too late anyway and might as well just wait and hope it was a clean fly?

 

[ithink2020]

I would try to get it out. Even if that means to Iraq to a clean bucket, clean and rack back.

 

[CDrew]

In wine making from fresh grapes, all kinds of bugs are fermented in the must because it's impossible to get them out. Spiders, ants, earwigs, it's all part of the terroir. But since an intact fly in the carboy is unsightly, just open the carboy and scoop it out as best you can. It will be fine. Any extra germs are already in the wine anyway. In the end, the alcohol and sulfites will kill virtually all bacteria you would worry about.

 

[hounddawg]

is he drinking very much?
Dawg

 

[balatonwine]

With all the spiders, mites, bugs and other tiny critters that were hidden in my grape clusters, which were crushed and their buggy goodness added to the wine... I would not worry too much about one fly at this stage. Any bacteria on the fly that may damage the wine has most likely already infiltrated the wine. That ship has probably sailed.

In fact, if you want to really know what is your food, go here for a start:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Food_Defect_Action_Levels
I suggest you do not eat before you read the actual FDA report and guidelines. You may loose your lunch.

But neither would I worry about opening the container and removing it if you can do it quickly (if your demijohn is topped up well, the amount of O2 damage will probably be insignificant -- after all, barreled wine is often opened to top up, so just think of it like that).

 

[Arne]

is he drinking very much?
Dawg

He said a fly, not a dawg. Lmao.

 

[gethighonyourownsupply]

OK thanks for the advice, I managed to get the fly out with a sterilised plastic bendy straw, and it didn't look like any bits were left in. Fermentation is well under way now so hopefully the alcohol will help. I'll use a campden tablet before bottling to make sure everything's dead too. Fingers crossed...

 

[gethighonyourownsupply]

is he drinking very much?
Dawg

That's how I wanna go

 

[BernardSmith]

I think you could add a campden tab right now if you are fermenting with lab cultured yeast. They are not unduly affected by the SO produced by 1 tab/gallon (they've been cultured to be rather immune to this) but any bacteria carried by the fly are likely to be killed. The problem bacteria are not pathogens but bacteria such as aceto-bacter that may transform your (hard) cider into vinegar

 

[gethighonyourownsupply]

I think you could add a campden tab right now if you are fermenting with lab cultured yeast. They are not unduly affected by the SO produced by 1 tab/gallon (they've been cultured to be rather immune to this) but any bacteria carried by the fly are likely to be killed. The problem bacteria are not pathogens but bacteria such as aceto-bacter that may transform your (hard) cider into vinegar

Interesting, but the tablets haven't arrived yet, they'll be here just around the time I'll be bottling so will need to wait.

 

[VinesnBines]

So at a commercial winery in 2019, I was attending a viticulture class. We crushed some fresh picked grapes in a bag and measured the PH, SG, TA.. then the winemaker passed around the cup of juice for us to taste. Eight of us tasted from the same cup, then the winemaker took the cup and the remnants and dumped the contents into a fermenter full of juice/wine. At a different winery, we were sorting grapes and talking about the things the get in the fermentation. The winemaker said "You quit worrying about that after you fall in the vat, boots and all."

 

[hounddawg]

ignorance is bliss some times,,,
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

With all the spiders, mites, bugs and other tiny critters that were hidden in my grape clusters, which were crushed and their buggy goodness added to the wine... I would not worry too much about one fly at this stage. Any bacteria on the fly that may damage the wine has most likely already infiltrated the wine. That ship has probably sailed.

In fact, if you want to really know what is your food, go here for a start:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Food_Defect_Action_Levels
I suggest you do not eat before you read the actual FDA report and guidelines. You may loose your lunch.

But neither would I worry about opening the container and removing it if you can do it quickly (if your demijohn is topped up well, the amount of O2 damage will probably be insignificant -- after all, barreled wine is often opened to top up, so just think of it like that).

yep i love peanut butter but after learning what the FDA called clean enough, i did not eat peanut butter for better than 3 years,
Dawg

 

[balatonwine]

yep i love peanut butter but after learning what the FDA called clean enough, i did not eat peanut butter for better than 3 years,
Dawg

Which is why I have a food processor. With that I can make my own from raw nuts. Fresh. And on demand. Which includes my almonds and walnuts from my property --- Fresh almond butter is even better than peanut butter IMHO.

 

[balatonwine]

"You quit worrying about that after you fall in the vat, boots and all."

Sorry, and apologizes, as this is completely off topic

But that.... THAT... weirdly.... what was said by the person who once came to clean out my parents septic tank.....