# Oil like substance floating in my wine?!



## bigorange82 (May 4, 2009)

Help folks, I just finished fermentation for 4 days, using 48 hour turbo yeast, and there's a substance floating in the wine, it doesn't look exactly like oil, but that's the closest I can come to describe it, like oil floating in water, it doesn't raise out of the water or anything.. As far as smells and taste, this is a very alcohol tolerant strain of yeast that is intended for distilling, so I'm not sure if it smells funky because of the type of yeast and alcohol content used, or if its bad.. Any advice?


----------



## Tom (May 4, 2009)

I'm thinking its just floating yeast. What are you making and why the turbo yeast?


----------



## Wade E (May 4, 2009)

We really need to know what you put in the fermenter as some raisins have oils, vanilla beans have oils, dried bananas have oils.


----------



## St Allie (May 4, 2009)

Big Orange?

out of interest.. were you sold the turbo yeast specifically for making wines with?

Allie


----------



## bigorange82 (May 4, 2009)

I'm using the turbo yeast, as I prefer high alcohol content to good tasting wine.. That's just me. I'm using blueberry pomegranate juice that was store bought.

Thanks again for your help


----------



## St Allie (May 4, 2009)

Well I was mainly asking because I was trying to locate a 'tokay yeast' for a sherry wine and I was sold turbo yeast as a substitute myself. Some higher alcohol yeasts are champagne yeasts up to 18% if that's any help to you?

Allie


----------



## Wade E (May 4, 2009)

Wine yeast can go just as high as turbo yeast you know and will do a better job at doing it but will take a little longer. I use turbo yeast for something else that I dont want to mention on this forum and it is fast acting but leaves a flavor behind, very citricy due to the immense amount of nutrient included in the package. If thats all you added was the juice and the yeast then I wouldnt worry too much, was there anything else added, if not its probably a by-product of the turbo yeast.


----------



## bigorange82 (May 4, 2009)

I should mention, that I made 2 gallon-sized fermentations of this in milk jugs, and one of the milk jugs didn't have any of this stuff floating in it, but still tasted funky

Also, I did in fact only add the juice, yeast and half cup of extra sugar for higher alcohol content hopefully.


----------



## Wade E (May 4, 2009)

Did you sanitize these jugs with K-meta or some other sanitizer? You could easily have some sort of microbial organizm going on if not as those jugs can easily harbor bacteria!


----------



## bigorange82 (May 4, 2009)

No I didn't. I stuck them in a quality dishwasher. I figured sitting in hot steam and be sprayed with the dishwasher soap for a few hours would sanitize it, am I wrong?


----------



## Wade E (May 4, 2009)

Most dishwashers do not sanitize as they dont get hot enough to do so, some do! Not a great way to do sanitizing though as its hard to get such a small opening sanitized. As soon as its done fermenting get some k-meta in there to kill off anything if it is a bacteria.


----------



## St Allie (May 4, 2009)

Get yourself a good bottle brush, quicker and more thorough than a dishwasher.

with plastic..the boiling option is a no go.. milk jugs will melt. Buy metabisulphate... Most supermarkets carry beer brewing sanitiser which is what you want to get hold of. This is your best option.

If you are really stuck for a steriliser, baby bottle tablets from the supermarket will work, they are hospital grade steriliser.

Please note these have a bleach effect so you will need to boil water for rinsing them out. Allow the boiling water to cool a little before rinsing and rinse three times, check for any residual bleach smell before using.
Allie


----------



## smurfe (May 5, 2009)

Dishwashers are controversial. They will work though if it indeed will get hot enough. Many will. Most of the low end homeowner ones wont though. I am trying to remember the temp it has to wash at. I believe it is 180F to sanitize. All I know is the one in our house will but the one in the wifes daycare wont so they can't use it to sanitize baby bottles. My only real concern about using the dish washer is the chance of blowing a small particle of food up in a bottle and then having it bake dry with the steam and dry cycle. Also, if you use Jet Dry or some other rinse agent in the dish washer it will kill your head retention if you are washing beer bottles.


----------



## Bailey (May 5, 2009)

You say you prefer high alcohol to good taste then complain about a funky taste?

Are you making some kind of "dorm-room hooch" or looking for a quality wine? 

Turbo-yeast and milk jugs seem to go with the former rather than the later. What do you expect it to taste like?


A dishwasher isn't going to get enough 'rinse' inside a milk jug to clean it worth a darn. Use sanitizer!

You have a few pix of your brew on another thread - Are you hiding the jugs on the back side of some kind of shelf? (Your view shows the jug next to the *back* of your computer) 


Just curious.....


----------



## bigorange82 (May 11, 2009)

Well my dishwasher goes through several phases which are indicated on the light, the final stage is "Sanitized" so naturally I figured it got hot enough to sanitize thing. I just bought the dishwasher this year, and it wasn't exactly some cheapo

Also, how bad of an idea would it be to drink enough of this wine to have a relaxed night, even though it has a chance of being contaminated? What's the worst case scenario if it is contaminated? Am I going to die, or just spend a day puking by guts out?

I've drank mouthfuls of it already and havent gotten sick, however, I didnt refrigerated it since I opened it from fermentation, is this bad?

