What's this white stuff?

I made this peach and raisin wine awhile back and reracked it recently. The wine itself is pretty clear but this white stuff appeared on top. I tasted the wine before racking and it tasted fine just a little yeasts. I was just wondering what it is and is it normal.

Semen?

seabass07 said:

Semen?

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that was the first place my mind took me when i read the title. haha.

Infection? Maybe lactobacillus ?

superman1451 said:

I made this peach and raisin wine awhile back and reracked it recently. The wine itself is pretty clear but this white stuff appeared on top. I tasted the wine before racking and it tasted fine just a little yeasts. I was just wondering what it is and is it normal.

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After fermentation and multiple rackings, you need to keep the carboy full. Not sure if its foam, but dose with k meta and top up.

Real mature guys. Then again i prolly set myself up for that.

But if its an infection I should smell/taste something funny right?

And yeah I know about keeping the carboy full, I didnt realize how much I would loose would I racked it off all the peach pulp. I was hoping I could get away for a week or two before I bottled it.

superman1451 said:

Real mature guys. Then again i prolly set myself up for that.

But if its an infection I should smell/taste something funny right?

And yeah I know about keeping the carboy full, I didnt realize how much I would loose would I racked it off all the peach pulp. I was hoping I could get away for a week or two before I bottled it.

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I've had head room for a week or so before, not sure if molding can occur that quickly, unless you didn't have any sulfites added to it.

Taste it. If it is ok, strain off whatever it is floating on top.

I can't tell for sure from the photo but I had something maybe similar in the carboy. I fished one out of the carboy and tasted it and it was a piece of peach. Not sure how that happened because my peaches were in a strainer bag.

More constructive than the other posts.

No topping up? No sulfites? Peach Vinegar, you will taste it soon. Unless you didnt look at the bottome of your carboy and some old cleaning chemicals were down there, but looks like its along the way to be a nice tasty vinegar. WVMJ

Its not pieces of peach. Its a thin white layer at the top that when you disturb it it breaks up but doesnt seem to settle down to the bottom. I wasnt sure if the peaches could cause this?

What would you reccomend topping it off with? Water? I could do that and have watered down wine or vinegar.

I did add a dose of potassium metabisulfate so hopefully that helps.

superman1451 said:

Its not pieces of peach. Its a thin white layer at the top that when you disturb it it breaks up but doesnt seem to settle down to the bottom. I wasnt sure if the peaches could cause this?

What would you reccomend topping it off with? Water? I could do that and have watered down wine or vinegar.

I did add a dose of potassium metabisulfate so hopefully that helps.

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For less than 5 gallons I have a 3 gal and a collection of 4L jugs to rack into. On occasion I top off with a like wine. Now I make 6 gallons so I have enough to keep my 5 gal carboys full.

On a serious note, it looks like a lacto pellicle to me. Probably malolactic fermentation. Sometimes it's desired with wine and cider. It will turn some of the harsh tartness that might be present into lactic acid, which is usually more mellow. I'd wait it out.

seabass07 said:

On a serious note, it looks like a lacto pellicle to me. Probably malolactic fermentation. Sometimes it's desired with wine and cider. It will turn some of the harsh tartness that might be present into lactic acid, which is usually more mellow. I'd wait it out.

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Thanks for that answer. Yeah it looks similar to most of the pictures in this thread
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/pellicle-photo-collection-174033/index78.html

Relax and have a homebrew right?

With dosing wine, do you do it every time you rack? even if its 3-4 times?

For less than 5 gallons I have a 3 gal and a collection of 4L jugs to rack into. On occasion I top off with a like wine. Now I make 6 gallons so I have enough to keep my 5 gal carboys full.

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I think this peach wine stated off as a 6-7 gallon batch but now its like 4! I think for fruit wine I need to start making them bigger so they can fill up my 5 gallon carboys better. And how do you define a "like wine"?

For peach wine I topped off with white grape/peach 100% juice. My guess you could use a white wine but I prefer juice that is 100%.
My fresh peach was the same ratio 6 to7 7 gallons 4 finished. Tons of lees and many rackings. Ah, but it is my absolute favorite and I will make double next year. Very drinkable at 7 months even though it is still not clear. Does not matter I like it so much I will drink it cloudy.

Kmeta every other racking about every 90 days.

Sammyk said:

For peach wine I topped off with white grape/peach 100% juice. My guess you could use a white wine but I prefer juice that is 100%.
My fresh peach was the same ratio 6 to7 7 gallons 4 finished. Tons of lees and many rackings. Ah, but it is my absolute favorite and I will make double next year. Very drinkable at 7 months even though it is still not clear. Does not matter I like it so much I will drink it cloudy.

Kmeta every other racking about every 90 days.

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Would you mind sharing the recipe you use? Itd come in handy when the peach tree bears fruit again haha

Before you take any action you need to use two senses: taste and smell... to determine if you have acetobacter taking over. It could simply be flowers of wine, and if so the procedure listed above can save it--if it is not too far gone.

Treatment for flowers of wine involves racking the wine to a clean, sanitized carboy; leaving behind the flowers. Then dose with k-meta. If the wine is clear it is even recommended you filter. Most of all use an appropriate sized carboy so that it is properly topped up. Flowers are preventable and treatable.

If you don't want to add water or more juice I have heard you can add volume by inserting the right number of sanitized glass beads.

So how is your wine doing now? WVMJ

The white stuff that was forming on top seemed to stop and is starting to dissipate. It still smells fine, maybe a little yeasty, but i havent had a chance to steal a sample to taste.