bad-looking goowy formation during aging

[mtlbootleger]

so im still in my beginning with the aging process so i need help about 1- what the hell is that! and 2- where was my mistake!

so i notice that in SOME of the jar im aging a wierd goowy looking "thing" appeared.
whats wierd is that on 10 jar made the same way and containing different spirit ( rhum and whiskey) only 3 of them got it...
my guess would be the orange peel might have been from an orange that i ad for to long in the fridge since the stuff seem to be form around the peel.
so as a test i filtered twice with coffe filter and rebottled with new wood and spice but no peel but it got back the day after..

without the orange and a piece of fresh vanilla there is only dry spice and the wood in them.

any idea?

thats what it look like after shaking it its the nasty whitish line that following the seed and spice

[pounsfos]

what % is your booze

[junkyard dawg]

unless you grew that orange, its probably been sprayed with a wax to keep it pretty on the grocery shelf.

I'd bet that you are seeing that wax, partially dissolved and floating around in your drink...

Its always best to seek out unwaxed citrus when you use them in spirits.

[mtlbootleger]

what % is your booze

47% and 56%

[mtlbootleger]

unless you grew that orange, its probably been sprayed with a wax to keep it pretty on the grocery shelf.

I'd bet that you are seeing that wax, partially dissolved and floating around in your drink...

Its always best to seek out unwaxed citrus when you use them in spirits.

its the same orange that i have used to flavor some jar from a batch i did 3 or 4 day earlier wich isnt contaminated. if it was caused by the wax wouldnt it go away when filtered ?
the spirit still smell good but i dont want to take chance. could it be clean by redistilled or some other way or is it just some good smelling trash!? it suck it was a my first rhum wich i only tasted fresh of the still! was waiting for it to age before enjoying!

[junkyard dawg]

this is only a guess based on limited info about your process. waxes and oils usually cause cloudiness. They don't often form a solid mass like you describe. not that i've ever seen anyway... i would try filtering it and see if you can examine the goo. based on what you've said, the citrus is a major vector for introducing cloudiness to your spirit.

you can bet its not anything growing in strong alcohol.

[Dan P.]

It's fairly common that fruit put in alcohol will get a nasty looking "bloom" around them. I always figured it was mould of some sort, but I don't know. It's never done me any harm, but it's always best to keep your own council on these matters. If it looks gross to you, chuck it.

[LWTCS]

let it settle and pour off the clear. Don't be greedy and get too close to the jelly fish.The longer you leave it the easier it is to pour off the clear. Its fine.

[dakotasnake]

starting with what it isnt---- not fungus or bacteria, not likely to live in 50% alc. what it could be---- some spices can dissolve and form an oily substance or collest into stringy particles. improperly dryed wood can have dry rot, often a milky or colored snotty feeling substance. a piece of wood in each jar does not mean all jars would have the dry rot, just the ones that are present on that piece of wood.

[Dan P.]

starting with what it isnt---- not fungus or bacteria, not likely to live in 50% alc.

This is what I have often wondered. The explanation I came up with is that what's inside the fresh fruit is not going to be 50% abv. We need a clever person to give us a likely scenario for the process of osmotic equilibrium between fruit and 50% alcohol, but whatever the case, it's my belief that the jelly is some function of biological decomposition, like when you find a dead frog at the bottom of the pool.

[LWTCS]

Pectin(or some such thing) being ethanol extracted is what I was thinking

[mtlbootleger]

thanks for all your answer! i filtered them 3 or 4 time each let them aside to see and after 2 day i could see a very little sign of it (or it was me freaking out!) anyway, i didnt want to take chance and i run it with mash into low-wine it did cleared the crap out of it!

[stevenun]

I had some grape juice do the same thing. I tried flavoring and proofing down some 130 proof spirit with grape juice I made from muscadines. When the juice hit the jar, within seconds the juice formed a jelly like mass. My theory was unfiltered grape proteins were clumping together, after all I was effectively removing the water using alcohol. I dumped the mix first through a mesh strainer to get the large bits. Then I poured it through a cloth dinner napkin to catch smaller bits, and finally through a coffee filter. Lost a good bit of booze.
Next time I plan to filter the grape juice a lot better first, to remove the fruity bits that come loose when I cook em. I typically filter before making jelly, I just didn't have time last fall. I cooked five gallons of grapes, and was letting them cool for a few hours before filtering, and it seemed like the wild yeast was already taking over. They were bubbling in the cooling bucket. So I had to do a quick strain and freeze.