"Mememe" > wrote in message
news:L0hlf.56255$Gd6.47733@pd7tw3no...
> Okay, this is the first batch ever, and we're very stupid, but learning
> quickly. (Please forgive us if this has been answered before.)
>
> We must have filled the carboy too full last night (we were transferring
> the wine from the primary fermenter into the carboy for secondary
> fermenting) because the fermentation lock was full of wine this morning.
> So I thought I'd be able to just pop it out clean it up, resterilize it,
> and pop it back in. Nope--top came out of the stopper, stopper stuck in
> neck of carboy. Then we fooled around with it trying to unstick the
> stopper, and voila, the stopper went down instead of up, and is now lying
> motionless at the bottom of the carboy.
>
> Help! Now what?

Despite what others have said, I'd recommend that you get that stopper out
of there pronto. Some of them will give your wine a stink nose. Empty the
carboy, rinse it out, turn it upside down and use a handkerchief to catch
the stopper and pull it out.

Tom S
www.chateauburbank.com