White Mold?

[nateburn]

So I brewed a second batch of a session IPA. Fermented at 66 deg for about 10 days and then dropped in an oz of dry pellet hops in a nylon bag weighted with a SS spoon and tied off with some unwaxed dental floss. I returned the primary to the fermentation chamber and raised the temp to 74 deg to finish off for 7 days. When I open the fermenter to remove the bag for cold crashing it was still floating and had what looks like white mold on the bag and in the Krausen. The beer is still crashing and I intend to transfer to a keg leaving the top layer behind.

Does this look like mold? If so I obviously picked it up somewhere in my process. The bag, spoon, and floss were boiled for 15 min before dry hopping.

Any thoughts on the white residue?
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431972841.407451.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431972855.603347.jpg

 

[Psylocide]

Looks infected, that's a pellicle.

Reason #1 that I don't use hop bags for dry hopping.

 

[m00ps]

yeah that's the start of a pellicle alright. I boil my bags and dunk them in starsan. I haven't had a problem yet, but im wondering if the infection came from something else. You boiled the bag after all...

 

[azazel1024]

Infection. I assume it was from something else since you boiled all. Did you put the stuff on to/in to something that wasn't sanitized before transfering? I never boil, I just soak the bag in vodka for 15 minutes first. Hops too.

Pellets I just toss then straight in, leaf I use a bag if I am dry hopping.

 

[nateburn]

I didn't the dry hops last time I made this beer and ended up with clogs in the dip tube and in tent flow control Perlick.

Ok so I've never made an infected batch on purpose or be accident. If siphon below the surface and keep the beer cold throughout it's like is the infection likely to cause off flavors? The sample I pulled before cold crashing was good.

 

[m00ps]

I would just let it work for a month or so and see how it tastes. It will start to produce off flavors, but they may not be unpleasant. A lot fo wild beers have a very unique complex character. You don;t want to move it now, plus it would still be infected and it would contaminate your siphon (side note: you need to replace your sample-taking device)

 

[azazel1024]

I would just let it work for a month or so and see how it tastes. It will start to produce off flavors, but they may not be unpleasant. A lot fo wild beers have a very unique complex character. You don;t want to move it now, plus it would still be infected and it would contaminate your siphon (side note: you need to replace your sample-taking device)

Correct. At this point anything plastic that has touched the beer should be assumed to be infected and needs to be replaced. It is very difficult to completely clean anything that has come in to contact with an infected batch.

That said, it could be a great wild beer in the end. Give it a month or two and try it. It may need to go 3-6 months before it cleans up and is finished. Bacteria can take a long time to finish munching all of the sugars (and they will eat them all) that the yeast didn't eat.

Unlike mold, bacteria will be present through the entire batch. The Pelicle is formed by the bacteria to keep oxygen out.

For the future, if direct pitching hops in, you need to cold crash and it'll generally get the hops to drop out. For leaf, I find I generally need to wrap a hop bag around my siphon tube to keep from picking up lose hops. I pretty much only use pellet for dry hopping because of the pain of lead hops in a fermentor (and how much beer they soak up).

 

[Basevol]

That brings back nightmares,

 

[KangerBrew6]

I'd say that it's clear evidence you have a witch living nearby and you should start collecting firewood. Plus a large balance scale and several ducks.

 

[GCPHomebrew]

I agree with kangerbrew6. Definitely a witch. No seriously though, no hop bag. Drop pellets in, cold crash. Clear beer every time.

 

[nateburn]

Thanks for the tips. Last time I made this beer I did dry hop with no bag for the pellets. I cold crashed a for a few days but I when I tapped the keg I had a clogged faucet because of the hop particles. I didn't cover my racking cane with a hop bag, guess that would help.

I am going to dump this batch. I keg exclusively and I don't want to contaminate a keg and one of my taps.