mold part deux

ok, i posted a few days back on a small mold contamination I got in my secondary. a small white patch (3 cm across). I tried siphoning it off (skimming the film off is impossible as it's in my glass carboy) and thought I'd succeeded. apparently I succeeded in spreading the mold to other surface areas too!
it's not looking terrible, just a bit of a white film in some patches on the surface, to worry or not to worry, that is the question. would you recommend racking again over into another carboy and leaving it for a week or two? it's almost done in the secondary and should be bottled this weekend, but I'm willing to wait.....
im loathe to throw the entire batch away especially given that some people have said it really doesnt matter.
thoughts? comments? suggestions?

Have you taken a sample? If so, what did it taste like?

You could always rack from the center, keeping the cane between the top and bottom layers. Sure, you'll lose some, but it's better than all of it.

Let me know how it tastes.

BTW, is it the American Pale Ale?

homebrewer_99 said:

Have you taken a sample? If so, what did it taste like?

You could always rack from the center, keeping the cane between the top and bottom layers. Sure, you'll lose some, but it's better than all of it.

Let me know how it tastes.

BTW, is it the American Pale Ale?

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yeah its the american pale ale. it tasted alright when i tried siphoning off the mold. if i wasnt so sleepy, i'd rephrase that so it didnt sound like i tried the mold.
anyway, it was a little vinegary tasting, not a lot, but certainly a little more tart than my first ever brew (not a lot to compare to.....yet). first brew was also a lot more malty though....
i guess all I can do is try and rerack and hope for the best eh?

Sorry to tell you this, but a vinegary odor has to do with sanitation.

Go here: http://www.mrgoodbeer.com/flavor.shtml

Do you use bleach? I do. I've had that problem myself. It seems that I did somethig wrong.

I ended up getting my sink and household pipes pretty drunk (if you can imagine guzzling 5 gals non-stop).

I don't know of any way to salvage it.

Maybe we should ask...anyone else have any ideas?

homebrewer_99 said:

Sorry to tell you this, but a vinegary odor has to do with sanitation.

Do you use bleach? I do and I've had that problem before.

I ended up getting my sink and household pipes pretty drunk (if you can imagine guzzling 5 gals non-stop).

I don't know of any way to salvage it.

Maybe we should ask...anyone else have any ideas?

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actually I didnt use bleach at all.....it might be my description :s
i'm not very experienced at describing flavors.....
i think im too stubborn to toss it, will try and rerack into a tertiary and then bottle, see how it goes.....will let you know! thanks for the advice mate.

If it doesn't taste too bad you can always cover up the base flavor with a little liquid smoke or a lot of fruit flavoring.

I wouldn't do anything like that myself until I got drunk off of it (on purpose so you don't poison anyone else).

I mean, you have to be responsible and knowledgable enough to know when to toss a batch for the good of society and cut your losses versus something you can save.

I'd try to save it too, but then i'm cheap like that
i'd just rack it and hope you dont transfer any of that mold colony - whats the worst that can happen? a beer you thought was bad goes bad? oh well, might as well give it chance to prove its merits

kneemoe said:

I'd try to save it too, but then i'm cheap like that
i'd just rack it and hope you dont transfer any of that mold colony - whats the worst that can happen? a beer you thought was bad goes bad? oh well, might as well give it chance to prove its merits

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well thenI'm joining the cheap brigade im going to give it a go (what have i got to lose?)

Bleach will not contribute a vinegar taste.. it will contribe a phenolic taste (medicinal).

A vinegar taste is a sign of a bacterial infection. I'd say you somehow screwed up your sanitation this time around. You should definately think over everything you did and try to figure out how you introduced an infection to your wort. I'll bet the mold spores and the bacteria entered the wort from the same source...

Racking the beer out from under the mold might solve the problem.. somehow I doubt it though. However, I've never had an issue with mold. I'd be worried that I'd get the beer bottled and find that my beer had a nice moldy layer in each bottle. What a pain that would be to clean up.

Frankly, I hate seeing something go to waste but I'd toss the beer if it's vinegary AND moldy. You should've seen how long I held onto my gf's wine hoping the hydrogen sulfide (horrible rotten egg smell) went away..