Home Distiller

I have been mashing all my ferments now for a couple of years but today I pulled one down and opened the lid and
there was oil floating on top. Globs of yellow and orange yuk.
what can this be?...never seen anything like it. Done many like it but never an oil slick like this.
Any thoughts men?

Assuming it was corn - could be the stuff from the bottom of the grain elevator subjected to so much pressure that it and a lot of grain above it had the oil squeezed out of it. How does it smell/taste? If you think it's just grain oil, lay some paper towels on top to wick up some of the excess oil.

I just had a ton of this on a blue corn ferment. Yellow oil, a good deal of it. I tried to sop it up with a paper towel right before running it, and I got a lot, I left the rest behind when I racked it out of the buckets. Obviously corn has some kind of oil component...never expected it, but I wasn't that surprised I guess.

It smelled good and had its normal sour taste so checked the FG and it was .999 . I strained it out to settle for a few days in a brew bucket with a drain. All the oil will be floating so I'll drain it from the bottom and try to keep the oil out of the keg.
Dearned if I know what the hell is going on with that. It was an all corn mash using enzymes.

Same here, all corn w/ enzymes.

Here's a picture of mine.

My corn came out of the same big container I've been using and none of the other ferments had oil floating on top.
Any one else have this before?
What the heck is it?

Corn is oily!
I've had "eyes" of oil on top of corn ferments.
Some more than others.
I'm sure there are a shower of reasons and variables why some ferments have more, others less.

BentJar wrote:My corn came out of the same big container I've been using and none of the other ferments had oil floating on top.
Any one else have this before?
What the heck is it?

Did it sit in that container long enough for most of the oil to settle toward the bottom?

So far all I've done is Booner's. Had this oily stuff every time. Being new I just thought it was normal. Like corn oil or sumthin.
I've never removed it, after straining the grain and trub it was always mixed in well so I just ran it. I've also noticed that I've never seen any sign of foaming either. May just be coincidence or beginner luck or sumthin. So far all my low wines have been really good. Are you using tractor supply cracked corn? That's what I've been using but I'm gonna source sumthin else next time. I'm not convinced this is good corn. At least for us.
Like Papa John says, better ingredients, better whisky. or pizza, whatever.

My guess is corn oil. I see it sold at the store all the time.

If it's corn oil I see no reason to worry. A taste test of the oil should indicate whether or not its a contamination from the heavy equipment that processed it. If it tastes like zirc grease or something weird then I'd say scrap it.

bearriver wrote:My guess is corn oil. I see it sold at the store all the time.

If it's corn oil I see no reason to worry. A taste test of the oil should indicate whether or not its a contamination from the heavy equipment that processed it. If it tastes like zirc grease or something weird then I'd say scrap it.

IF It's corn oil...not enough of it in that picture to cause any grief. It will be rich in conginers, likely will emerge again during the tails run as a very light hint on top of the chilled tails jars. It adds character. But if seeing it at that stage bothers you, a tablespoon can be used to pluck it out....

My corn comes from a nearby farmers field, he grows it for a tenn. distiller. I buy 250 pounds at a time but he runs out during the winter months so I stock up before its all gone. Good healthy looking corn with no bugs in it. Been getting it for years but never seen an oily mess like this before.

I ran that oily mash and surprised to say it is good likker.

humbledore wrote:I just had a ton of this on a blue corn ferment. Yellow oil, a good deal of it.

Just out of curiosity, was that the Honeyville blue corn ?

Yes it was. It was a strawberry colored ferment, lots of oil, lots of flavor in the distillate. Almost a musky aroma on top of the corn smell. Interested to see how it ages. Pricey stuff though.

I just finished a Cornflake whiskey and noticed quite a lot of oil on the surface similar to the picture above. I was a little worried until reading this thread

Should I soak it off the top or just run it ?

I think the suggestion to use a tablespoon to dip it out was a good one. Although hearing it adds flavors, maybe next time I'll leave it in.

. I've been mashing corn and barley using enzymes. Oily fermented grain is a problem for me. SO. I thought on that, and a way to prevent the floating oil from ever getting into the keg boiler.
SIMPLE FIX.
I ferment in 6.5 gal.brew buckets with drain valves in the bottom. I drain my ferments into a taller, smaller diameter brew bucket also with a drain, to settle the yeast out a few days before running. The oil floats to the top so when im draining the tall bucket into the keg, I don't allow the top oily stuff to be drained. Shut the valve earlier... So I lose a qt. or so... its oily and makes oily likker.
My tails are happier now.

ravings of an old fool

BentJar wrote: Oily fermented grain is a problem for me. SO. I thought on that, and a way to prevent the floating oil from ever getting into the keg boiler.

How so? I've intentionally added oil to my boiler on a spirit run when running a larger than typical charge. Never had an issue with it myself.

I always get this whether making my Smoke Shine or Booner's. Nothing to be concerned about.
You will see more oil using enzymes as it is a by product of a more complete conversion and fermentation.
Don't sweat it, run it. Lots of flavors in that oil.

NgrainD, you can definitely find better corn than the TS stuff. It's cheap cause it's of a low quality.

Popping an old post, done a few all grains, most with some corn, a few that are 100% corn. Got my first corn oil on top of a 50 gallon mash, this run is to fill a barrel, reading this I guess I’ll just run the oil too.