First attempt = Problems

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NickN72

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So I decided to make a batch of Brandon O's Graff. Followed his recipe, pitched some rehydrated nottingham, and put it away to ferment. Then I started reading about some of the problems people have been having with Nottingham. I got worried so i started checking it once a day, and 72 hours later i still had nothing. I was going to repitch with some S-04 or S-05, but when i opened the lid this time, this is what i found.

IMG00019.jpg




Is there any saving this or is it a dumper? can i rack from below it and repitch?

I've made 6 or 7 batches of beer and never had an infection so this is new territory for me
 
That is definitely a dumper. Obviously the fermentation never started and when you leave sugars sitting around for that long with no yeast activity (ie, alcohol) this can easily happen. Did you have old yeast? Pitch it too hot? What was the OG?
 
OG was 1.058, everything was good and cool when i pitched. I really don't know how old the yeast was, i should have checked it but i didn't. I didn't pay attention at the lhbs when i told the guy i needed some nottingham, and when i got home i found he had given me windsor, so i had to run to a close shop and pick some up and didn't pay attention to the date. I've heard that you can rack from underneath it sometimes and still save it, but I didn't know if that was possible here or not.
 
Ewwwwww.. by the looks of it it's floating all through it, don't know if you'd be able to rack that out :(
 
Ideally you could put it in a carboy with a lot less headspace and blow some CO2 on the top so that you arent getting random organisms from all that air.

Make sure that the surroundings are clean. Mold in the cider is usually an indicator that there is mold nearby
 
72 hrs seems really quick for it to develop mold was it under airlock?
Did you use any campden in the AJ before making the graff?
 
72 hrs seems really quick for it to develop mold was it under airlock?
Did you use any campden in the AJ before making the graff?

It was under airlock, and i sanitized everything with starsan. I didn't use any campden, probably should have obviously.

Now this morning it looks like the yeast has finally started and there is some krausen on top with the mold (I pitched on Saturday, so that's 4.5 days for fermentation to start). Will it be better to still rack from underneath and repitch, or let it go and rack from underneath when its done fermenting?
 
got it transfered. do i still repitch or will there be enough yeast in suspension that i don't need to? if i do need to, do i repitch with notty again or some S-05?
 
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