Aaaaagh! White mold in fermenter!

[bob3000]

Just went to bottle a belgian pale ale and when i open my plastic bucket i found a white substance around where the air lock should be and some white mold like substance on the trub cling to the sides. There also was a little white stuff floating on top of the beer! i bottleed it anyway and it was hard to tell if it tasted wrong as i used an untried recipe.

I'm assuming i have an infection of some kind. What should i do? What sort of infection could it be? and do i now need to replace all my plastics?

Also, instead of an airlock I used clingfilm (or plastic wrap if your that way inclined) i have feeling this was my downfall.

 

[EarthBound]

Ttiwwp

 

[Faseel]

Well it is very possible an infection, but when you plate brewers yeast it is snow white mold. Any off colors are strain mutation but white is gold in my eyes. The weird thing in your situation is that you had to have something for them to site on. Last minute extract or sugar addition.? Perhaps cooled to fast and floated to the top food, air and a sterile place to sit and you just grew a massive colony. This is just speculation of course, got any details up to your pitch?

 

[jiggs_casey]

Well it is very possible an infection, but when you plate brewers yeast it is snow white mold. Any off colors are strain mutation but white is gold in my eyes. The weird thing in your situation is that you had to have something for them to site on. Last minute extract or sugar addition.? Perhaps cooled to fast and floated to the top food, air and a sterile place to sit and you just grew a massive colony. This is just speculation of course, got any details up to your pitch?

Ha?

 

[Revvy]

an we see a picture? I doubt there's anything wrong.....Fermentation and the after effects thereof, are ugly and messy and nasty looking when they're perfectly normal.

Have you tasted it?

 

[Revvy]

Ha?

Is ha another word for WTF????

 

[AviatorTroy]

I think you could be pretty screwed. I'd drink it as fast as you can. Sort of joking, but not really.

 

[bob3000]

i pitched WLP550, it was past its use by so i used a 2 litre starter. Fermentation finished out in about 3 days. It has been in the the primary for about 2.5 - 3 weeks.
Sorry I don't have any pics but I pannicked and threw the whole thing away then disinfected.
There seemed to be a number of small colonies around the air hole and it seemed to me that they had spread from there but maybe they where clustered around it as it was a source of oxygen and they had come from inside.
I tasted it in the days running up to bottling and it seemed good. Had a bigger taste after i had opened the fermentor and it seemed like there might have been a bit of an acidic bite but my mind might have been playing tricks on me.

 

[Rushis]

RDWHAHB

Clean your bucket thoroughly, use sanitizer, you'll be fine.

 

[bigbeergeek]

I think you could be pretty screwed. I'd drink it as fast as you can. Sort of joking, but not really.

That was a meaningless post.

 

[bigbeergeek]

RDWHAHB

Clean your bucket thoroughly, use sanitizer, you'll be fine.

This.

A little mold on top of the beer isn't the end of the world. That tiny mold raft won't infect every bottle, especially if you racked the beer from underneath and left it in the bucket. If you're worried about an infection, keep the bottles in a plastic tub to protect from the hazards of bottle bombs. I've bottled a batch that had a tiny mold raft with no bombs or off flavors. RDWHAHB.

 

[bob3000]

This.

A little mold on top of the beer isn't the end of the world. That tiny mold raft won't infect every bottle, especially if you racked the beer from underneath and left it in the bucket. If you're worried about an infection, keep the bottles in a plastic tub to protect from the hazards of bottle bombs. I've bottled a batch that had a tiny mold raft with no bombs or off flavors. RDWHAHB.

That's what i wanted to hear

 

[bob3000]

I think you could be pretty screwed. I'd drink it as fast as you can. Sort of joking, but not really.

Don't worry i can't imagine it will be hanging around for too long, I'm a very thirsty man

 

[Shockerengr]

My only suggestion would to be a bit careful where you store your bottles, there's a small possibility if there is an infection of getting bottle bombs....hate to have it get all over something you don't want covered in beer.

