Fruit flies

[Muppet194]

I have my fruit doing it's initial ferment in a bucket covered loosely with tea towels but I have just noticed that fruit flies have got in and were sitting on the fruit surface. It's only got a day or so til it goes into a demijohn, can I still carry on and use it or is it spoilt now? Thanks for any advice...


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[Kirk]

Put it through a sieve and into a DJ now and don't wait.
Not sure how problematic fruit flies are mainly as I seem to have not had a problem, although I cover a bucket exactly the same as you describe.

[Muppet194]

Thanks Kirk, I sieved it into a demijohn late last night! It seems fine, I have looked really closely and can't see any eggs or anything. Thanks for your response.


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[mothhawk]

Don't fruit flies carry acetobacter bacteria on their feet? That can multiply and turn the wine into vinegar? Don't make wine, so don't know how you deal with that.

[Kirk]

No specific idea but the modern yeasts are often referred to a killer yeasts - they are so damn active they kill off other bacteria before the bad ones can do anything. Can be a bit explosive when you stir them however, more then once I have panicked when at the first stir I see a mass of foam heading to the top of a bucket.

Throw in that alcohol will oxidise to vinegar: C2H5OH (Ethenol) + O = C2H5COOH (Acetic acid) and you will get a percentage anyway.

My view was simple: Either throw the lot away or get the fruit and whatever off and get it into a DJ and see what the result is. As storing a DJ for 3-4 months is no great problem it made sense to get it into one and see what results.

I would say that there is so many possibilities of wild yeasts, bugs and bacteria in the fruit that you cannot account for everything all the time.

[teakdesk]

If you can make good wine from fruit pressed by walking on it in bare feet, I'd have thought a few fruit flies would be no problem whatsoever!

[Martin H]

Picky ...

Kirk, I think you meant

C2H5OH (Ethanol)+ O2 → CH3COOH (Acetic Acid) + H2O