mold spores on top of beer

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srmcnaughton

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hey,
so ive got a stout in secondary fermenter and it looks like ive got mold growing in the corner (where the beer meets the glass) and bits of little spores sporadically covering the surface.
do i need to throw this out?
can i save it?
re rack it?
please help me. i dont want to throw this out!
 
are you sure its mold and not krausen? Now long has it been fermenting? I know with mead you would just be able to clean it up and it would be ok (although this has not happened to me yet). I read this on another forum. I read though that in the case of beer is should be ok as well. I read this in John Palmer book, I believe
 
Hmm somethings going on then. Have you checked the gravity? If its high it could mean a stuck ferment. Alcohol should kill off any most once the yeast starts to eat the sugar. If there is a large yeast cake on the bottom then quite likely its done, in which case Im not really sure about the mold problem here. Also wait for other more experienced brewers chime in. Id be interested to see other comments as well
 
Without pictures it's not really easy to tell. There are approximately 10 trillion threads on here where people were convinced their beer was contaminated, and it ended up being fine. If we can see it, we can help.
 
Yeah - it could very likely be "yeast rafts" - little tiny clumps of floating yeast that makes the surface of the beer look like a petri dish, but are totally harmless. Post a pic and maybe we can tell.
 
Look closely, the spots are likely clumps of very small bubbles. The bubbles are CO2 that are much more apparent in darker or black beers. Gently rock the carboy and see if the clumps break up. If so you have bubbles.
 
I have had several batches look like mold in the secondary and i have never had any problems with that beer, the yeast can somtimes look like mold. all you can do now is proceed with bottling or kegging and see what happens.
 
Hi I am brewing a dark ale and I bottled half the carboy(after 4 weeks in secondary) since I ran out of bottles I put the airlock on the carboy with the remaining beer in it. 7 days later I see a white layer form on surface of the beer with few white bubbles The white formation resembles that of a spider web. I have a bad feeling this is MOLD and my beer is contaminated. Can anyone please help !
 
I will add the official request.
worthless.gif

But seriously like stated in earlier posts without pics its hard for us to tell you what it is.
 
Just think of all the antibodies you'll get from drinking that mold, clear up that sinus infection. It'll be fine, the alcohol will kill it.
 
Another way to tell is to take a sample. If its sour its bad, if not then it should be ok. By taking a sample and tasting it you should be able to tell. If its bad, just spit it out.

However, if it is bad, Im not sure what the solution to this problem would be.
 
This is what it looks like! Please help me out.

You should start your own thread. It's very poor etiquette to do this in someone else's thread.

Anyhoo...

Wild yeast / Brett infection. It will slowly and increasingly get some odd flavors. If there is lactobacillus in there, it will also get sour.

Taste it now. If it still tastes acceptable, there's a chance. If not, I would dump. If you like funky/sour beers, you can play with it for a while and try to salvage something weird, but from experience I can tell you that these things don't serendipitously turn into a good beer.

Your only hope is to bottle it right now, carb for a few weeks, and chill forever (until you drink it). You might get gushers, but if you are lucky you won't. Or keg if can do that. If you bottle now and leave it at room temperature, you will probably have some serious gushers / bottle bombs later.
 
Yes, that is an infection. Look at this thread. If you can spare the fermenter, throw it in a closet for a year. Probably want to ditch your soft plastics (i.e. racking hoses, etc.) and sanitize everything extra well.
 
Couldn't he just sanitize a very fine strainer, scrape it off the top? Then let the alcohol take care of the rest?
 
Couldn't he just sanitize a very fine strainer, scrape it off the top? Then let the alcohol take care of the rest?

No. The fungus that is causing that would be found through the beer. The only reason you see the pellicle at the top is because the fungus forms that in the presence of O2.

Well, I've never tried to scrape anyway, but I'm 99% sure that wouldn't work. And, if you try anyway and are wrong, and you get bottle bombs, you'll be really sorry. Those things scare the crap out of me.
 
No. The fungus that is causing that would be found through the beer. The only reason you see the pellicle at the top is because the fungus forms that in the presence of O2.

Well, I've never tried to scrape anyway, but I'm 99% sure that wouldn't work. And, if you try anyway and are wrong, and you get bottle bombs, you'll be really sorry. Those things scare the crap out of me.

+1. The only way I could see salvaging something like that if it still tasted good is racking out from underneath it and kegging right away. The keg can handle any extra pressure and the cold would slow everything way down.
 
Thank You all for your valuable feedback!!! I am yet to decide what to do with it.
 
Yes, that is an infection. Look at this thread. If you can spare the fermenter, throw it in a closet for a year. Probably want to ditch your soft plastics (i.e. racking hoses, etc.) and sanitize everything extra well.

I sanitized everything really well, I guess the only thing that went wrong was to bottle it half way (since I ran out of bottles) and then put the airlock back on. In the process, O2 got in the way and wrecked it! :(
 
I sanitized everything really well, I guess the only thing that went wrong was to bottle it half way (since I ran out of bottles) and then put the airlock back on. In the process, O2 got in the way and wrecked it! :(

Anyway you can brew half a batch? Pour that wort on top or just add some liquid malt exact to it? Get those yeasties going again so they will kill the mold? Fill up that air gap, getting these things moving again, and scrape that crap off the top? Maybe not conventional, but I do believe it would work, save the last of your batch.
 
