how bad is it?

[Apple_Jacker]

Well I started making a pomegranate/berry wine back in November. I've done a good job so far of being patient with it and leaving it alone....however my girlfriend was doing a much better job than I because she started stacking up random junk around my 1 gallon of wine and ended up knocking the airlock out of the rubber stopper! She doesn't remember if she put the stuff by it early yesterday morning or Saturday afternoon.... I discovered what happened yesterday evening. So the airlock could have been off for a few hours or for over 24 hours.... I added a campden tablet into it thinking it might do something to sterilize it and did a taste test...its coming along just fine. My concern is that ill be ending up with a gallon of sherry or vinegar... Anyone with experience here have this happen? Did I just lose 2 months worth of work?

 

[nebben]

It shouldn't turn to vinegar after 24 hours. The campden tablet will also add SO2, which when dissolved into the wine should help protect it from oxygen as well. You can over-do the SO2 though, so I wouldn't recommend adding more soon without testing that first .

 

[Apple_Jacker]

I tasted it before adding the campden tablet and closing it back off. It tastes pretty good so far, but seems low in alcohol...probably should have added more sugar. I don't want to keep reopening it to check its flavor though and risk further oxygen exposure, so ill just let it sit in a safer place now. Thanks for the input!

 

[ctwtp]

i would doubt you'd lose it, i think it takes up to a week before the vinegar 'conversion' happens but it was still a good idea to add the tablet

 

[Daze]

how active was the fermentation??? if it was bubbling slightly than there could be a tiny reason for concern, but really rather negligible, but if the fermentation was very active there should be no problem at all as the positive pressure of the CO2 coming out should have kept contaminants out of it. especially since you said the air lock came out of the rubber stopper. that means the stopper was still intact right?? if so that increases the positive pressure created by the co2

 

[Apple_Jacker]

There has been no activity for some time now. And yes, the rubber stopper was still plugging up the carboy

 

[Honda88]

fermentation starts off really fast and gradually slows with time. If its been in the carboy for a very long time its probably done fermenting...

 

[Apple_Jacker]

It's not in a carboy exactly...its in a 1 gallon wine bottle I planned on leaving it in there unless I come across some wine bottles then ill bottle it