My first winemaking project has got off to a disasterous start! I spent 4 whole days preparing everything, meticulously sanitised all my equipment, mixed my Beaverdale kit with the water and oak chips and decided to let this mix get to 20 degree room temp before adding yeast.
My plan was to leave it 3 days to the weekend then add the yeast so I could dedicate time to any problems. But now (Friday night), I already have a major one. Because the lid was on, the surface of the mix is already splattered with bits of mold, especially around the floating oak chips. Its mostly white, with occasional bits turning grey. There is also a little foam, but this may be unrelated.
After feeling really foolish, I've skimmed as much mold away from the surface as poss (>95%), and added the yeast to see what happens, but I have loads of questions now:
1. Will the mold be toxic / dangerous? 2. Will the mold prevent successful fermentation? 3. Will the mold leave an off-taste 4. Will the same mold now be more likely to grow after fermentation or does the fermentaion kill it off? 5. In a panic I took some silly risks skimming the mold. The utensils were santised but some paper towels touched the wine, and so did my unwashed hands. How long do I have to wait to know for sure that the wine has not been spoilt by a) mold b) vinegar 6. Should I pop a Camden tablet / other into mix, which will now have been fermenting a few hours / day or so depending on speed of reply.I realise the advice maybe to just start again, but the 30 bottle kit was quite expensive, I'm poor this month, and I'm desperate to get this finished for Christmas. If there's >70% of still producing a good wine, I'll take the risk.
