I have an old garage refrigerator that keeps everthing a frosty 59 degrees. I am aging a one gallon batch of juice wine in it. It's been about a month since my last rack and I had planned to rack again at three months and replace the air lock with the carboy lid. Bottling maybe at 6 months. But, sometime with in the last two weeks the vodka in the air lock evaporated - I suppose because of the low humidty in the refrigerator, and exposed the wine. There is minimal headspace - wine is with-in a half inch if the top of the carboy. Have I ruined this batch? Should I continue and hope for the best? What are my options? Thanks!
Water evaporated from air lock
- Thread starter WVRoger
- Start date
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The overwhelming likelihood is that your wine is fine. The true test? Taste it.
if it's cold and your acidity is good, should be fine. use water instead of vodka in your airlock. alcohol evaporates quicker. i usually check once a week.
as stated above taste it, you'll know instantly if it oxidised
as stated above taste it, you'll know instantly if it oxidised
One can eliminate the routine checking if you have glycerol in the air lock. On wines over a year old I tend to have solid corks. I also use some vacuum with check valves if the head space is high.
smell it
I think it tastes ok and there are no bad odors so I'll keep going. Thanks for the the replies. I will switch to glycerol in the air lock. I'm learnig there is nothing about this wine making that can't be accomplished by spending another $15.00 on Amazon. 
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I use vented bungs in carboys and 4 liter jugs.I think it tastes ok and there are no bad odors so I'll keep going. Thanks for the the replies. I will switch to glycerol in the air lock. I'm learnig there is nothing about this wine making that can't be accomplished by spending another $15.00 on Amazon.
However, regardless of what you do, check all wines at least weekly. "Stuff" can happen. In addition to airlocks going dry, bungs and stoppers may pop.
I like the idea of a vented bung. Are they dependable and how would you know if one failed? I like the visual aspect of the liqiud air lock. Obviously, they are not failsafe.
I would assume that they leak “slowly”. They are a mechanical seal; silicone has a relatively high oxygen transmission rate;
How, I doubt there is a practical test method.
