Pellicle Photo Collection

That is mold. That batch needs to be dumped. Yikes!

 

Well not so fast! Those blue florets are quite something. It may get even prettier before it turns black and dies.

 

yup. and look at that SCOBY/mother under the surface...

dump it. and i would strongly encourage you to get rid of that bucket, too.

 

Was talking to mum who used to make wine and she said leave thats the way she always did it. Never had any issues with the taste of her wine. The bucket is brand new.

 

are you saying you followed the same process as her, or that her wines had the same green floating stuff on them?

before tasting this beer, be sure to give it a good smell. in fact, what does the bucket smell like now?

the taste isn't the only reason we are saying dump it. mold isn't good for you, depending on the mold it can be downright toxic (mycotoxins) or even cause cancer: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal...ng/molds-on-food-are-they-dangerous_/ct_index

 

In my experience with fermenting stuff, leaving chunks of fruit sticking above the top of the liquid almost always invites mold to form.

 

c02 purging and punching down is the best way to avoid the fruit from molding BUT, that def looks like some sort of mold. It could be harmless but there are many toxic varieties.

 

+1 to the mold Spookwoman

 

That looks more like mold than a pellicle.

 

That bright green-blue looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. :/

 

Yea. That does not look right.

 

Sorry to say but it's a dumper

 

I would say it's worth scooping the mould off, not necessarily a deal breaker.
I think it's because you didn't punch down the fruit so they were not completely submerged.

 

Its plum with no yeast etc in it just boiling water. I called her again on it and she was saying what she used to do was leave it till it was a thick layer then when ready it would just lift off in one go. I explained the colour texture and yep thats what she used to get and leave when making wine back in the 80 and early 90's. I know looks freaky and disgusting. I will taste and smell after straining.

 

From my one year old sour dubbel. I tasted a small sample and wow is it tart. It's roeselare blend and several dregs including multiple jolly pumpkin, a couple love child's, and a few others I just can't think of right now.

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looks like you could eat that with a spoon!

 

...well and some milk. Unless you enjoy your corn flakes dry (like a psychopath)

 

Update on the plum the mould just lifted off the mix and under it was a lovely clear layer of plum liquid. Strained and tastes fine. Yeast etc in it and left to ferment now and fingers crossed will be ok. I'll put a campden tablet into it before bottling to make sure everything killed off.

 

It's my first big batch of sour, I've done a couple 1 gallon batches and some brett saisons. I think this is what being a parent must be like, I'm just so proud of the little guy.

 

I felt like I killed one of my children when I had to recently dump a 5 gallon batch of Berliner Weisse.

 

First time post here. I've been loving the images and the help that's been offered. I'm hoping that y'all can help and lemme know if I have a different style than I was expecting. I made a chocolate cherry bourbon vanilla stout and a couple days after adding the oak, it looks like this. I soaked the oak spiral in bourbon for 5 months prior to pitching. And the vanilla bean was soaking in vodka for 3 weeks. Im not planning I this being a sour / Brett beer. I'm planning on aging it for three months in bottles. So far, taste is woody, cocoa, light fruit.

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I'm just not sure if this is the beginning of a pellicle or if it's just yeast rafts on co2

 

Its hard to tell at this point but it could just be from the c02 or little bits of the wood.

 

Maybe pectin from the cherry purée? I'm not sure, never used it myself. Was the fruit and juice pasteurized before adding?

 

Thanks!

 

The puree was a can of vintners fruit puree which is sterile (according to their advertising) and the juice was from the grocery store. The cap says pasteurized.

 

I wouldn't worry about it, likely just yeast or fruit constituents. If it's infection, hopefully it's a pleasant one

 

I agree, looks like that's just regular (albeit fruity) beer.

Any funky stink? My experience with pellicles is, it not only looks like a duck and acts like a duck, it SMELLS like a duck. And the funky sour stink arrives before the pellicle, and it arrives in such a way that my first inclination is always "this beer is ruined!" But then in a couple weeks it sorts through the nasty and settles into a wonderful sour beer smell and I congratulate myself on my talents and skill. (I know deep down that it is the yeast and happenstance) Seems to almost always go that way...at least for me.

Anybody have a funk situation that didn't smell super nasty prior to the pellicle?

 

couldn't tell ya, because i don't smell (or really do anything) to my beer once it's been bugged. i primary with sacch, transfer to secondary (fill carboy up to the neck), add bugs, seal, and leave it the hell alone for 9+ months. so if there is any smell development before a pellicle appears, i wouldn't know

 

So I found this in a cup of beer that got left in the home office a.k.a. my dog's bedroom. It sat out for two days before I went back in there and this is what I saw.

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Highly likely that's acetobacter

 

It is a pellicle. It may be caused by acetobacter, but highly unlikely that you will see the bacteria itself.

 

Hey folks, I brewed a 1070 saison 3 months ago and pitched dregs from Hill Farmstead Dorothy and Anchorage Mosaic Saison alongside the sacc yeast and it now how this beautiful, veil like pellicle on it. Is this a pure brett pellicle or do you think that there are some other critters in there? Tastes super fruity, no sourness and gravity is currently 0.998.

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If there is no sourness to it that means no Lacto or Pedio, although any Pedio may still be ramping itself up.

 

you cannot ID what bugs are present based on the appearance of the pellicle.

fruity + no sourness would imply brett only... but who knows what lurks beneath. if you like how it tastes, and seems stable, package it up and drink

 

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Quick sour using WLP 677, WLP 672 and then fermented with WLP 650. Transferred after 2 months in primary. Forgot to take a gravity reading but tasted pretty good.

 

Just before white oak additions

 

Dark saison with Cantillon dregs, before racking onto spent tart cherries from a kriek I just bottled.

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I love this thread, y'all. Pellicles are so sexy. I want to blow up pictures of them and hang them on my walls.