Gah! Film on top!

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

matrim

Active Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2011
Messages
35
Reaction score
0
Location
watsonville
I decided today would be as good a day as any to bottle three of my 1 gallon batch ciders that have been doing their thing in a closet for the past 7 months.

I moved one to the kitchen and noticed there was a white/grey film on top, and it dropped like a rock (in pieces) during the movement.

The first picture shows what's left of the film on the top. The second shows the chunks that fell to the bottom.

Is everything ruined forever?

Mold, bacteria, woken yeast?

I have very little experience with this, and am worried I might have lost a batch. Can anyone help?

IMG_1724.jpg


IMG_1728.jpg
 
Definitely bad. Could be any number of infectious bacteria. If you want to save the batch, rack out from underneath the film and add at least 50ppm of sulfites to combat further infection. In the future minimize headspace.
 
Bummer. Thanks for the reply.
I'm planning on pasteurizing right after bottling. Do I still need to add sulfites or will the pasteurization be enough?
 
Pasteurizing will kill all microbes but that is still days away, even after you bottle. Better to inhibit microbial growth before bottling rather than let them run amuck on your cider before addressing the issue.
 
Could the bacteria have produced any byproducts that could potentially hurt me? Or are the bacteria that grow in this type of medium generally harmless? I am bottling and pasteurizing today as I intended to make these ciders still. Thoughts?
 
Could the bacteria have produced any byproducts that could potentially hurt me? Or are the bacteria that grow in this type of medium generally harmless? I am bottling and pasteurizing today as I intended to make these ciders still. Thoughts?

It won't hurt you. It may affect the flavor, but it won't be harmful.

Make sure your fermenters are always topped up, with no headspace, to prevent this from happening.
 
Thanks for the help. They smelled good so I hope all is not lost. Take away: always keep topped up! got it.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top