Infection (w/pic): should I bottle?

[TarVolon]

Got an infection in my blowoff bucket. Can anybody tell me what this is and whether it's worth bottling or whether it'll destroy the beer?

Also, I added fruit. The guy at the LHBS told me to soak it in vodka before adding. I'm suddenly skeptical about whether this was sufficient sanitation.

edit: The reason the tube isn't submerged is because I had to move it to stop blocking the light. And the water in the bucket was mixed with starsan.

edit 2: I'm a *******. I looked in the carboy with a flashlight and thought I saw the same thing in there. I just double-checked because I'm anal about stuff like this, and it was actually the fruit that I'd cut in half floating sliced-half up. I removed the blowoff tube, stuck some foil in the oven, and closed off the top of the lid with foil. Will this be sufficient to protect it until Saturday when I have time to bottle?

 

[McGlothan]

It looks like your blow off tube isn't submerged in sanitizer or bleach water. This defeats the air lock purpose of it and allows air to get in to your brew. Remove the top and peer in with a flashlight to see if you have the same thing floating on your brew. It is easier for that bucket to collect enemies than your carboy with a tube on it so you might be safe.

 

[passedpawn]

Don't worry about the fruit. If you added it after fermentation, you're OK.

I'd go ahead and bottle.

That's a mold fungus. That bucket is probably teeming with bacteria as well. Pretty f'ed up, but I'd still roll with the beer. Microbes can't fly. Unless you blew backwards through that tube, you probably don't have any bad stuff in your beer. I seriosly doubt you'd see that in your carboy.

Also, those fungi are living on the top of that bucket because of the availability of O2. The path from your beer, down that tube, into the volume of the bucket is probably (hopfully) devoid of O2. (If there is mold like that in the tube, I'd probably let the beer go for a while before I bottled. That tube needs to be below water level )

You should be using a starsan mix in your blowoff bucket instead of straight water. Pardon me if you did that, but I've never had stuff growing in my blowoff.

 

[lindenboy]

Open your fermenter and have a look. Is there nasty film and mold? Even if so, skim some away, dip your thief (or whatever you have) in there and get a sample and taste it...don't worry, it won't kill you. I've seen some nasty stuff skimming the top of fermenters, and while the beer doesn't necessarily come out award winning, it isn't completely ruined either. I've also had perfect looking finished product taste like band aids or tangy vinegar.

 

[homebrewdad]

Infection in the blowoff bucket by no means equals infection in the carboy. Don't despair until you actually know something.

To me, that looks like garden variety mold that is growing on the grain products that blew out (an that don't have the alcohol needed to protect them).

I would bet that your beer itself is fine. Clean out that bucket and hose and go on your merry way.

 

[static]

I use a growler with sanitizer as my blow off vessel for this reason. If the end of the tube was submerged, you're probably ok but if the mold is growing in the tube then you could have issues.

 

[Revvy]

Thats just mold on your blowoff waste. That doesn't mean your beer has anything wrong with it. Just that mold grew on the crap that's exposed to air.
Relax.

 

[static]

Oh and this...

Open your fermenter and have a look. Is there nasty film and mold? Even if so, skim some away, dip your thief (or whatever you have) in there and get a sample and taste it...don't worry, it won't kill you. I've seen some nasty stuff skimming the top of fermenters, and while the beer doesn't necessarily come out award winning, it isn't completely ruined either. I've also had perfect looking finished product taste like band aids or tangy vinegar.

 

[TarVolon]

It looks like your blow off tube isn't submerged in sanitizer or bleach water. This defeats the air lock purpose of it and allows air to get in to your brew. Remove the top and peer in with a flashlight to see if you have the same thing floating on your brew. It is easier for that bucket to collect enemies than your carboy with a tube on it so you might be safe.

It was submerged in Star-san water, but I had to pull it out to get the picture. There's no light in the closet.

Don't worry about the fruit. If you added it after fermentation, you're OK.

I'd go ahead and bottle.

That's a mold fungus. That bucket is probably teeming with bacteria as well. Pretty f'ed up, but I'd still roll with the beer. Microbes can't fly. Unless you blew backwards through that tube, you probably don't have any bad stuff in your beer. I seriosly doubt you'd see that in your carboy.

.

edit: Again, I'm a ******* with bad eyes. I saw what I was afraid of seeing instead of what was there.

 

[TarVolon]

Thanks, everybody, got too worried too quickly.

Will the piece of foil over the carboy mouth be sufficient to protect my beer for two days before I get a chance to bottle? It's been in there for over two weeks since I added the fruit, so I'm not worried about a lot of CO2 being produced and blowing it off.

 

[homebrewdad]

Thanks, everybody, got too worried too quickly.

Will the piece of foil over the carboy mouth be sufficient to protect my beer for two days before I get a chance to bottle? It's been in there for over two weeks since I added the fruit, so I'm not worried about a lot of CO2 being produced and blowing it off.

It'll be fine. The CO2 blanket should be intact, anyway - the foil is basically just gonna keep big chunks out.

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks, everybody, got too worried too quickly.

Will the piece of foil over the carboy mouth be sufficient to protect my beer for two days before I get a chance to bottle? It's been in there for over two weeks since I added the fruit, so I'm not worried about a lot of CO2 being produced and blowing it off.

Yes, but get it tight. O2 will get in there and mix with the CO2. The "blanket" thing is a bit of a myth. Gases mix.