Wine Problem

[twc5]

Hey,
I am a new member of the forum. I am a Chemical Engineering major at Auburn University in Alabama. I have been successfully brewing beer using a Mr. Beer kit for quite some time. Recently, I have ventured into making wine. I have started using a basic welches wine recipe.
I allowed it to sit for 2 weeks in one gallon milk jugs before recently transferring into my 5 gallon glass carboy. The next day after transferring into the carboy I am seeing a ring of foam floating on the surface. What scares me is some of the foam is very small dense white clusters that resemble some form of mold. I do not want to ruin 5 gallons of wine. Could this be "flowers of wine?" I do not have any camden tablets but ordered some tonight along with a few other supplies. Any chance of saving my wine before the tablets come in? I will attach a picture as soon as I get home. I am very familiar with sanitizing procedures, I just hope I didn't waste several dollars worth of supplies.

Thanks!

 

[twc5]

The last picture is looking over into the carboy.

 

[ChaosStout]

It Looks alot like yeast rafts. If it starts to spread and grow, get fuzzy then you have a problem. I think its just yeast though. Sometimes CO2 bubbles will bring clumps of yeast to the surface

 

[BOBrob]

It could be yeast pads; if they grow large I would say mold. You have a lot of headspace left in the carboy, which you need to fill to prevent mold. I would rack to another container or carboy when you get the camden tablets ; careful to leave the floaty things behind. Crush and dissolve the tablets in boiling water let cool and add to new container. You also need to top up to the neck of the carboy to eliminate that headspace.Use wine or more juice to top up with. mold needs air to grow. You can clean and sanitize the carboy if you dont have another. Hope this helps. Cheers

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Hey,
I am a new member of the forum. I am a Chemical Engineering major at Auburn University in Alabama. I have been successfully brewing beer using a Mr. Beer kit for quite some time. Recently, I have ventured into making wine. I have started using a basic welches wine recipe.
I allowed it to sit for 2 weeks in one gallon milk jugs before recently transferring into my 5 gallon glass carboy. The next day after transferring into the carboy I am seeing a ring of foam floating on the surface. What scares me is some of the foam is very small dense white clusters that resemble some form of mold. I do not want to ruin 5 gallons of wine. Could this be "flowers of wine?" I do not have any camden tablets but ordered some tonight along with a few other supplies. Any chance of saving my wine before the tablets come in? I will attach a picture as soon as I get home. I am very familiar with sanitizing procedures, I just hope I didn't waste several dollars worth of supplies.

Thanks!

Tough to tell from the pics you posted, but it LOOKS like yeast rafts to me, which are harmless & even to be expected; but like I said, it's tough to tell from the pics. Just in case it actually is flowers of wine, this is what Jack Keller has to say about the subject on his winemaking web page:

"Flowers of Wine: Small flecks or blooms of white powder or film may appear on the surface of the wine. If left unchecked, they grow to cover the entire surface and can grow quite thick. They are caused by spoilage yeasts and/or mycoderma bacteria, and if not caught at first appearance will certainly spoil the wine. If caused by yeast, they consume alcohol and give off carbon dioxide gas. They eventually turn the wine into colored water. The wine must be filtered at once to remove the flecks of bloom and then treated with one crushed Campden tablet per gallon of wine. The saved wine will have suffered some loss of alcohol and may need to be fortified with added alcohol (brandy works well) or consumed quickly. If caused by the mycoderma bacteria, treat the same as for a yeast infection. The Campden will probably check it, but the taste may have been ruined. Taste the wine and then decide if you want to keep it. Bacterial infections usually spoil the wine permanently, but early treatment may save it.

Prevent the introduction of spoilage yeasts and mycoderma the same way you prevent the introduction of vinegar yeasts -- by introducing early an aseptic level of sulfites.

Flowers of wine are, of course, expected when using flor sherry yeast. In such a circumstance, there is no way to know if the flowers are from the flor sherry yeast or a harmful infection. Pre-treating the must with Campden, however, should eliminate a harmful infection."

I hope that info helps. Regards, GF.