Pretty Sure I Have Mold. What To Do?

I've been homebrewing for about a year and haven't had any failures yet. This sure looks like a mold to me. I did extensive searching and have not been able to find anything that resembles this.
Should I bother providing more details, or pitch it? It is an all grain American Pale Ale and I'm using a cleaned and sanitized old Mr. Beer tub for the primary. OG- 1.065, current gravity 1.031-1.032 and has been fermenting for 6 days.

Please advise.

That is awesome, looks like nerve cells. But I would definitely think you have a problem....not one that necessarily leads to pitching, but being I haven't seen that one before, I'll let the masters give further instruction.

I'm pretty good at Google-Fu and couldn't find anything that resembles this after 3 hours of searching. Figured I'd throw it out for everyone to see.

Well, that's definitely an infection of some sort. It's hard to tell from your picture if it is mold - is it furry looking?

I don't think it's mold, it's an infection of some sort which is different from mold.

Here is a thread wi lots of pics.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/pellicle-photo-collection-174033/

Maybe there is some info in there that you can use.

It looks fairly similar to this guy's mold infection. Yours just looks to be a bit more...cultivated.

It certainly doesn't look like your typical brett biofilm or lacto pellicle. Grab a sample out from under it and see how it tastes. If it tastes fine, bottle it or keg it or whatever you do with your beer. If it doesn't, pitch it. Either way, ditch the Mr. Beer tub and get a replacement bucket or something. It's hard to get contaminants out of plastic.

EDIT: If it is a bacterial or wild yeast infection, it could still be fermenting albeit slowly. Wait a few weeks and make sure the gravity is stable before bottling if you plan on keeping it.

Sorry to hear about your beer but that **** looks super cool. Would you take a few more pics, maybe a close up, or with a whiter light, pretty please

DON'T DROP YOUR CAMERA IN!!!!

Cue the guy saying: "Just let it go. It's a sour, now."

Maybe a lacto/pedio infection:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/lacto-pedio-infection-359936/

Have you tasted it? The underlying beer might still be fine. It might also go sour, which is a style that some people really dig (like me).

It may sound sick, but my sorrow for your infection is actually tinged with a bit of jealousy. I think I would name that infection Larry and put it in a corner somewhere and see what develops while you try to CSI the infection.

tre9er said:

Cue the guy saying: "Just let it go. It's a sour, now."

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Look at that, I barged in right on cue! My timing is impeccable today...

Yeah it's a pretty sweet looking pellicle. Not mold, but you got something funky on there! When it comes to wild yeast and brettanomyces it's hard to tell exactly what kind it is based on the pellicle alone. Give it a taste but with your gravity that high I would let it sit awhile if you're thinking of seeing what happens.

Also I would love more close ups or better lighted pics!

Thunder_Chicken said:

Maybe a lacto/pedio infection:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/lacto-pedio-infection-359936/

Have you tasted it? The underlying beer might still be fine. It might also go sour, which is a style that some people really dig (like me).

It may sound sick, but my sorrow for your infection is actually tinged with a bit of jealousy. I think I would name that infection Larry and put it in a corner somewhere and see what develops while you try to CSI the infection.



Look at that, I barged in right on cue! My timing is impeccable today...

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haha. I wasn't going to be the guy because I know nothing about sours, but glad someone fulfilled the prophecy!

tre9er said:

haha. I wasn't going to be the guy because I know nothing about sours, but glad someone fulfilled the prophecy!

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It was fated by the gods.

OP should also check out the Lambic and Wild Fermentation Forum. What you have might be, in the immortal words of Bob Ross :fro:, a "Happy Accident".

