Mold before even adding the yeast!!!

Okay, so I'm making wine, but all the problems / questions are the same as if brewing beer:

My first winemaking project has got off to a disasterous start! I spent 4 whole days preparing everything, meticulously sanitised all my equipment, mixed my Beaverdale kit with the water and oak chips and decided to let this mix get to 20 degree room temp before adding yeast.

My plan was to leave it 3 days to the weekend then add the yeast so I could dedicate time to any problems. But now (Friday night), I already have a major one. Because the lid was on, the surface of the mix is already splattered with bits of mold, especially around the floating oak chips. Its mostly white, with occasional bits turning grey. There is also a little foam, but this may be unrelated.

After feeling really foolish, I've skimmed as much mold away from the surface as poss (>95%), and added the yeast to see what happens, but I have loads of questions now:

? 1. Will the mold be toxic / dangerous?

? 2. Will the mold prevent successful fermentation?

? 3. Will the mold leave an off-taste

? 4. Will the same mold now be more likely to grow after fermentation or does the fermentaion kill it off?

? 5. In a panic I took some silly risks skimming the mold. The utensils were santised but some paper towels touched the wine, and so did my unwashed hands. How long do I have to wait to know for sure that the wine has not been spoilt by a) mold b) vinegar

? 6. Should I pop a Camden tablet / other into mix, which will now have been fermenting a few hours / day or so depending on speed of reply.

I realise the advice maybe to just start again, but the 30 bottle kit was quite expensive, I'm poor this month, and I'm desperate to get this finished for Christmas. If there's >70% of still producing a good wine, I'll take the risk.

First of all, why would you wait three days after preparing the must before adding the yeast? You were already asking for trouble that way.

Fermentation isn't instantaneous, it takes a long time for it to go through. Sanitizing isn't the same a sterilizing. Sanitizing is a means to where you kill or stun MOST of the microorganisms, to give a fresh set (your yeast) a chance to take over. Sterilizing kills all microorganisms, and usually outside the realm of homebreweres.


There are no known pathogens that can live in beer and wine. You won't die.

The mold may leave an off taste, but if you caught it early it may not be noticable.

The mold may have already ruined your batch because you waited too long before pitching, but DON'T dump it yet! Just wait and see what happens. You did good to skim off the top as much as you could, but it's possible it could still be a goner.

If you've already pitched the yeast, dont' add another campden tablet that will only slow down the yeast or kill it. The only thing left you can do is wait and see. If it's turning to vinegar you'll smell it in the airlock. If there's more mold growing on top you'll see hairy gray and white 'islands' on top of the must.

So next time, as soon as the must is ready pitch the frickin yeast!

If you're still deadset on making some wine by xmas, there's a recipe for Welch's grape wine in the recipe database. I've made it and it's not topshelf snooty-wine, but still pretty awesome. You're also pushing for time if you want it to be ready by christmas. Most wines taste better after a few months of aging especially anything red.

lso, we do have a winemaking forum as well, it's winemakingtalk.com if you're interested in that as well.

<First of all, why would you wait three days after preparing the must before adding the yeast?>

Because I'm an arse-hat?

<Sanitizing isn't the same a sterilizing. Sanitizing is a means to where you kill or stun MOST of the microorganisms, to give a fresh set (your yeast) a chance to take over. Sterilizing kills all microorganisms, and usually outside the realm of homebreweres.>

k, I used VWP, which describes itself as a 'cleaner, steriliser'.

<There are no known pathogens that can live in beer and wine. You won't die. >

That's always good news.

<The mold may leave an off taste, but if you caught it early it may not be noticable. The mold may have already ruined your batch because you waited too long before pitching, but DON'T dump it yet! Just wait and see what happens. You did good to skim off the top as much as you could, but it's possible it could still be a goner.>

: ( Problem is its using my primary vesssel in the meantime.

<If you've already pitched the yeast, dont' add another campden tablet that will only slow down the yeast or kill it.>

k, thanks.

<If it's turning to vinegar you'll smell it in the airlock. If there's more mold growing on top you'll see hairy gray and white 'islands' on top of the must.>

But how long before I know for sure I'm 'in the dry' from this slip-up? E.g. If the wine looks, smells, tastes good after 7 days fermentation, can I assume for certain that my mistake won't cause problems or can the mold & vinegar symptoms take longer to evolve?

<So next time, as soon as the must is ready pitch the frickin yeast!>

Er, yes. Gottit.

<If you're still deadset on making some wine by xmas, there's a recipe for Welch's grape wine in the recipe database. I've made it and it's not topshelf snooty-wine, but still pretty awesome. You're also pushing for time if you want it to be ready by christmas. Most wines taste better after a few months of aging especially anything red.>

It was more for gifts and I was going to tell them to wait a bit before 'enjoying'. Who in the world doesn't love a bit of moldy wine for Xmas?!!!

If you got as much of the mold as you could, I would give the fermentation a week. Just leave it alone, and if you smell sour vinegar and you check it and the mold is back, you may as well dump it. You'll be able to tell right away if it's bad from the smell. Now, keep in mind that normal wine yeast also puts a skin of gross glop on top of the must as well, so that doesnt necessarily mean that it's bad. You can also take a photo of what it looks like and post it, and we can tell you if it looks bad or not. If it starts to smell like wine, then you're in the clear.

I must say I've never heard of VWP, and I can't seem to find much info on what's in it. It doesn't say that it's a no rinse, so I hope you washed all residue away afterwards. It might be chlorine based, like bleach and in that case you'd definitely want to have rinsed the primary thoroughly. There's microbes in the air too, and all they had to do was be in the air and land onto your sweet must and start chowing away. Why we don't get more batches going bad is that the yeast is pitched in such numbers that it overwhelms everything else trying to get a foothold. Also, I didn't see where you said you'd sanitized the oak chips. You can do that next time by microwaving them for a minute before adding them, or steaming them for a few minutes.


ohhhh making it as a gift to open in a few months. As the guiness commercial guys say... "brilliant!"

And if they open it in 4 months and it tastes like athletes foot, I'll just say I meant 3 months!

I think VWP is the best selling sanitiser in the UK
http://www.beertech.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=143

I didn't sanitise the oak chips because they were in sealed packs and there was no further info.

7 days time = no noticable problems= 100% sure further probs won't develop due to this particular mistake?