Breeding Brewing Bugs

Bucket-Head

Brewing, and fermentation in my basement seems to be attracting all sorts of bugs. What can I do to mitigate this?

RPh_Guy

Make friends with some spiders.
Spray insecticide.
Set traps.
Seal off the space a little better from the outdoors.

hotbeer

Clean up your mess and anything you spill. Figure out what the bugs are after. I doubt they are hanging around just for the good smells if there is nothing for them to eat.

Bucket-Head

That’s the thing though. I’ve only done a few wine fermentations, and I’ve been extremely clean about every aspect. I assumed the yeast smell was an attraction, but I’m beginning to think it was just coincidence. I’m assuming that because during fermentation you definitely smell it. It’s a bread like sour smell that I’ve come to love. Maybe it was just the recent flooding.

Bucket-Head

Well I just started a batch of mead, and the entire house smells like honey.
I had an exterminator come, and haven’t seen a thing since anyway.

hotbeer

Perhaps the smell does attract them from nearby. So figure out where nearby they are breeding and deal with that.
Are these gnats or fruit flies?