parsnip wine- weird effect please help

Hello, I have been making some parsnip wine for about a week now. It smells a little odd but the thing that is really worrying me is that I added the yeast yesterday and there are VAST quantities of slimy bubbles rolling over the side of my five gallon container (only two gallons brewing). This may be because I dont like using Campden or other sterilising tablets. Can anyone advise? is my brew infected or is this just part of the process of making parsnip wine?....it hasnt happened in this way with any of the other fruit I have fermented. Your comment would be much appreciated thank

Post your full recipe.

The recipe as requested:
4 lb parsnips, 6pts water, 1.5 oz ginger, 3 lb sugar, 4oz raisins, 8oz pearl barley, juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange. yeast.
pour boiling water over diced parsnips. leave 4 days. Add other ingredients and leave in a warm place to ferment- that it where I have got up to. last night the violence of the fermentation blew the plastic lid off my 5 gallon barrel and splatted the kitchen with thick mucus like slime..... Do I throw this out or press on optimistically?

Well, I'd press on optimistically. You could go ahead and sulfite a bit now if you want (2 campden tablets dissolved in a little water) but you might just have a very active fermentation. How does it smell? If it smells "spoilt" you might have a problem but if it smells yeasty and fruity it might be ok.

I don't cover my primary, just use a muslin cloth or dish towel held on with rubber bands. Keeps the bugs out but lets the co2 out. Try that until fermentation slows down, then put it in secondary under airlock.

Let me know how this turns out- sounds very interesting!

Lorena

Thanks for your help and advice. A few hours later I abandoned the project due to rank and developing smell of vinegar ah well you win some and lose some. ... but I dont really know what I did wrong- everything was sterilised carefully.......

wyon said:

pour boiling water over diced parsnips. leave 4 days.

Click to expand...

This is the main bit that concerns me - In the recipes i've know the parsnips are brought up to boil, simmered until soft to extract flavour and natural sugars before the parsnips are disgarded. Only the strained cooled juice is then used straight away.
You left the whole parsnips in for four days without campden. Hopefully the boiled water will have seen off any initial nasties (bacteria/wild yeasts) and the parsnips were in a cold area to prevent any further infections.

EDIT - the rest of my post was pointless as you've ditched the parsnip wine. This bit may help with the next batch.

thanks for your help. I will try a different recipe next time that doesnt leave the parsnips in after boiling etc. By the way what is your view on brewing wine without the use of camden tablets and other chemicals - I would like to be able to do it because I dont like the dire warnings on the the packets of chemicals and wonder about later drinking them - but obviously I dont want to court further disasters.....?

Sulphites and sorbates are the main 'Added Chemicals' used in home wine making. Both are perfectly okay to use if you follow the instructions properly.

I'm no fan of 'adding chemicals for the sake of it' but always use sulphite (Campden) in my wines (and any other brew based on whole fruit) and haven't had any problems with either brew infections or health issues.

Unless you suffer from allergies/sensitivity I suggest you try to use them - At the right time in your brew and in the correct dosage.

One chemical you really have to watch out for is di-hydrogen oxide. Too much of this in your brew makes it taste like BMC.

Realistically, sulphates & sorbates are used to prevent exactly what happened to your wine. There's a trillion neasties out there for every good yeast cell.