EMERGENCY: Moldy LME
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davesrose
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Don't use it is my vote. Even though it gets boiled, you'll still get mold flavor in there and potential for some bad things (IE Ergotism or some such). Much safer to be patient and get some more LME. I know it's hard as many LHBS are closed on Sundays 
Scrap the mold off and use it. I've had a couple batches that didn't get made in a timely manner and had some mold but they came out great. Our friends still rave about the Stella clone from AHS that we made with some of the moldy LME (don't tell them).
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hlumbard
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I'm just glad SWMBO is napping and didn't see it. I think I got most of it off the top. I'm gonna go ahead but I'll try one after it's bottled and if it's funky I'll probably pitch the rest. I just can't bring myself to stop now but I do appreciate the help davesrose.
davesrose
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I know patience has no virtue when it comes to brew day
Well good luck and hopefully there isn't a bad bacteria strain in there. 
Scrap the mold off and use it. I've had a couple batches that didn't get made in a timely manner and had some mold but they came out great. Our friends still rave about the Stella clone from AHS that we made with some of the moldy LME (don't tell them).
I agree with nurmey....the mold is only on the surface. Just carefully remove the first inch or two of the extract.
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hlumbard
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Lets say there was something terrible growing in there. Wouldn't a 60min boil kill anything that could harm me? Forgetting about off flavors (which I definitely think would show up in the end) doesn't the boil get rid of the bugs?
Yes, boiling is very effective at killing mold spores and there won't be any off flavors from it.
davesrose
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Not if it's a chemical compound that was created by the mold or other critters. The critters may get killed off, but they can leave poisonous alkaloids that will stay in the beer during brewing. That's the worst case scenario of course. Chances are you might get some funky tastes by not using fresh malt, and that's the worst. But there's a very slim chance that you'll get something like accute Ergotism.
homebrewer_99
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Not saying you don't have a mold problem, but if I remember right sometimes you open a can and there's a green film up on. It's not mold but hop particles.
BTW, I haven't used LME since 1994 and don't recommend it to anyone who wants to make a light colored brew.
BTW, I haven't used LME since 1994 and don't recommend it to anyone who wants to make a light colored brew.
Ergotism now? Oy vey, just what we need more fear mongering. Sorry Dave, but that's waaaaayyyy too over the top.
Daily many of us have to answer threads about that very topic, people thinking that if they make a mistake that their beer can kill people, make people extremely ill, or cause yeast infection and other illness.
Nothing pathogenic can live in beer, including botchuism. So the only "poisoning" you can get is liver poising...but we're all in the same boat with that anyway, so you are in good company.
I came across this from a pretty well known and award winning homebrewer railing against a fellow brewer (it was on one of those "color coded" brewboards where they are a little less friendly than we are.) I just cut and pasted it and stuck it in a file...here it is.
It's important to remember that one of the reasons we have beer today (one of the oldest beverages in existence) is because it was made to be drunk in places where drinking the WATER was deadly....By boiling the wort, adding hops (which is an antiseptic), changing the ph, and pitching yeast, you killed of any microorganism that good be harmful.....in fact the third runnings of the brewing process was fermented at an extremely low gravit 1-2% ABV, and it was called "table beer" or "Kid's Beer" this is the stuff that people drank with meals...it was their water replacement, like Iced tea or soda pop...because again the fermentation process insured thatit was safer than the water.
Let's not go there, really let's not. There are just way too many scared folks on here, and folks in this world that can go blind from brewing.....Let's not go into some wild "worst case scenario" like Ergotism, that really has little bearing on the discussion at hand.
Daily many of us have to answer threads about that very topic, people thinking that if they make a mistake that their beer can kill people, make people extremely ill, or cause yeast infection and other illness.
Nothing pathogenic can live in beer, including botchuism. So the only "poisoning" you can get is liver poising...but we're all in the same boat with that anyway, so you are in good company.
I came across this from a pretty well known and award winning homebrewer railing against a fellow brewer (it was on one of those "color coded" brewboards where they are a little less friendly than we are.) I just cut and pasted it and stuck it in a file...here it is.
It's important to remember that one of the reasons we have beer today (one of the oldest beverages in existence) is because it was made to be drunk in places where drinking the WATER was deadly....By boiling the wort, adding hops (which is an antiseptic), changing the ph, and pitching yeast, you killed of any microorganism that good be harmful.....in fact the third runnings of the brewing process was fermented at an extremely low gravit 1-2% ABV, and it was called "table beer" or "Kid's Beer" this is the stuff that people drank with meals...it was their water replacement, like Iced tea or soda pop...because again the fermentation process insured thatit was safer than the water.