 

[EarthBound]

That was a meaningless post.

So was that one!

 

[bigbeergeek]

So was that one!

Not quite: I was drawing attention to the fact that there are places on this website to post random/meaningless stuff -- but this thread exists to address an issue that many homebrewers may need help with in the future.

 

[bob3000]

OK. Here's an update, hopefully some people are still following this thread and can help me out.

The beer has been a week in the bottle, I have open two to check it progress. Niether has been carbonated, I know it takes more than a week but these are really flat. And they taste quite sour. Also, all the bottles have some serious haze and i would have expected them to start clearing by now.
I am 99% sure what i had was infection. But who knows, hopefully they carbonate and may be tasty yet given time. Maybe i've brewed my first oud bruin

Any ideas for things to do with sour beers?

 

[two_hearted]

Pics pics pics?!?

 

[Revvy]

Come back in 2 more weeks when you know they're carbed and see if what appears sour to you right now is just the tiny bit of co2 in there.....Co2 presents as sour to folks quite often.

But since the beer's not really carbed or conditioned yet, it's really useless to worry or wonder if there's anything wrong....you have to wait to the beer's actually finished before judging....

 

[bob3000]

Pics pics pics?!?

what of? The bottle?

 

[bob3000]

Come back in 2 more weeks when you know they're carbed and see if what appears sour to you right now is just the tiny bit of co2 in there.....Co2 presents as sour to folks quite often.

But since the beer's not really carbed or conditioned yet, it's really useless to worry or wonder if there's anything wrong....you have to wait to the beer's actually finished before judging....

OK, OK.

I'll relax and wait a few more weeks. Maybe I haven't developed my "brewers patience" yet.

I JUST WANT BEER NOW> GODDAMIT!!!:cross:

 

[EarthBound]

what of? The bottle?

No. You said in your original post that you opened the bucket and found a white substance. How do we know what it actually looks like unless you post a picture? A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[Homercidal]

FYI - I went to North Peak Brewing Company on Monday after the Wings Training Camp, and saw that their pilot system uses open fermenters, which they had covered with overlapping layers of plastic wrap.

I did note after a close look that there were several fruit flies sitting on the plastic wrap, and I thought I did see a couple of places where the plastic was not completely sealed...

 

[Revvy]

FYI - I went to North Peak Brewing Company on Monday after the Wings Training Camp, and saw that their pilot system uses open fermenters, which they had covered with overlapping layers of plastic wrap.

I did note after a close look that there were several fruit flies sitting on the plastic wrap, and I thought I did see a couple of places where the plastic was not completely sealed...

That explains some of the funkiness I get in the Borth Peak beers. I love them, but there's something there I haven't been able to figure out.

I'm jealous!

 

[Shockerengr]

Any ideas for things to do with sour beers?

Drink them?

 

[day_trippr]

[...]Sorry I don't have any pics but I pannicked and threw the whole thing away then disinfected....

So...what pictures would people want you be taking if you already threw the batch out? Empty bottles?

Sometimes this place is just wacky...

Cheers!

 

[bob3000]

So...what pictures would people want you be taking if you already threw the batch out? Empty bottles?

Sometimes this place is just wacky...

Cheers!

What he said

 

[two_hearted]

what of? The bottle?

I was reading the thread before you posted your update and responded before my browser updated. I wanted to see your " mold." it helps for people to educate themselves on what an "infection" looks like vs ugly krausen. And helps in your diagnosis

 

[bob3000]

I was reading the thread before you posted your update and responded before my browser updated. I wanted to see your " mold." it helps for people to educate themselves on what an "infection" looks like vs ugly krausen. And helps in your diagnosis

Sorry again. I should have taken a pic but it was getting late and I was freaked out.
I'll know to post pics for any future problems.

 

[orv2485]

I opened my fermenter and found this. See the photos. The beer was a sweet stout. in the fermenter approx a month. Dumped it ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bob3000]

Mine was like that but no where near as bad. Unlucky one.