Why does my wine keep turning sour??? I follow all the instructions,
keep everything cleen with "one step" all hoses everything, carboy,
airlocks, everything is clean but I keep making vinigar??? HELP
PLEASE!!!!

Norm

wrote:
> Why does my wine keep turning sour??? I follow all the instructions,
> keep everything cleen with "one step" all hoses everything, carboy,
> airlocks, everything is clean but I keep making vinigar??? HELP
> PLEASE!!!!
>
> Norm
>
Hi Norm

What kinds of wine are you making and is it becoming vinegar or is your
wine sour?

Sour wine is due to high acid content. Cleanliness (or the lack
thereof) will not cause your wine to be sour. High Total Acidity and/or
low pH are the cause of a sour wine.

Vinegar is caused by acetobacteria. This bacteria requires oxygen to
flourish. And if it is present then there are some problems with
cleanliness.

How do you store your wine? How much headspace is there in your
containers? These are the things that you'll need to determine first
before we can figure out what is going on with your wine.

Regards

Frank

What kind of wine and how many batches have you made that have turned sour?
Is this a kit wine or fresh fruits? Is the wine just young? How long have
you aged it?

David

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Why does my wine keep turning sour??? I follow all the instructions,
> keep everything cleen with "one step" all hoses everything, carboy,
> airlocks, everything is clean but I keep making vinigar??? HELP
> PLEASE!!!!
>
> Norm
>

"David J." > wrote in message
om...
> What kind of wine and how many batches have you made that have turned
sour?
> Is this a kit wine or fresh fruits? Is the wine just young? How long have
> you aged it?
>
> David
>
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > Why does my wine keep turning sour??? I follow all the instructions,
> > keep everything cleen with "one step"

My take on this one is that he needs a new cleaner. I use chlorine
bleach. It's cheap, it kills everything, period, and you can smell when you
have rinsed it off enough.....
Blobert<><
--
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in
a
pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid broadside, thoroughly
used
up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW.... WHAT A RIDE !!! "



all hoses everything, carboy,
> > airlocks, everything is clean but I keep making vinigar??? HELP
> > PLEASE!!!!
> >
> > Norm
> >
>
>

If you truly are making Vinegar then my guess is that you are leaving too
much head space (air at top), and/or not using Sulphites properly. This of
course is in addition to the clean issue already being discussed. Vinegar
requires Oxygen to propagate. HTH
John Dixon
> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Why does my wine keep turning sour??? I follow all the instructions,
> keep everything cleen with "one step" all hoses everything, carboy,
> airlocks, everything is clean but I keep making vinigar??? HELP
> PLEASE!!!!
>
> Norm
>

I have used "One Step" myself for two years and have never had an issue.

David

"Bob" > wrote in message
...
>
> "David J." > wrote in message
> om...
> > What kind of wine and how many batches have you made that have turned
> sour?
> > Is this a kit wine or fresh fruits? Is the wine just young? How long
have
> > you aged it?
> >
> > David
> >
> > > wrote in message
> > oups.com...
> > > Why does my wine keep turning sour??? I follow all the instructions,
> > > keep everything cleen with "one step"
>
> My take on this one is that he needs a new cleaner. I use chlorine
> bleach. It's cheap, it kills everything, period, and you can smell when
you
> have rinsed it off enough.....
> Blobert<><
> --
> "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely
in
> a
> pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid broadside, thoroughly
> used
> up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW.... WHAT A RIDE !!! "
>
>
>
> all hoses everything, carboy,
> > > airlocks, everything is clean but I keep making vinigar??? HELP
> > > PLEASE!!!!
> > >
> > > Norm
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Thanks for helping!! I guess the wine is going sour on me, not really
vinegar??? I started with a "kit" wine and then a juice concentrate
wine. They just smelled "sour" after secondary fermentation. I top
off to leave the 2 inch. head space recomended??? I even use bleach
before "one seep" for cleaning. Our water is very hard, but I use
reverse osmosis, oterwise our water is not drinkable.
thanks again, I will not give up!!!

Norm

Thanks for helping!! I guess the wine is going sour on me, not really
vinegar??? I started with a "kit" wine and then a juice concentrate
wine. They just smelled "sour" after secondary fermentation. I top
off to leave the 2 inch. head space recomended??? I even use bleach
before "one seep" for cleaning. Our water is very hard, but I use
reverse osmosis, oterwise our water is not drinkable.
thanks again, I will not give up!!!

Norm

thank you, maybe I am not using the sulphites right... I was in the
understanding that the campden was ok unless the wine was going to be
aged for many years???

wrote:
> Thanks for helping!! I guess the wine is going sour on me, not really
> vinegar??? I started with a "kit" wine and then a juice concentrate
> wine. They just smelled "sour" after secondary fermentation. I top
> off to leave the 2 inch. head space recomended??? I even use bleach
> before "one seep" for cleaning. Our water is very hard, but I use
> reverse osmosis, oterwise our water is not drinkable.
> thanks again, I will not give up!!!
>
> Norm
>
Hi Norm

I've never made a kit wine but kits are designed to make balanced wines.
You say it smells sour. How does it taste? If it doesn't taste sour
then it's probably not sour. When topping up I try to take the wine up
to the bottom of the "knuckle" on a carboy.

