Persistent white mold problem

I've been having an increasing rate of white mold. It usually pops up in secondary, but I've noticed that even if I leave a half beer sitting around it will skin over within a day or two. Is there any way to treat the basement as a whole instead of just bleaching/sanitizing the carboy?

I don't know of any way to treat your house. You can step up your sanitation on the carboy/equipment to get rid of the mold in the beer, though.

Get rid of any plastic (like tubing) and buy new and sanitize well. Instead of doing a "secondary" (clearing vessel), try using just a single fermenter (as keeping oxygen out will prevent mold) and then packaging on about day 10-14, or when the beer starts to clear and has been finished fermenting for at least 3 days.

maybe a dehumidifier?

White skin? That sounds like a pellicle. Any pics?

Maybe get a mold specialist to inspect your basement.

If you're doing lacto based fermentations alongside (yogurt, cheese) in the same place, that may also be the source of the airborne critters that seem to share your living space.

White skin VERY MUCH sounds like pediococcus. If you have a friend with a microscope check it out under the microscope; short round rods in pairs or chains is pedio.

The most common infection vector is fruit flies.

-What do you use to sanitize your equipment? (Pedio is VERY tolerant of acids so if you're just using starsan, you'll want to try something else to get rid of pedio; strong solution of hot PBW + an oxygen-based sanitizer should be more useful against pedio; iodine sanitizers should work too but the alkaline ph of PBW is my personal preference for pedio.


Adam

Do you mill your own grain and, if so, in the same area you are fermenting and transferring your beer? I ask because I ran into the exact same issue this summer when I had to move all of my fermenting beer down to the basement due to high temperatures. I also found that if I leave a glass out for a couple days it will get the white skin on top. I decided to taste the last one, and it had a definite sour flavor to it. Guessing the culprit was airborne Lacto from my grain mill I started taking extra precautions on not opening fermenting buckets downstairs and only transferring upstairs. Problem went away.

Hi all,

Thanks so much for the great replies. We do have a nice dehumidifier, so I think Pedio is probably the culprit. I am pretty manic about sanitizing, but I use StarSan. I will investigate oxygen-based solutions. I don't mill grain in that area, but I do measure bulk grains, and that's probably just as dusty. I will implement all these suggestions and report back!

Thanks again. Love this forum.

d

Einberger1 said:

Do you mill your own grain and, if so, in the same area you are fermenting and transferring your beer? I ask because I ran into the exact same issue this summer when I had to move all of my fermenting beer down to the basement due to high temperatures. I also found that if I leave a glass out for a couple days it will get the white skin on top. I decided to taste the last one, and it had a definite sour flavor to it. Guessing the culprit was airborne Lacto from my grain mill I started taking extra precautions on not opening fermenting buckets downstairs and only transferring upstairs. Problem went away.

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Oh dang, I didn't think about that. I just got a mill and have been milling an arms reach from my ferm chamber.

I also have been having white mold pop up on stuff in my basement in the last few weeks. Not any of my brewing stuff, mostly fabrics, backpacks, etc. Its been a humid summer, so I think a dehumidifier is in order.

I can't believe how much water this thing is pulling out of the air...

Yeah it's pretty crazy! I just harvested my hops so I'm drying them with the help of the dehumidifier. I have it cranked as low as it'll go and I have to empty it 3 times in 2 days. Doesn't help it's been raining, I guess....

i know this is an old thread, but I'm having the same issues... literally everything I transfer to secondary gets white fur on top after about a week. I just pitched my glass carboys, got new plastic big mouths to use. I use PBW and Star San on everything. New tubing (i'm using silicone tubes), still getting the white fur.

I don't mill my own grain at home... humidity is low in my house this time of year.

Would k-meta/campden in the finished beer kill it? maybe that will wreck the beer? or am I just gonna have to stop brewing?

super frustrated...

jslande01 said:

i know this is an old thread, but I'm having the same issues... literally everything I transfer to secondary gets white fur on top after about a week. I just pitched my glass carboys, got new plastic big mouths to use. I use PBW and Star San on everything. New tubing (i'm using silicone tubes), still getting the white fur.

I don't mill my own grain at home... humidity is low in my house this time of year.

Would k-meta/campden in the finished beer kill it? maybe that will wreck the beer? or am I just gonna have to stop brewing?

super frustrated...

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Stop using a secondary vessel. Eliminating oxygen exposure will prevent mold growth.

RPh_Guy said:

Stop using a secondary vessel. Eliminating oxygen exposure will prevent mold growth.

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I thought it was a bad idea to leave it on the dead yeast in a primary for too long.

These are 8-11% Belgians and they need some time before they're consumable.

jslande01 said:

I thought it was a bad idea to leave it on the dead yeast in a primary for too long.

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Absolutely not. There's no benefit at all from using a secondary vessel.
It'll be fine in primary for a couple months at least, depending on the temperature.

You could also play around with a different sanitizer. Iodophor or a sulfite + acid sanitizer may be helpful for reducing mold spores.
However, mold spores are prevalent in the air so it's not really possible to avoid them entirely, no matter how well you clean and sanitize.

Since mold requires oxygen, the best course of action is to deprive them of it. Oxygen is also generally harmful to the flavors in beer.

jslande01 said:

These are 8-11% Belgians and they need some time before they're consumable.

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If your beers aren't consumable immediately, then your fermentation process could use some improvement.

• Adequate pitch rate (yeast starter)
• Good yeast health (vitality)
• Aeration/oxygenation when pitching
• Yeast nutrients
• Temperature control

I've made plenty of 9-14% beers and wines that are drinkable immediately (no fusels, etc).

Hope this helps.

Appreciate the advice. Will give it a go on the next couple and see how it goes.