Stuff I've never seen on my Cider, infection?

So I got some unfiltered cider to ferment, I used d-47 yeast. At first I thought this was yeast and then mold but its not fuzzy. I don't know, so here I am. It has little drops on it, weird!

here is a closeup

Looks like foam to me. Wouldn't worry about it just yet. If it ever forms a solid skin then you may be facing trouble.

LeBreton said:

Looks like foam to me. Wouldn't worry about it just yet. If it ever forms a solid skin then you' may be facing trouble.

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My buddy is brewing his second batch of cider ever, and these same white and bluish blotches popped up. They a clumped together in a manner that makes them look like orange peels. What is the cause of this? Should he just ride it out, and taste test it when he racks it to a secondary?

Athos56 said:

So I got some unfiltered cider to ferment, I used d-47 yeast. At first I thought this was yeast and then mold but its not fuzzy. I don't know, so here I am. It has little drops on it, weird!

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Athos, what did you end up doing with yours?

JLP said:

My buddy is brewing his second batch of cider ever, and these same white and bluish blotches popped up. They a clumped together in a manner that makes them look like orange peels. What is the cause of this? Should he just ride it out, and taste test it when he racks it to a secondary?

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Those look similar to pectin globs. But I've never seen them turn any shade of blue, brown is more common.

LeBreton said:

Those look similar to pectin globs. But I've never seen them turn any shade of blue, brown is more common.

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What exactly does pectin do to cider? I keep seeing that it occurs in apple's naturally, and it is safe to eat. He's going to dump the batch soon, but I am trying to keep him from doing so.

Athos yours looks like yeast islands, you'll be fine. JLP.. that shade of green/blue looks like mold to me.

I would rack those to another vessel carefully from the bottom. I'm sure they are probably just fine to drink but YUCK. It looks pretty nasty.

I got him talked into keeping it, and changing it over only by telling him that I would siphon it to my own carboy given the word. Apparently, offering to take someone else's moldy hooch in an effort to try to save it will motivate some people!!!

Just a heads up, if it is mold the batch is pretty much ruined. Racking under the mold won't work as the mold itself releases toxins into the cider that can't be avoided.

JLP, that looks like straigh-up mold to me.

Oldmate and Coders, I went over to his house last night, and after 9 days it finally started to ferment. Upon talking to him, he boiled his champaign yeast before adding it to the cider, so I think that he killed all but some of the yeast, and it took this long for the yeast to build themselves up. While doing so it allowed the mold to grow. After some deliberation we racked it underneath the mold into another carboy, and added more yeast to it. It almost immediately started to display a reaction. While siphoning it off the very top of the batch tasted fine to him, but I picked up a hint of wet sponge. When we got to the trub, I swear someone had wringed an old sponge into my mouth, but he still thought it tasted good. I have a feeling that I will get the blame when it turns out with some crazy off flavors, as he wanted to just let it ride!

I know the feeling about "letting it ride"!!! I have an anchor steam clone in my basement from last year that tastes like crap, but it was so expensive to make...I can't bring myself to pour it out. HAHA You never know when you might need something in a pinch right?

Pickled_Pepper said:

I know the feeling about "letting it ride"!!! I have an anchor steam clone in my basement from last year that tastes like crap, but it was so expensive to make...I can't bring myself to pour it out. HAHA You never know when you might need something in a pinch right?

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Yeah, he just kept talking about how much it costs. I can't say that I blame him though, nor you either.