As far as cleaning goes, why use bleach? There is a risk of
contamination of TCA. Once the contamination happens it can't be fixed.
Why play a game you can't win?

If you haven't purchased an acid test kit you should do so. It is
inexpensive and will tell you the Total (titratable) Acidity of your
wine. If you can afford it purchase a pH meter so that you will have
that information, too. With these tools you will be able determine if
there are problems and decide on a course of action.

Regards

Frank

"Frank Mirigliano" > wrote in message
...
> wrote:
> > Thanks for helping!! I guess the wine is going sour on me, not really
> > vinegar??? I started with a "kit" wine and then a juice concentrate
> > wine. They just smelled "sour" after secondary fermentation. I top
> > off to leave the 2 inch. head space recomended??? I even use bleach
> > before "one seep" for cleaning. Our water is very hard, but I use
> > reverse osmosis, oterwise our water is not drinkable.
> > thanks again, I will not give up!!!
> >
> > Norm
> >
> Hi Norm
> Snip....
> As far as cleaning goes, why use bleach? There is a risk of
> contamination of TCA. Once the contamination happens it can't be fixed. >
Why play a game you can't win?
>Snip.....
> Regards
>
> Frank

Frank,
I'm not sure what you mean by "can't win."
TCA is certainly a potential problem, and some wineries have had terrible
problems caused by chlorine.
On the other hand, bleach is cheap, readily available and hypochlorite
kills everything a winemaker is interested in including spores.
I have been cleaning winery floors since I was 14 (61 years). I have never
experienced a TCA problem, so I continue to use it.
I suppose I will have a catastrophic TCA problem one of these days, and then
I will come over to your side of the fence.
Regards,
Lum
Del Mar, California, USA

>
>
> Frank,
> I'm not sure what you mean by "can't win."
> TCA is certainly a potential problem, and some wineries have had terrible
> problems caused by chlorine.
> On the other hand, bleach is cheap, readily available and hypochlorite
> kills everything a winemaker is interested in including spores.
> I have been cleaning winery floors since I was 14 (61 years). I have never
> experienced a TCA problem, so I continue to use it.
> I suppose I will have a catastrophic TCA problem one of these days, and then
> I will come over to your side of the fence.
> Regards,
> Lum
> Del Mar, California, USA
>
>
>
Hi Lum

What I mean by is once there is a contamination there is, unless I'm
mistaken, no way to salvage the wine. My grandfather used bleach and
(probably) never had a problem, either. But I figure why take the risk.
I use soda ash and triple rinse. It's pretty cheap, too.

OTOH, is there proof that TCA production is a result of using bleach?
Maybe I'm worrying about nothing.

Regards

Frank
Greensburg, PA

>
>
> Frank,
> I'm not sure what you mean by "can't win."
> TCA is certainly a potential problem, and some wineries have had terrible
> problems caused by chlorine.
> On the other hand, bleach is cheap, readily available and hypochlorite
> kills everything a winemaker is interested in including spores.
> I have been cleaning winery floors since I was 14 (61 years). I have never
> experienced a TCA problem, so I continue to use it.
> I suppose I will have a catastrophic TCA problem one of these days, and then
> I will come over to your side of the fence.
> Regards,
> Lum
> Del Mar, California, USA
>
>
>
Hi Lum

What I mean by is once there is a contamination there is, unless I'm
mistaken, no way to salvage the wine. My grandfather used bleach and
(probably) never had a problem, either. But I figure why take the risk.
I use soda ash and triple rinse. It's pretty cheap, too.

OTOH, is there proof that TCA production is a result of using bleach?
Maybe I'm worrying about nothing.

Regards

Frank
Greensburg, PA

"Frank Mirigliano" > wrote in message
...
>
> >
> >
> > Frank,
> > I'm not sure what you mean by "can't win."
> > TCA is certainly a potential problem, and some wineries have had
terrible
> > problems caused by chlorine.
> > On the other hand, bleach is cheap, readily available and hypochlorite
> > kills everything a winemaker is interested in including spores.
> > I have been cleaning winery floors since I was 14 (61 years). I have
never
> > experienced a TCA problem, so I continue to use it.
> > I suppose I will have a catastrophic TCA problem one of these days, and
then
> > I will come over to your side of the fence.
> > Regards,
> > Lum
> > Del Mar, California, USA
> >
> >
> >
> Hi Lum
>
> What I mean by is once there is a contamination there is, unless I'm
> mistaken, no way to salvage the wine. My grandfather used bleach and
> (probably) never had a problem, either. But I figure why take the risk.
> I use soda ash and triple rinse. It's pretty cheap, too.
>
> OTOH, is there proof that TCA production is a result of using bleach?
> Maybe I'm worrying about nothing.
>
> Regards
>
> Frank
> Greensburg, PA

Frank,
A large amount of research has been done in the past few years, so I don't
think there is any question about chlorine and TCA.
You are right about sodium carbonate. It does a good job and is
inexpensive.
Lum
Del Mar, California, USA