Infected indeed, But what is it?

[HebrewedsoIbrew]

Hey guys I got back from vacation about a week ago and I found this growing on the top of my strawberry pomegranate melomel, I guess it's my own fault since I made the dumb mistake of keeping that much headspace in it, but it's got this thick purplish film growing on top, here's some pictures below.

http://imgur.com/pDHKTIE,AtVLfSv,NNR3HCd,EbBIEwS#3

Can my melomel be saved? I have not opened the airlocks since I got back so I haven't tasted it or smelled it, I'm afraid if this can't be salvaged because big money went into these two batches. So could anyone help me out?

 

[Frognostic]

I'm worried because I thought mead was less susceptible to such infections, due to the antimicrobial properties of honey or some such thing.

When considering that it is a melomel it may be that the fruit compont of the batch is what has become infected.

Then again, maybe not.

As to what this growth is, I wish I could tell you but I am not a microbiologist. From looking at it I cluldn't even tell you whether it was bacterial or fungal.

Whether or not the presence of this colony in the batch is safe for human consumption is unknown to me.

If it was me, I'd add a campden tablet or some other food-grade antimicrobial substance.

I'm not sure if I would drink it afterwards, however. There's only one way to find out if it's fit for human consumption, or not.

 

[ColoHox]

Hard to tell from that picture, could be yeast, could be contamination. Can you post an image with the surface growth in focus?

Nothing pathogenic in there. Taste and smell it. What was you SG and where is it now? How long has it been since you added fruit?

 

[HebrewedsoIbrew]

Hard to tell from that picture, could be yeast, could be contamination. Can you post an image with the surface growth in focus?

Nothing pathogenic in there. Taste and smell it. What was you SG and where is it now? How long has it been since you added fruit?

Okay so I'll start off by saying I never added any fruit to it, not even during primary, I used frozen strawberries and heated them up and mashed them and used that with 100% Pomegranate juice,

I used lalvin EC 118 for yeast, the Specific Gravity was 1.080, I think I added in regular clover honey, I Forgot to mention in my original post that I added potassium bicarbonate to drop out some acid as it tasted extremely tart, it was only after this I found out that it can lead to off flavors, and is a last resort, ETC, It's tough to get a closer picture but I'll try.

 

[Yooper]

Okay so I'll start off by saying I never added any fruit to it, not even during primary, I used frozen strawberries and heated them up and mashed them and used that with 100% Pomegranate juice,

I used lalvin EC 118 for yeast, the Specific Gravity was 1.080, I think I added in regular clover honey, I Forgot to mention in my original post that I added potassium bicarbonate to drop out some acid as it tasted extremely tart, it was only after this I found out that it can lead to off flavors, and is a last resort, ETC, It's tough to get a closer picture but I'll try.

Um, aren't strawberries fruit? You did add fruit? Or you didn't add the strawberries?

Anyway, next time don't heat up fruit. You set the pectin and "cooked" fruit doesn't taste as good as fresh. You will want to sulfite any fruit you add.

It looks like a lacto infection to me, but it's just my best guess.

 

[HebrewedsoIbrew]

Um, aren't strawberries fruit? You did add fruit? Or you didn't add the strawberries?

Anyway, next time don't heat up fruit. You set the pectin and "cooked" fruit doesn't taste as good as fresh. You will want to sulfite any fruit you add.

It looks like a lacto infection to me, but it's just my best guess.

My bad, What I meant to say was I never added any fruit during fermentation. I did add pectic enzyme to it though but I'll keep that all in mind, Thanks for your response Yooper!

 

[HebrewedsoIbrew]

Okay so I racked it into a new vessel and tried to not get any of the film floating on top to get in, I don't think I did too good of a job, I tasted it and I taste no hint of fruit or alcohol, it tastes shabby and flat if I could describe it it almost has no taste at all, I fear this is from the potassium bicarbonate. The only good looking thing is the color of the actual mead. Here's a closer look at the film after the racking
http://imgur.com/gpVefgG,kYO2W07,OHYRGiD,TrfxblJ,pwDEhvG

 

[Yooper]

Weird, but I have two thoughts about this now.

One, the "flabby" and bland flavor might be from infection. There are some infections that "eat" alcohol and the flavor changes. BUT, looking at that photo it looks like tartaric acid crystals. I wonder if adding the KHCO3 is responsible for both of those things?

Although, the first photo shows a definite pellicle.

What I would do now is dose the racked mead with k-meta (potassium metabisulfite) to hopefully ward off further infection process as well as inhibit oxidation.

 

[HebrewedsoIbrew]

Yeah I'm not sure either, I did dose it with one campden tablet, I would use plain K meta but I don't have the correct micro teaspoon set for it, the pictures are of 2 different carboys, Anyways yooper, what do you suggest I do to save it? because right now it's not tasting too good

 

[Yooper]

Yeah I'm not sure either, I did dose it with one campden tablet, I would use plain K meta but I don't have the correct micro teaspoon set for it, the pictures are of 2 different carboys, Anyways yooper, what do you suggest I do to save it? because right now it's not tasting too good

I wish I knew! The first thing to do is to try to eliminate the infection, and using 1 campden tablet per gallon is a good first step. Making sure it's topped up would be the second.

If the infection seems to abate, then we can work on getting some flavor back in there but it might be a losing battle. We can certainly try, though!