Help with Oil in Wine...from ingredients...

[torilen]

I made coffee wine. I've made it before, and did not end up
with oil in the final product.

However, this batch I made has ended up with a sheen of
oil on top after fermentation. I know coffee has oils, so
I suppose this is where it came from...it is the only place
it COULD have come from. The only ingredients were
the brewed coffee and sugar.

Is there anything that can be done about this little bit of
oil to keep it from ruining this batch of wine? Aside from
the worry of the oil going rancid, it is making the containers
greasy, which is annoying, to say the least. I've been lucky
enough to only have to run some hot water and a TINY bit
of soap around in my carboys...haven't really had to scrub
them hard to clean them yet. I WILL NOW! Sheesh.

 

[bernardsmith]

The oil will be floating on the surface, yes? Where the wine is in the process will determine the best way to deal with this but one thing you could do if the issue is simply to remove the oil is to rack the wine. The oil will be left behind. The problem is that the oil will slowly drop towards the bottom of your fermenter as the level of the wine falls, coating the sides of the carboy or bucket...
Another possible solution if you are fermenting in a bucket and not a carboy is to collect the oil in some coffee filters that you use to gather up the surface oil.
You could also try to freeze the wine which should make the removal of the oil easier because either the oil will solidify before the wine freezes or will remain liquid after the wine has frozen depending on the nature of the oil itself and the temperature at which it becomes solid vs liquid

 

[torilen]

I only made 1/2 a gallon, and I had thought of maybe trying to just get the oil to stick to the sides of the glass carboy...thanks for confirming that is an option.

I had put a bit of the wine into the fridge, but the oil did not harden so I could get it off. Sadly, I hadn't thought of putting it in the fridge. I know alcohol usually won't freeze, so it didn't occur to me that the oil WOULD harden in there. Thanks!

 

[chibilightangel]

If you are working in a glass carboy, see about getting chlorine based soap at your lhbs (mine has always been pink). It does a wonderful job of getting all glassware clean. In a 5 or 6 gal carboy, throw in a good spoonfull or two and fill with water (cold is just fine) and let sit for 24 hours. It's amazing the stuff that it will get off the glass. I wash all my wine and beer bottles with the pink soap. Bonus - no suds to deal with.

Also consider using pbw or oxiclean (fragrance free)

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I made coffee wine. I've made it before, and did not end up
with oil in the final product.

However, this batch I made has ended up with a sheen of
oil on top after fermentation. I know coffee has oils, so
I suppose this is where it came from...it is the only place
it COULD have come from. The only ingredients were
the brewed coffee and sugar.

Is there anything that can be done about this little bit of
oil to keep it from ruining this batch of wine? Aside from
the worry of the oil going rancid, it is making the containers
greasy, which is annoying, to say the least. I've been lucky
enough to only have to run some hot water and a TINY bit
of soap around in my carboys...haven't really had to scrub
them hard to clean them yet. I WILL NOW! Sheesh.

You might try using a paper coffee filter (or 2) to filter the oil out when you rack. Put 1 over the incoming end of your autosiphon & 1 over the outgoing end of your tubing; OR you could put 2 filters over either end. The paper filters should do a pretty good job of filtering with the must at room temp or lower; those oils should be at least semi solid & easily filtered out.

As for cleanup, I'd use a bit of Dawn dish detergent & an L shaped bottle brush to clean that carbouy; just be sure to rinse it several times, until there are no suds.
Regards, GF.