White spots..

[Kivanc]

Hi everyone!

I have a batch in the secondary with SG reading at 0.985. I recently noticed a bunch of white spots on top of the must after I transferred it to the secondary although the water in the airlock moves frequently. The spots don't seem to increase. I hope this is likely nothing to worry about. I am curious about these white spots. What do they mean?

 

[pip]

Dont suppose you could upload a photo?

 

[Kivanc]

Here is a photo. By the way, the fermenter isn't filled right up to the top.

 

[Julie]

is that a soda bottle you are making your wine in?

 

[Kivanc]

is that a soda bottle you are making your wine in?

It is a 5 liter sanitized water bottle.

 

[Julie]

The white spots would be fine, it is probably still sediment that you wasn't able to rack off. About the water bottle, I hate to tell you this but that really isn't a good idea. Those bottles are not designed to ferment in, it will probably eat into the plastic.

 

[Kivanc]

The white spots would be fine, it is probably still sediment that you wasn't able to rack off. About the water bottle, I hate to tell you this but that really isn't a good idea. Those bottles are not designed to ferment in, it will probably eat into the plastic.

Thanks for the reply Julie.. I failed in finding a glass bottle. I am thinking of I will let it sit one more week in second fermenter so I can remove the wine from the lees (I can get rid of the fusel alcohols too). First SG was 1.100. It dropped 100 points in 4 days.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Here is a photo. By the way, the fermenter isn't filled right up to the top.
View attachment 37947

? Containers ?
Head space is bad (oxygen), to get rid of it on the gallon glass I floated plastic corks. The lab plastic on the right had 3600 ml in a 4 liter, it was outgassing so it has CO2 in the headspace, otherwise it would be punched down to no headspace.

 

[abrewkat]

View attachment 54847
? Containers ?
Head space is bad (oxygen), to get rid of it on the gallon glass I floated plastic corks. The lab plastic on the right had 3600 ml in a 4 liter, it was outgassing so it has CO2 in the headspace, otherwise it would be punched down to no headspace.

Lab plastic? Can it be safely used for either fermenting or storage? We get quite a few of these at work- basically with a buffered saline in them- could I be using them for my winemaking?? I'm thinking this would be great for when your carboy is a little low to reduce headspace. And they have such nice spigots on them

 

[Rice_Guy]

Lab plastic? Can it be safely used for either fermenting or storage? We get quite a few of these at work- basically with a buffered saline in them- could I be using them for my winemaking??

I ordered the cubitainer new so I know what has been in it. There is an oxygen transmission rate that goes with the plastic (ie micro oxygenation at a rate that should be less than a barrel) so I use glass when I can.

500 ml Lab buffers have a preservative. In house lab standards were usually preserved with a drop of sodium azide.
If the saline has a preservative in it I wouldn’t use them, ask the supplier what you are buying.

 

[jpwatkins9]

I use the canned gas used for preserving what you don’t drink in the bottle at one sitting. Available in most wine shops. It is a mix of Nitrogen and I believe Argon. Comes with a plastic tube like a can of WD40. Easy to use and displaces the headspace with inert gas. One can lasts quite a long time. Never had a headspace problem with it.

 

[abrewkat]

I ordered the cubitainer new so I know what has been in it. There is an oxygen transmission rate that goes with the plastic (ie micro oxygenation at a rate that should be less than a barrel) so I use glass when I can.

500 ml Lab buffers have a preservative. In house lab standards were usually preserved with a drop of sodium azide.
If the saline has a preservative in it I wouldn’t use them, ask the supplier what you are buying.

Looks like some of them are PBS with sodium azide, and the others have NaF. I will stick to my glass carboys!

 

[jpwatkins9]

I Will also keep my glass carboy, they work for me and are paid for. As with many other things, what works for you is what you should use. Doesn’t hurt to try new methods though, always ready to learn.