aeonderdonk
Well-Known Member
I am doing my first mead and after being gone for a weekend I came back to the carboy to notice two half dollar sized mold circles on top of the liquid. I guess it's game over or is this salvageable?
Couple of mold spots, I guess it's game over?
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It might be ok! The first thing I'd do is to rack it to a new carboy with one crushed campden tablet per gallon, dissolved in a little water. Rack from under the mold, trying not to let any get sucked up into the new carboy. Also, make sure the new carboy is completely topped up. Mold only grows where it's exposed to oxygen/air, so I'm assuming the carboy isn't completely topped up. Don't allow any headspace in wine or mead, once primary fermentation is over!
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aeonderdonk
Well-Known Member
Yeah, there is a bit of extra space. I'll top it up after I rack it. I guess the gravity will be a bit lower but it's better than a wasted batch!
When you make mead or wine, it's important to keep it topped up. I make extra must, and keep it in a wine bottle with a small stopper and airlock, just to use for topping up. Most recipes take that into consideration, if you're to top up with water. In many of my "country" wines, I top up with a similar wine. For a dandelion wine, it might be pinot grigio, or a rhubarb wine.
Each time you rack, you need to top up the losses to keep the mead/wine safe.
The primary reason is to prevent oxidation. But as a benefit, keeping the headspace to a minimum and less exposed to oxygen, the less change of getting mold or other oxygen dependent infection. Campden tablets (potassium metabisulfite) help, too, by binding with the mead/wine so that oxygen can't and will help as an antioxidant as well as a preservative. So, using the sulfite and topping up work together to protect it.