Let's not go there, really let's not. There are just way too many scared folks on here, and folks in this world that can go blind from brewing.....Let's not go into some wild "worst case scenario" like Ergotism, that really has little bearing on the discussion at hand.
KopyKat
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This seems to me to be an opportunity for a new beer or even a new style.
Moldy Point IPA
Moldy Top Wit
Some Moldy Ale
Mold Pit Lager
Molded Ale
Moldy Point IPA
Moldy Top Wit
Some Moldy Ale
Mold Pit Lager
Molded Ale
Austinhomebrew
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The most important thing is that you waited too long to use the extract. How old is it?
You can just scrape the mold off the top if it is not too bad.
The reason the mold is there is because it is old. This happens with fresh extract that is left too long. Same thing happens with cheese.
If you know you are not going to use the extract for a while, a spritz of vodka or everclear on top will prevent mold.
Forrest
You can just scrape the mold off the top if it is not too bad.
The reason the mold is there is because it is old. This happens with fresh extract that is left too long. Same thing happens with cheese.
If you know you are not going to use the extract for a while, a spritz of vodka or everclear on top will prevent mold.
Forrest
davesrose
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Nothing pathogenic can live in beer, including botchuism. So the only "poisoning" you can get is liver poising...but we're all in the same boat with that anyway, so you are in good company.
....
Let's not go there, really let's not. There are just way too many scared folks on here, and folks in this world that can go blind from brewing.....Let's not go into some wild "worst case scenario" like Ergotism, that really has little bearing on the discussion at hand.
Botchulism and ergotism are two different things. Now admittedly I would agree that with current ingredients in beer, ergot is extremely unlikely to get in homebrew. I recently debated with a psychiatrist who mantained that ergotism is a serious issue with beer. That he had some unknown Nigerian beer 20 years ago and had a hallucinogenic reaction to it, and that he was concerned my batches of beer could give me ergotism. My arguement against that was A: ergot is mainly found on rye and sorghum (so that might explain some unknown Nigerian beer made from sorghum), and B: homebrew by and large now comes from similar comercial sources as comercial beer (unlike prohibition beer that could come from unknown sources). Ergotism is not a serious issue now, but there were epidemics of it in the past. It's also an example of how there can be chemical compounds that are not staved off from normal boiling temperatures.
I'm not of the mindset that the sky is falling, but I also believe in informed science. Ergotism is not something brewers will encounter because of the source of ingredients used: it is not fended off from the brewing process.
I Know The difference....The point is, this extract is not going to have ergot spores init, nor are we ever going to have to deal with it in our brewing. And all bringing such a far fetched thing into THIS discussion, is going to elicit fear in ignorant and frankly scared new brewers....We try to DISSUADE provoking that sort of thing on here, especially in the beginners section.
It's is frankly irresponsible to even bring it up in this thread or in this part of the forum...if you want to debate it/discuss it on HBT, do it in the science section, NOT in a beginner's thread where we have scared people lurking.
I mean, even you said the chance of it is rare so if that's the case, why bother to bring it into THIS discourse?
You're talking about psychology here, you should have a little understanding about, the psychology about the begging brewer, heck you should know how it is irresponsible to shout fire in a movie theater, which this is not TOO different from.
I'm sure Forrest wouldn't appreciate even tenuously someone mentioning ergot and HIS extract at the same time.
Scrape off the mold and don't throw any bottles away. There is no way it will ruin your batch or get infected due to a little mold.
I ordered 3 kits from AHS at the same time. Used 2 of them right away. It was 2 or 3 weeks before I used the last one. When I opened the LME it was molded over. No problem, scrape it off and pour it in. Turned out a great beer. Yours will be fine. Don't worry about it.
Just remember to use the LME in a timely manner next time and you wont have to deal with the mold.
Just remember to use the LME in a timely manner next time and you wont have to deal with the mold.
Grimtas
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I had 6#'s of Light LME that never got used when I stopped brewing last. Three years later when I started back up again it was a bit moldy and turned into a dark LME. I scrapped the mold and used it in a stout. No issues whatsoever and the batch turned out great.
