Mango Wine - possible infection??

[HB_in_Subic]

This is my 5th batch of Mango wine. The first 4 have had zero issues and I am getting the hang of what everything should look like during the initial fermentation (first 10 days). Last night when I went to perform the daily degas on my 5th batch at day 9 this is what I found. It is a clear film that is trapping bubbles on the top. Sanitization practices, recipe preparation and daily care was done the same as the other previous batches. The only difference of note was that I ran out of Pectic Enzyme for this batch and used the skin of a Papaya (got this from Jack Keller's web site as a suitable substitute). Other than this everything else appears normal. The batch has been at 0.994 since day 6 and is a lower ABV version (7%).

I did thoroughly clean this skin before I peeled it with water and small amount of bleach mix.


Any idea if this is an infection or just a bi-product of using the papaya skin (won't be doing that again)??

 

[lukebuz]

I'm guessing infection, as your ABV is low (not enough to kill off the baddies), and your fermentation has pretty much been done for 3 solid days. I'm rack from underneath it, leaving the film and crap on top. Don't stir! You'll lose a bit, your save most of it.
Next time, put it in secondary sooner!

 

[HB_in_Subic]

Thanks luke.. first time for this for me. I haven't had an infection yet with 40+ batches of wine, cider and mead. I skimmed the top of it and will be racking tomorrow. Hopefully it's not a wasted batch. The only good thing is that it's a minimal investment ($20 materials and 9 days labor).

Does anyone know if there is a threshold of alcohol to resistance to infection? I was trying to make a low-medium abv wine but if it is a constant risk, I may just opt for an 11% final ABV target. All of my other batches have been 7.6, 9.6, 11.1, 17.1 and 9.7.

 

[lukebuz]

Infection can happen at almost any ABV (you'd drink). I'd be more careful about how long you leave something exposed to atmosphere/environment. It's good practice to rack when you are at 1.010, or maybe at as low as 1.000. 0.994 was "done", and as you said, sat for 3 days!

 

[HB_in_Subic]

Thanks, I have been racking all of my other batches once stabile. 10 days seemed to be the typical course which is why I let it sit for 3 days. Most of my batches have been finishing at 0.992 which is why I let it sit for the full 10 days. The batches are covered with tshirts inside a ferm chamber. I am stabilizing and clearing once I rack.

I did rack this batch off from underneath the film. I will wait and see how it looks after a couple of weeks in secondary.

 

[Greg1Cruickshank]

Hey HB_in_Subic. I've made mango wine once a few years ago and have been thinking about it again lately.

How long do you typically leave it in the secondary?
Sounds like you've fairly well got an established process.

 

[Yooper]

It looks like it's still in a bucket at day 9? That could one of the issues, as could the papaya skin. I assume you used campden/sulfites, but maybe the papaya skin wasn't sanitary enough? And by day 9, it should be OUT of the bucket, and into a carboy and airlocked in almost all cases.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

It looks like it's still in a bucket at day 9? That could one of the issues, as could the papaya skin. I assume you used campden/sulfites, but maybe the papaya skin wasn't sanitary enough? And by day 9, it should be OUT of the bucket, and into a carboy and airlocked in almost all cases.

Yes maam I learned my lesson with that one and all of my batches are being racked to secondary on day 7. I did use KMeta and KSorbate on the must and let it sit for 24 hours prior to pitching.

Hey HB_in_Subic. I've made mango wine once a few years ago and have been thinking about it again lately.

How long do you typically leave it in the secondary?
Sounds like you've fairly well got an established process.

Greg, I am clearing and stabilizing at the same time when I rack to secondary. I am letting them sit 2-3 weeks (until clear) then bottle.

 

[Yooper]

Yes maam I learned my lesson with that one and all of my batches are being racked to secondary on day 7. I did use KMeta and KSorbate on the must and let it sit for 24 hours prior to pitching.



Greg, I am clearing and stabilizing at the same time when I rack to secondary. I am letting them sit 2-3 weeks (until clear) then bottle.

I assume you didn't really use Ksorbate? Because it is meant to stop fermentation by inhibiting yeast reproduction. It's only used at the very end, before bottling, if needed.

You definitely don't want to use clearing agents and/or stabilizers at racking to secondary, and usually the wine isn't finished or ready for clarifying or stabilization and it can inhibit the yeast and stop it from finishing up.

I'm really confused on what steps are being done, to be honest. It sounds like 'stabilizing' is being done (with k-sorbate) twice before the wine has even fermented out from this description. Something isn't making sense, and the wine isn't ready to bottle in two weeks after racking the first time.