Wine problem

[gigglybug]

I bottled my Elderberry wine about three months ago and when I checked it the other day I noticed speckling on the inside of the bottles, it looks like mould. is it?



i think i'm pretty sure it is, I just don't want to throw it away

Any ideas what I did wrong?

[suziq]

ooo golly!


does look like mould, poss bottles not fully clean? are they all like that?

i'm not the resident expert, i'm sure they will be along presently, but i'd taste it first off before i make any descisions, if tastes foul now, it may be a throw away job i'm afraid, but if tastes ok i guess there will be a way to rescue it

watch this space

sooz

[MKG]

It certainly looks like a mould. Your photo says elderflower and your post says elderberry. Which one? And tell us how you made it (did you add yeast or depend upon wild yeasts? How did you clean the bottles? Did you add a campden tablet before you bottled? How long did the fermentation take to complete?)

Suziq's advice is good - but smell it before you taste it. If it smells OK, try a small sip. If it tastes OK, then it can be rescued.

Mike

[gigglybug]

It is Elderberry wine and I did add yeast this time. I think I should have sterilised bottles, I thought that a really good wash would be enough, I'm sure I have read on here others don't bother....it's either that or I didn't use Camden tablet

I tried it, and it tastes ok, rescue advice please?

I have three more demijohns waiting to be bottled, if I sterilise bottles and add a crushed Camden tablet to each should that be ok?

Thankyou for the great advice

[suziq]

[quote="but smell it before you taste it. If it smells OK, try a small sip. If it tastes OK, then it can be rescued.

Mike[/quote]



northern burd, sniffing is for softies!

[MKG]

Notes from a soft sniffer ...

Don't use one tablet per bottle - that's overkill and the sulphur smell will take ages to dissipate. Put two crushed tablets in a clean demijohn and pour the wine gently from your bottles into it. Give it a good long stir (not too vigorous) to dissolve the powder and seal the demijohn with a bung or an airlock - or even a cotton wool plug (if it's not staying in there for very long). That'll stop any further action in the wine.

The bottles can then be washed properly and, as they've allowed a mould to develop, sterilisation is the best course. You can do that with boiling water, something like Milton, or by using a strong metabisulphite solution (6 tablets in a couple of pints of cold water). When you've sterilised them (unless you used boiling water), give 'em a good rinse.

Now the big thing. Why are you bottling? If you don't need the demijohn for more wine, leave it in there and bottle a couple of weeks before you want to drink it. The wine will improve in the demijohn - it will hardly improve at all in a bottle. However, if you really need to bottle now, then make sure that not only the bottles but also the stoppers are clean (you can use the same methods on those). If you're using natural cork, in fact, you're best boiling them for a couple of minutes - natural cork is slightly notorious for carrying infections. From the looks of your photo, the infection may very well have come from the stopper. And make sure that your air-gap isn't too big - about a half-inch is right, and three quarters of an inch is maximum.

Enjoy it when you get round to the guzzling stage

Mike

[gigglybug]

Thankyou Mike your a star!!!!!

[frozenthunderbolt]

Notes from a soft sniffer ...

The bottles can then be washed properly and, as they've allowed a mould to develop, sterilisation is the best course. You can do that with boiling water, something like Milton, or by using a strong metabisulphite solution (6 tablets in a couple of pints of cold water). When you've sterilised them (unless you used boiling water), give 'em a good rinse.


Enjoy it when you get round to the guzzling stage

Mike

I would add that i clean my bottles then bake them for 1/2 an hour and 180 in the oven. put them in then turn the oven on so they heat up with it and dont break from thermal shock

[suziq]

that sounds like a good idea!

[thefriarandme]

Always ensure that everything is clean. Baking seems a little extreme but better to be safe than sorry; so hats off to you frozenthunderbolt.

Remember, it is impossible to sterilise we can only sanitise. Remember, too, that we can get away with a lot more when cooking than we can when making wine. Usually when we cook, our misdemeanour's can be combated by the intense heats we use to produce our final product. When fermenting wine, you'd better be sure that you like the taste of whatever you have used.

A thorough wash and scrub with a good detergent and really hot water will clean your equipment but will not sanitise it. Be sure to get rid of every bit of detergent, and its odours, before you start a wine ... unless you really like a château fairy liquid.

I use Miltons or ASDA's version to sanitise. But don't be impatient. Let your equipment steep as long as is recommended. If, for some reason, you have to delay the start of your wine don't presume because you've already sanitised that the equipment is still sanitised. Afraid you really should do it again.

The work area you are using, too, should be sanitised.

If you are working in summer and you have the door open, throw half a piece of ripe fruit as far away from the house as possible. The riper the better. This will attract the fruit/wine/vinegar fly to the fruit rather than your wine. These little blighters can smell what you are doing from 5 miles away and will home in on you like a guided cruise missile.

It's not always the bottles that are at fault, it could be that a wine making tool has been rested upon a worktop that, despite being visibly clean, is harbouring one of our enemies. Hope this helps.