Mold growing on my hops in the fermenter

[Masongem]

Hello,

This is my first post here but I have been reading these forums for a few batches now. I am relatively new with about five batches under my belt. I just brewed an IPA and i think i might have contaminated it by adding my dry hops right at the beginning of fermentation. Is my beer ruined? Am I on the right track by thinking the contamination came from adding the hops to early?

I am attaching a picture.

Thank you in advance for the help.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

It's hard to tell from the picture. Since they were added at the start of fermentation - btw, don't do that again - it may just be krausen mixing up with the hops. Is anything fuzzy? Or is it just a lot of bubbles? Fuzzy - not good. Bubbles - OK. I thought I had heard that hops are naturally antibacterial. I may be wrong but it can't hurt to let it ride. A week or so should show if it's infected or not.

 

[watermelon83]

eww, If it was my money in a bucket, I would get my beer out from under that funky crap ASAP. The home brewer in me says your fine, but the sissy is screaming OMFG Groooooossssssssss!!!

 

[liquiditynerd]

tough to tell, it could be the krausen mixing with the "fresh" hops giving a green krausen. the pic is hard to see. try putting the camera through the neck with the airlock out.

 

[kh54s10]

I can't tell for sure from the picture but it just looks like co2 bubbles to me.

I have never heard of dry hopping before fermentation has finished??

The alcohol content, after fermentation, should stop any infection from adding hops.

If you use a bag to contain the hops you should sanitize that, otherwise the hops just go right in.

 

[BakRivrBruen]

but the sissy is screaming OMFG Groooooossssssssss!!!

I'm sorry, I have nothing helpful to add to this thread but that last sentence + your avatar = me wiping the spit beer of my monitor from laughing so hard.

 

[Skiffy]

Did you sprinkle the yeast on top of the hops? One time I thought I had mold on my carboy neck but I'm pretty sure it was just some sprinkled dry yeast that never made it down to the wort.

 

[Masongem]

Thank you all for the thoughts.

Right now, here is where it is. I know i messed up at least two times with this beer. #1, I added the dry hops right after transferring to the primary fermenter (DOH!) #2, The airlock on the beer did not have enough water in it and I think some air was sneaking in.

I quickly filled the airlock up and it is still bubbling away two weeks after I put it in the fermenter (it is only 58-60 degrees in the fermenter). There is definitely white fuzzy mold on the hops floating in the fermenter. However, since I fixed the airlock the white fuzz has not grown at all.

The beer still smells nice... so I guess I am waiting for fermentation to finish and then I'll just bottle it and hope for the best... or at least a drinkable beer.

Watermelon83, I hear ya man, it sure does look really sketchy and I won't be feeding this beer to anyone but me and my wife. and hopefully we don't die

Thanks again for the help everyone!!

-Mason