I sanitized everything really well, I guess the only thing that went wrong was to bottle it half way (since I ran out of bottles) and then put the airlock back on. In the process, O2 got in the way and wrecked it! :(


Suck from the bottom or clean off the top, your choice...
 
So here's an update...l
Im 99.9% sure what I saw on top of my stout was mold. So I decided to rack into a new carboy. I did this a few days ago and so far no mold... Nothing. So I deem this to be a success. I'm a few days out from having an empty keg so I'm not to worried about not having much of a co2 blanket.
Thanks everyone for your input!!
 
srmcnaughton said:
So here's an update...l
Im 99.9% sure what I saw on top of my stout was mold. So I decided to rack into a new carboy. I did this a few days ago and so far no mold... Nothing. So I deem this to be a success. I'm a few days out from having an empty keg so I'm not to worried about not having much of a co2 blanket.
Thanks everyone for your input!!

Thanks for the info. I shall do the same.
My apologies for barging in on your thread. I was desperate for a solution!
 
FreeParty said:
How does the beer taste? Was it sour??

It was really sour initially! I added some honey to it and yet another safale dry yeast. It fermented for a day. Right now It's still in the secondary with absolutely no signs of spores post addition of the yeast. I can't open it to taste until bottling time else I would risk another infection as CO2 will escape and there ain't any more sugars to ferment :)
 
It was really sour initially! I added some honey to it and yet another safale dry yeast. It fermented for a day. Right now It's still in the secondary with absolutely no signs of spores post addition of the yeast. I can't open it to taste until bottling time else I would risk another infection as CO2 will escape and there ain't any more sugars to ferment :)

That's not mold that you have, so racking from under it is futile. You have a infection and the flavors will most likely return.
 
bchurch said:
That's not mold that you have, so racking from under it is futile. You have a infection and the flavors will most likely return.

Thanks for the input. By the way any harm in drinking infected beer?
 
From what everyone else on this forum says, no. Other than the taste that is. But it will get worse with time so if it taste ok drink it fast.
 
It was really sour initially! I added some honey to it and yet another safale dry yeast. It fermented for a day. Right now It's still in the secondary with absolutely no signs of spores post addition of the yeast. I can't open it to taste until bottling time else I would risk another infection as CO2 will escape and there ain't any more sugars to ferment :)

Hi Guys
I finally cracked open 1 bottle after just 2 weeks of bottle conditioning (added priming sugar to the bottles). The results are astounding. As you can see from the image, my beer has transformed from pellicle - to - undrinkably sour - to - delicious beer with a incredibly think head similar to belgium beers. In fact the head was so thick I needed a spoon to show me the way :ban:

2.jpg

1.jpg
 
You may want to get those bottles into the fridge. That great head may be the result of some overcarbonation. If you've got something super attenuative in there, you want to get those bottles cold before they blow up. Glad it's tasty! Sometimes you get lucky!
 
daksin said:
You may want to get those bottles into the fridge. That great head may be the result of some overcarbonation. If you've got something super attenuative in there, you want to get those bottles cold before they blow up. Glad it's tasty! Sometimes you get lucky!

Yeah that's true! I got lucky!
I am aware about the fact that only over carbonation could get me this kinda head. These are grolsch type bottles with the swing top and typically has a thicker wall than a normal bottle. So I feel it shouldn't blow up atleast for a week. But thanks for the tip, I will transfer them to the refrigerator in a weeks time.
 
Yeah that's true! I got lucky!
I am aware about the fact that only over carbonation could get me this kinda head. These are grolsch type bottles with the swing top and typically has a thicker wall than a normal bottle. So I feel it shouldn't blow up atleast for a week. But thanks for the tip, I will transfer them to the refrigerator in a weeks time.

The grolsch style bottles are thicker, but they will blow up just as easily as the regular kind. Ask me how I know. Get those bad boys in the fridge.
 
The grolsch style bottles are thicker, but they will blow up just as easily as the regular kind. Ask me how I know. Get those bad boys in the fridge.

I am not gonna ask you how :cross:

Anyways, I have transferred them to the fridge :)

I am thinking of adding a small amount of hydrated dry yeast syrup plus the priming sugar/DME to my upcoming batch at bottling. I hear Trappist breweries do this since almost all the beers they make are bottle-fermented and ready to drink in just 2 weeks. Thoughts on this?
 
I am not gonna ask you how :cross:

Anyways, I have transferred them to the fridge :)

I am thinking of adding a small amount of hydrated dry yeast syrup plus the priming sugar/DME to my upcoming batch at bottling. I hear Trappist breweries do this since almost all the beers they make are bottle-fermented and ready to drink in just 2 weeks. Thoughts on this?

I think you should stop rushing beers to carbonation. Chillax. If you're that worried about getting it carbed quickly, you should keg.
 
Yea, if you keep your bottles warm (70F) and they're under 10% ABV, they'll be done carbing in 2 weeks regardless. Nobody ever made good beer by rushing it.
 
daksin said:
Yea, if you keep your bottles warm (70F) and they're under 10% ABV, they'll be done carbing in 2 weeks regardless. Nobody ever made good beer by rushing it.

Thanks for the info. But hey, I am not rushing it! This batch had a mold it in and tasted really bitter with no signs of carbonation or foam what so ever even after 3 months in the bottles. That's when I added some yeast to the left over beer in the carboy and bottled them. Now it's a winner! I agree it's over-carbonated and could blow up. So now they are in the fridge. And yes it's below 10% ABV and temp was around 70F
 

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