On Sun, 15 Aug 2004 23:33:31 GMT, "Lum" >
>
>Welcome to the group Andrew.
>You will find some information here http://home.att.net/~lumeisenman/
>If you download the book, you can use the search function in your word
>processor.
>Good luck with your wine,
>Lum
>Del Mar, California, USA
>

Thanks a lot. So based on a quick scan of your book,...

Acetobactor is an anaerobe and although some acetic acid is
inevitable, acetobactor shouldn't take hold as long as the basic
Beginner's Kit plastic Primary Bucket for 6 gal. is reasonably
cleaned and sanitized and the "air space" above the 6 gal
mark is filled with foam (= CO2) ?

Therefore, what I'm smelling is most likely some "grapey"
smells that are part of the process. Perhaps some grape
juice that is being bubbled up as foam, so,.. This is not
some bad batch from Vintner's Reserve that's already
"infected" with vineagar. Don't sweat it ?

I did a careful job of cleaning/sanitizing, but I did not
"sterilize" the juice with campden and wait 24 hrs. as
Frishman's booklet suggests. I just follwed the directions
in the Vintner's Reserve Instruction Sheet.

Andrew