Possible mold on American Amber

I bought an Brewer's Best American Amber kit that is in the secondary fermenter but it looks like it's growing mold on the top. I noticed strange clusters of white bubbles with streaks (like the tail of a comet) on the surface a couple days ago. This morning I checked on it again and a ring of the same white bubbles around the perimeter of the carboy. There's also condensation building up on the glass above the brew. I brewed this back on August 4th and moved it to the secondary on August 23. I believe I am meticulous with my cleaning (generic oxy-clean) and sanitation (StarSan).

Does this mean the batch is ruined?

sort of looks like small CO2 clusters to me

Looks fine..... But if you are not sure, send it over to me


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They look like yeast/hop particle rafts and residual CO2 coming out of suspension ie nothing to worry about, but it's admittedly hard to tell from the pic.

Taste it.

I've had that same thing happen when I rack a beer on occasion. You might have roused the yeast up and they're producing mild amounts of Co2, thus the bubbles. I bet in 2-4 days the top of that beer is all clear and you'll be all set.

eadavis80 said:

I've had that same thing happen when I rack a beer on occasion. You might have roused the yeast up and they're producing mild amounts of Co2, thus the bubbles. I bet in 2-4 days the top of that beer is all clear and you'll be all set.

Click to expand...

That's what I was hoping for, but it sure looks to me like the top is forming "a layer" - sort of a pale hazy film. It's almost time to bottle but I am a little leary of what's on top. I'll probably put the whole carboy in the basement refridgerator and see if the cold does anything to it.

Thanks for the replies. Apologize for the picture quality. My phone would not focus properly.

You can always rack it off again into another sanitized carboy, and leave the remaining inch or so if you are too worried, and then bottle.

Much ado about nothing. I took a sample while I was filling the bottling bucket. Beer tastes very good and it's a beautifully rich amber color, and clear as a bell. Thanks everybody. Very pleased with the outcome.

You have about as much risk of getting an infection in your ferment as you do of falling off while walking on a plank that's a foot above the surface of the ground; it's possible, but you would generally need to be _extremely_ drunk for it to happen in practice.