Mold in my beer???

beanbagz1 said:

i brewed an all grain batch of cream of three crops cream ale about 3 months ago... i had been looking for a corny keg for some time.. hoping to be able to keg my first batch and not have to bottle... problem is one week turned into 3.. and then 3 weeks turned into over 3 months in the primary..

i now have a corny keg, and transferred my beer into the secondary after this long span of time. i took a small sample out to taste and it really isnt half bad, but is giving me a pretty killer stomach ache.

after looking at the primary, the lid to the plastic fermenter has some black mold growing in the lip of the lid. did i spoil this batch by letting it sit in the primary for too long?

AHHHHH

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winvarin said:

I'd look somewhere in your process for a sanitation breach. Extra time in primary won't encourage mold growth. You likely picked up a bug at some point in the process and inadvertently gave it access to your beer.

It doesn't take much. Last year I dumped 3 batches that had all gushed and gone sour (not the good kind). After spending a couple hour reviewing my process and gear, I found the likely culprit. I had a tiny cut in one of my transfer hoses so small I could only see it when holding the tube up to a light.

I replaced the tubing and my auto siphon for good measure. Have not had an unintentionally sour batch since.

My bet is you put your gear away wet and the mold or whatever it is is lurking in some hard to clean spot.

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