Mold in primary?

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elayman

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Location
Berkeley
This is my third batch and first IPA. I followed my normal routine of cleaning carboys with oxiclean and sanitized everything with star San. This is 1 week after racking to the carboy and it has a white layer and a few spots of mold growing. I don't have a thermometer but I have the carboy in around 55-65*F room. What could this be from? Should I toss it now so I can free up my feementer?

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The one lil bead in the forground is def mold. But green mold like on bread or the like. Is there an adjunct in this beer? It doesn't look like the type/color usually seen in a beer ime.
 
This is the American Pale Ale extract kit from Oak Barrel Winecraft in Berkeley.

6lb Munich LME
2lb Pilsner Light DME (extra pound for IPA)

1/2lb crystal malt 30-37*L grain
1/2lb crystal malt 77*L grain

3/4oz Millenium bittering hops
1oz Willamette flavor hops
1oz Cascade aroma hops

Nottingham Ale Yeast (dry)

I rehydrated the yeast in warm water while I brewed but did not make a starter. Could this be from having too much oxygen head in the carboy?
 
So you think it was definitely something in the ingredient list? I did not put any strange things in the boil but want to make sure since this is only my third batch maybe I did something?
 
Might be better to take another couple of pics from slightly further away so that it's possible to get a wider perspective. The close-up shot with the small clump of green mold certainly makes it look quite nasty but, on the other hand, fermentations frequently do look pretty gross,,,,,,,, in various ways. Although, I have to say, green mold present isn't something I've witnessed.
 
Did you strain all going into the fermenter? Maybe some hop bits or other floating around caught air & got moldy before fermentation got going. If initial ferment temp was low,the yeast would take a bit longer to reproduce & get going. Leaving air to do it's deed.
 
No I did not strain the wort. I did not on my previous batches either. I think you may be right. Maybe it was slightly too cold, and the bits floating in the wort may have caught up to the surface and oxygen made it nasty :p. I figured this would be a pretty rigorous fermentation due to the extra fermentables so I decided to put it in two carboys (probably poor choice on my part) - one 3 gallon, containing 2 gallons of wort, and one 5 gallon, containing 3 gallons of wort. It probably had too much oxygen space. I have attached photos. The smaller carboy has some weird white film on top - not normal looking Krauser while the larger has the mold. I figure I should throw both out and start over using one fermenter and a blow off tube. Suggestions?

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If you dry hopped, my guess is its most likely from some hops that had mold in them. I've heard of it happening, although it's never happened to me. Always make sure your ordering or purchasing your hops from a reputable source. I like places that do a large volume. Even if its not the cheapest price, you know itll always be super fresh.
 
I don't see much of a problem here to be honest. That speck of mold probably came about from having so much head-space in the fermenter. Unless this little mold gets bigger or invites more buddies to the party, I'd say keep on going with the beer. I had a batch of cider that decided to grow a few specks (actually globs), but it turned out just fine and without off-flavors.
 
This was 6 days after brew day so no dry hopping yet. I boiled all of the other hops (and added aroma hops at flame out) so I'm not sure how they could have carried mold. It's probably just too much oxygen and a slow fermentation.

Does the white layer on top look normal (aside from the two specs)? My previous two batches looked quite different (not so white)
 
Yup, just rack underneath and leave the last inch or so of beer in the carboy. All you can do is bottle or keg and see how it turns out. One spec of mold isn't reason to dump gallons of precious beer.
 
You can rack under the mold. The beer is fine. Mold only happens on the surface if the co2 barrier was broken, but it doesn't harm the beer underneath.

Yooper's done it, I've done it....lot's of people. Just be carefull and leave it behind.
 
Yeah looks fine to me. Would suggest working on fermentation control though. A room that you guess is 55-65 could put your beer in flux from 55-70+
 
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