Diana
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POP! FIZZ! drip, drip, dripJust had a bottle of homemade Crabapple and Ginger wine explode in the cupboard.
Does anyone know if this is likely to mean all that batch could blow or could it just be a dodgy cork? It's been fine for the last 3 or 4 years.
On the up side - it smells rather nice in here just now (but is a bit sticky) 
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Ina
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Re: POP! FIZZ! drip, drip, drip | Diana wrote: | It's been fine for the last 3 or 4 years.
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Does that mean you've had it for that long without being tempted to drink it??? 
Apart from that - don't really know. I made elderflower bubbly once, and one bottle exploded - which I took as an excuse to quickly drink the rest.
(If you need help with the drinking - I could always pop over one of these days...  Might need to sleep it off in your garden, though.)
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Julie
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It's probably started to ferment again, if you drink the bottles in the near future it will all be sparkling wine. They call it a malo-lactic fermentation and it makes a fine champagne type sparkle. Country wine buffs will tell you that the wine will do this when the fruit is in flower - sounds about right for crab apples doesn't it?
Did you have corks in the bottles or screw caps? if screw caps it would explain the explosion. My mother had a similar accident with ginger wine many years ago, it is lively stuff.
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Fia
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Crab apple and ginger - wow that sounds good 
A few days ago, my birthday as it happened, a bottle of elderflower wine I had been given did the same thing mid-afternoon when the sun in the kitchen - a little scary but I took it as a sign and drunk most of it, very nice too 
I once had a cannon of exploding corks above my wardrobe - 12 bottles of elderflower wine - an experience which has contributed to me not making it any more 
The secondary fermentation often happens in warm weather. If you don't want to drink it now, Diana, I would recommend re-bottling off the lees and storing it somewhere cool - how big is your fridge?!
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Diana
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Absolutely spot on for crab apple flowers Julie. I wonder if it's a coincidence that it usually starts warming up when these things flower and corks pop (i.e. which has the bigger influence, the heat or the flowering)?
Will have to bring some to the next camp (if I can make it).
I think it was just making sure I hadn't forgotten about it (which I had actually).
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Julie
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There may be something in it but I think you're right about the timing and the weather myself. A lot of the old country wisdom has a scientific explaination. It's always when the bushes are in flower that my currant wines go sparkling, must open a bottle and find out. I reckon that not using chemicals makes a difference too.
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Ina
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| Julie wrote: | | It's always when the bushes are in flower that my currant wines go sparkling, must open a bottle and find out. |
I remember the white currant sparkling that you brought to Shirley's one time - it was phantastic...
Must check on my rhubarb wine then!
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Julie
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Trouble with that bottle was that it should have been several
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Ina
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I have just started on my fizzy rhubarb wine - oooooooh it's loverly...
Wake me when the effect has worn off.
(Hicks!)
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