Oil film on top of wine

[boozebandit]

Hey everyone, I am new to this forum and a relative newbie when it comes to making my own alcohol. I am currently nearly finished creating Elderflower wine, it has fermented with a F.G of about .993. I added a campden tablet and potassium sorbate to the wine and it is now clearing, but I have noticed what appears to be a slight film on top of the wine, the wine smells fine and taste fine, the consistency is also what you would expect. As part of the recipe I added the juice and zest of a whole lemon, I strained off the Elderflowers after 3 days but the lemon zest remained in the wine and still is in the wine due to it being very fine and slipping through the straining bag. This didn't seem like an issue to me because I want the wine to have a lemony taste as I think it compliments Elderflower well. Could the film be the essential oils that have been extracted from the lemon zest over the course of the fermentation, because the wine its self isn't ropey or anything like that, there also appears to be no other wine faults present. I hope it is just the essential oils from the lemon because I don't want to have ruined what is a very promising wine.

Thank you!

 

[stevie123]

Hey everyone, I am new to this forum and a relative newbie when it comes to making my own alcohol. I am currently nearly finished creating Elderflower wine, it has fermented with a F.G of about .993. I added a campden tablet and potassium sorbate to the wine and it is now clearing, but I have noticed what appears to be a slight film on top of the wine, the wine smells fine and taste fine, the consistency is also what you would expect. As part of the recipe I added the juice and zest of a whole lemon, I strained off the Elderflowers after 3 days but the lemon zest remained in the wine and still is in the wine due to it being very fine and slipping through the straining bag. This didn't seem like an issue to me because I want the wine to have a lemony taste as I think it compliments Elderflower well. Could the film be the essential oils that have been extracted from the lemon zest over the course of the fermentation, because the wine its self isn't ropey or anything like that, there also appears to be no other wine faults present. I hope it is just the essential oils from the lemon because I don't want to have ruined what is a very promising wine.

Thank you!

The slight film you mention could well be off either the elderflowers or the lemon i would not worry!

 

[boozebandit]

Hey Stevie123, yeah this is what I was thinking also, It certainly seems like it, but it is nerve-racking none the less. Thanks for the reply!

 

[tonyhibbett]

Some lemons are coated with wax which would cause this problem. The film can be removed with a paper kitchen towel.

 

[boozebandit]

Oh yes good point, come to think of it I think the lemon was waxed, I might keep the film for now, I am using a plastic demijohn and according to the place I brought it from it is not completely airtight, so I might use the film to my advantage and let it act as an extra barrier to prevent the wine from oxidizing in the demijohn :)

 

[stevie123]

As i said i would not worry about it, i think what tony was saying was when its time to rack its easily removed with kitchen towel theres no rush at this point in time to remove said film :thumb:

 

[boozebandit]

When you say you can use a kitchen towel what do you mean? Sorry like i said i am relatively new at homebrewing so i don't know all the tricks etc

 

[walders123]

A quick way to remove wax from fruit is to pour a little boiled water from he kettle over it. Should melt the wxax easily

 

[tonyhibbett]

Transfer wine to bucket or bin, allow film to re-form. Cover surface with paper towels then remove. The film will stick to the paper. Alternatively, rack the wine, leaving the film on the last bit of wine. A drop of (lemon-scented ) washing up liquid will emulsify the film and disperse it, but not get rid of it.

 

[boozebandit]

Ok will do tony, thanks very much for the help :)

 

[Pete Oakley]

I recently added some orange essence from the home baking department of my local Sainsburys to a spirit concoction. It left an oily film on the top of the "brew", it tasted OK but................., I have some wine filter papers (just for the port at Christmas) so I first ran a litre of water through the filter then I ran the oily brew threw and it got rid of the floating residue and tastes wonderful!
Pete.