Even though I didn't take a SG reading before or after, I know there's alcohol in this because I can feel it, and I read that bacteria harmful to humans cant survive in wine with 10% alcohol content or higher, is this true? If so, my wine should be around 15%-20%


----------



## Tom (May 11, 2009)

_Biborange
"Also, how bad of an idea would it be to drink enough of this wine to have a relaxed night, even though it has a chance of being contaminated? What's the worst case scenario if it is contaminated? Am I going to die, or just spend a day puking by guts out?"_

I think this hobby is not for you if you want to drink bad wine and puke your brains out !
You dont take readings you dont want to sanitize properly


----------



## bigorange82 (May 11, 2009)

Well I appreciate the criticism, Tom, and let me tell you I wouldn't be in this siutation, nor would I have been asking that question had I known beforehand that it wasn't a good idea to assume the dishwasher was a viable sanitizing option.

I'm actually a medicinal and edible mushroom cultivator, and being clean isn't a new concept to me, as with mushrooms you have to have everything 100% sterilized not just sanitized, or you will more than likely die from eating contaminated mushrooms.

We all have to start somewhere, Tom.. Don't we? We can't know it all from the git-go.

This being said, I don't perticularly want to drink this, but I don't feel like going up to the store this late, and I really could go for a few glasses of wine tonight. I also have drank some nasty concoctions in my day, being a reformed hard drug addict, such as tea made from San Pedro cactus, or opium poppy pods.. This wine doesn't taste half as bad as those, so it goes down smooth if you ask me.


----------



## Manimal (May 11, 2009)

There are no bacterial contaminants in wine that can cause you any real harm... they might spoil your wine and make it taste foul, but they will not hurt you. On the other hand, if the wine was contaminated by some foreign chemical substance, who knows??? I would imagine the film on your wine is probably just some detergent residue from the dishwasher or some residue from the milk jugs... I wouldn't be too concerned about it.


----------



## St Allie (May 11, 2009)

BigOrange?

I'm guessing that you are here to learn to make something drinkable as well as reasonably alcoholic. Using milk jugs etc seems that you are experimenting before investing in equipment. If you have a local seafood supplier they often sell off the 20 litre white foodgrade buckets and lids for about $2 at the back door.. they have usually been used for seafood dressings and marinades etc. These are more suitable than milk jugs and easier to sterilise. All you need is an airlock and grommet .. drill a hole in the lid and voila! you are up and running to make a reasonable volume of wine. Someone recently suggested making wine from concentrated syrups from the supermarket, does that appeal to you at all?

If so, we can help you find a recipe ..



Allie


----------



## Tom (May 11, 2009)

Bigorange, we are here to help all and try to better ourselves in making a higher quality wine.
Look for some equipment a 6+gallon fermenting bucket w/lid ans airlock a hydrometer is a must. Keeping records is very important. 

If you think you may have some bad wine, don't drink it. better to be safe than sorry. Instead "taste" it you will know if it went bad. Still no reason to drink to excess.

My previous msg was sent to spur more conversation which it did. If you can tell us what you made and what steps were taken thats where we can help you.


----------



## bigorange82 (May 11, 2009)

Excellent to have someone who sees things from my perspective. That's exactly what I'm doing is experimenting right now, slowly acquiring better equipment. I plan on buying those 5 gallon buckets from a local hardware store, and I already have the fancy air-lock and hydrometer. 

The idea of using concentrated syrups appeals greatly to me, as I'm looking for the most economical way to make homebrew. Later in to the hobby I will definitely pursue superb tasting wines, right now it's just about a high alcohol content.

Thanks again


----------



## smurfe (May 12, 2009)

I don't remember if your initial question was ever answered. The film very may of been from the dishwasher detergent and/or Rinse Agent. For all out there scolding. The dishwasher can and will do just fine to sanitize IF the proper settings are used AND no soap is used. You first have to clean the bottles. The dishwasher isn't going to be too dependable to clean the inside of bottles. Use the heat/dry or sanitize cycle. Remember, use no soap. Depending on the temps your dishwasher gets it will sanitize them. Mine has a 180 degree heat dry cycle so I can sanitize in just a few minutes if I chose to use it. The combo of heat and steam will indeed sanitize. 

People need to get their heads out of the sand and realize that there are more than one way to skin a cat. We get our minds set that there is only one way to do something. This is not right. We shouldn't chastise someone for their ways. If their ways are totally off the mark we should gently lead them to the right. Remember, most who ask questions are newbies who have no idea where to get info or was fed bad info. Remember as well, what is bad info to one may be golden information to another. One region may do things one way while another finds it crazy and a sin. 

I personally find nothing wrong with using a dishwasher and have many times with never an issue. You don't have to use one but guess what? If I want to use one I damn well will. Do I? Not often but if I am bottling a large batch of beer I sure do. Saves me a couple hours and I have never once had a bottle with an infection. Remember, they were clean first though. Remember as well, just because I do it don't mean you have to or will have the same results. It's my stuff and if I make a mistake I screw up MY stuff. Just saying I have never had an issue and I brew a lot. 

The only problem I found with the initial post is someone wanted to make wine with high alcohol over taste.  Remember, you only get as much alcohol as you have sugar. Almost any wine yeast would of gave as much alcohol and a much better flavor. It would of just taken a bit longer. Remember as well, there are many places to get cheap or even free wine making stuff. Some have been mentioned. Try looking at a local donut shop or bakery. Many just throw away the buckets the fillings come in or sell them very cheap. Some trash cans you can buy are food grade. Many ciders or fruit drinks come in one gallon glass jugs. The accounts are endless.


----------



## Manimal (May 12, 2009)

In regards to using a dishwasher, I work in a ferment-on-premise right now and our "bottle sanitizer" is in fact a commercial dishwasher that has been rigged to shoot a jet of hot water into each bottle neck. Of course, as Smurfe noted, we don't use detergent in it... just extremely hot water.


----------