I'm almost certain that isn't mold. It might be pediococcus:

http://homebrew.stackexchange.com/questions/9569/is-this-lactobacillus
(see first answer in that thread)

gnomebrew said:

I'm almost certain that isn't mold. It might be pediococcus:

http://homebrew.stackexchange.com/questions/9569/is-this-lactobacillus
(see first answer in that thread)

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Pretty funny final point about different tastes on this link! Ha

damn....Looks like a close up of a vanilla wafer.

nickydballs said:

Pretty funny final point about different tastes on this link! Ha

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Dammit...this goat won't fit in my steeping bag! Try the Pediococcus!

OP Here...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/contaminated-spoiled-you-decide-150728/

I finally found a match!!!
Sudbuster posted this on 12/7/2009. My "growth" very closely mirrors picture #5. I'm not sure if the link will work.
No outrageous smell, but I'm afraid to taste anything under that. I guess its time for a little liquor courage.

deffinitely not mold. it is some sort of infection. let it r.ide, it should be pretty tastey

That looks nasty. You should bathe more often.

Squaregrouper said:

OP Here...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/contaminated-spoiled-you-decide-150728/

I finally found a match!!!
Sudbuster posted this on 12/7/2009. My "growth" very closely mirrors picture #5. I'm not sure if the link will work.
No outrageous smell, but I'm afraid to taste anything under that. I guess its time for a little liquor courage.

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I tasted it last night- it tasted fine; rather bland actually. I'm going to hold on to it.
Current SG- 1.021

Squaregrouper said:

I tasted it last night- it tasted fine; rather bland actually. I'm going to hold on to it.
Current SG- 1.021

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It might take a long time for it to go sour, if it ever does.

If you've never had a sour beer, try a Lindemans Gueuze Cuvée René lambic. They are pricey, but for my money they make a nice treat every once in a while. The sourness hits like a lemony zing.

Hopefully someone more versed in the sours/lambics will help you out. I'm actually slightly envious of you now.

I'm not a huge fan of sour beers.
I'm willing to pull a culture and send it to anyone who wants one. Just paythe postage.

Most likely since you made an American Pale Ale than you're IBU's will be too high to allow lacto to grow and most likely pediococus as well. There's no guaranty that what you have will turn out in the long run. Most of the time the brettanomyces strains and lactic acid producing bacteria are carefully selected.

Also I would not recommend inoculating any other beer with what you've got until its proven to have good qualities/traits.

The beer is relatively young at this point and a lot of these wild yeast/bugs take time to attenuate and give there characteristic flavors and aromas.

Squaregrouper said:

I tasted it last night- it tasted fine; rather bland actually. I'm going to hold on to it.
Current SG- 1.021

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I got the sg down to 1.011 and bottled it on Monday- making sure to stop before risking bottling any of the surface infection. Today I checked the bottles and they all had the same nasty crud.
Unfortunately, I did my first "PROHIBITION DUMP" of a batch of homebrew.

Squaregrouper said:

I got the sg down to 1.011 and bottled it on Monday- making sure to stop before risking bottling any of the surface infection. Today I checked the bottles and they all had the same nasty crud.
Unfortunately, I did my first "PROHIBITION DUMP" of a batch of homebrew.

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Off topic but there is an awesome bar in juniper FL called the squaregrouper.

Very pretty. You may be on to something here, and it should definitely be submitted for the yearly pellicle award.

Where do you get your water from? I've seen things floating in Middle River that resemble that...

nickydballs said:

Off topic but there is an awesome bar in juniper FL called the squaregrouper.

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Squaregrouper was the code used by smugglers in The Keys during the 1970's to say they were going to pick up bales of marijuana. "I'm going fishing for squaregrouper" meant they were going to pick up some bales dropped out of an airplane.

IslandLizard said:

Very pretty. You may be on to something here, and it should definitely be submitted for the yearly pellicle award.

Where do you get your water from? I've seen things floating in Middle River that resemble that...

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Ahhh, good old Middle River... We might want to try a Natty Boh homebrew some time. Nevermind, I'll just buy a 6 pack for $3.50
My water is Pikesville's finest- filtered through a 5 micron filter and carbon block.