1st batch ready to bottle and.....MOLD

[J8D]

Call me paranoid, but I think your buddy was planning on giving you the good ole, "the beer was moldy and I had to dump it" line. Just another case of a scientist using his powers for evil instead of good. You wouldn't be the first guy to fall victim to such a scam. Hell, this sort of greed has led to the breakup of many famous brewing partnerships. Come to think of it, it was Peter Criss telling the rest of KISS that their inaugural batch of "Detroit Rock City Pale Ale" had mold on it and had been dumped that led to the original band breaking up back in 1980. Awhile after Peter had supposedly "dumped" the beer, Gene stopped by Beth's house to ask her to quit calling during band practice. That's when he found out that Peter had actually kegged the not-so-moldy beer, stashed it at Beth's, and the two love birds had already polished off half the keg. The rest is of course rock and roll history. So now, instead of drinking what likely would have been one of the premier microbrews, we got stuck with Gene Simmons Family Jewels. I CURSE YOU PETER CRISS!!!!!!

 

[freisste]

And the award for post of the week goes to....

 

[unionrdr]

Wow. First time I heard that story.

 

[Yooper]

I just want to be clear here- am I the only one who thinks headspace + dry airlock = an issue? Because I do. Hugely. This is not a "rdwhahb" moment. This beer is trashed, due to the dry airlock and the headspace during the dry airlock.

I think I must be crazy, as I'm the only one saying that this is a huge issue. But it is. My bet is that the beer is trash.

 

[doornumber3]

I just want to be clear here- am I the only one who thinks headspace + dry airlock = an issue? Because I do. Hugely. This is not a "rdwhahb" moment. This beer is trashed, due to the dry airlock and the headspace during the dry airlock.

I think I must be crazy, as I'm the only one saying that this is a huge issue. But it is. My bet is that the beer is trash.

Nope, i think it's trash too. I'll see saturday but if it's mold here's the best explanation i got from an ex brewer who worked at a micro as to why you dump it.

"To answer the mold question, the batch is dead. The only beers intentionally infected would be lambics and those are distinct types. to explain what would happen if you skim and bottle, if you bottle after skimming the sugar you added and the residual sugars would be consumed by the anaerobic bacteria and mold that are now quite happy they are isolated and fed, they would produce gases in the same way yeast does so the liquid would be carbonated. with one exception, they eat all the sugars and the bottles would start to explode, or if they did not explode and you opened one it would turn into a geyser out the top. The most likely culprit is the dry airlock allowing air exchange or a vacumn to occur. Also don't use just water in your airlock as it will grow mold based on the sugars exhaled into solution from the outgassing, i used iodine water during active fermentation the and then switch to vodka or isopropyl alchol in it once fermentation slows.

 

[unionrdr]

Interesting. It sounds like if you get a partial vacuum,combined with the dry airlock,the resulting suckback can bring in nasties. I guess the extra force of suckback is sorta like inhaling. Whatever's in the air it inhales could cause an infection. Have to keep this in mind. Good to know the Vodka bit I got from Gary on Home Brewer TV really does what was claimed. It sure seems to ime.

 

[doornumber3]

yeah, my buddy swears by bleach and water in the airlock but now i'm thinking......if you get a vacuum, that batch is dead. I'm going to start doing the vodka for sure.

 

[Varmintman]

I just want to be clear here- am I the only one who thinks headspace + dry airlock = an issue? Because I do. Hugely. This is not a "rdwhahb" moment. This beer is trashed, due to the dry airlock and the headspace during the dry airlock.

I think I must be crazy, as I'm the only one saying that this is a huge issue. But it is. My bet is that the beer is trash.

Because of all the photos in this forum showing infections I have started to fill my secondary right up into the neck when I rack the beer. I am a big time believer that headspace is a bad thing.

As far as the mold thing is concerned I would not drink it. I have cut mold off of cheese and bread before but it just seems wrong to drink a beer that has had mold in it.

 

[unionrdr]

I figure that using the cheap vodka in airlocks is the most neutral liquid to use. No flavor,no chemicals,etc to get in the beer in the event of a suckback. And nasties die of alcohol poisoning.

 

[Hugh_Jass]

I just want to be clear here- am I the only one who thinks headspace + dry airlock = an issue? Because I do. Hugely. This is not a "rdwhahb" moment. This beer is trashed, due to the dry airlock and the headspace during the dry airlock.

I think I must be crazy, as I'm the only one saying that this is a huge issue. But it is. My bet is that the beer is trash.

How could it not be an issue?

The same people who say airlocks bubble because of temperature fluctuations (gas being expelled from solution now say temperature won't cause air to flow into the fermenter.....

Smh......

 

[unionrdr]

Well,since mold/yeast spores float in the air,usually settling downward,it seemed logical that they can't navigate their way through an airlock into the fermenter under normal circumstances. But with suckback,some force is being applied,so I can see where they might get in that way. But with no suckback,I rather doubt it,since spores have no cylia to move about on their own,like an anamacule does.

 

[DPBISME]

Ditto, Ditto, Ditto... taste and check.... I mean for mold to get going this fast I would think it was really infected prior... Posting a picture would be good....

 

[Yooper]

Well,since mold/yeast spores float in the air,usually settling downward,it seemed logical that they can't navigate their way through an airlock into the fermenter under normal circumstances. But with suckback,some force is being applied,so I can see where they might get in that way. But with no suckback,I rather doubt it,since spores have no cylia to move about on their own,like an anamacule does.

Well, think of it this way. If you have a jar of olives, and you open them, take one out, and put the lid back on and then stick them in the fridge and forget about it, it will have mold on it eventually.

The lid is on the jar, so the mold didn't do any ninja moves. Just the unsealing of the jar, and exposure to air, is enough. It takes longer in the fridge, but it does happen.

Air exposure is a problem once fermentation slows- not just due to oxidation, but due to contamination issues from mold and bacteria (like aceterobacter or lactobacillus). That's why winemakers are very careful to always sanitize and to top up the wine in a carboy, and airlock it.

 

[unionrdr]

It does make me question how long the spores can servive in a co2 laden environment till enough air gets in to allow them to propogate?

 

[Xpertskir]

The photographic evidence in this thread is overwhelming

 

[doornumber3]

Looks like it's cleared. Temp was up a bit and dropped the temp down pretty hard by putting it outside. It's gone.....My friend took a photo of before and after that i'm trying to get from him to post. I'm bottling this weekend.....Thanks for all the feedback.....i'm thinking this wasn't mold because not sure cooling it would kill it that quick.

 

[FATC1TY]

yeah, my buddy swears by bleach and water in the airlock but now i'm thinking......if you get a vacuum, that batch is dead. I'm going to start doing the vodka for sure.

Why not star san? It's not going to pick up anything and if it does, it kills it, but it's safe to drink if you do get a vacuum in the airlock.

Vodka would work, but there are sugars in there and it will get nasty over time.

 

[FATC1TY]

Looks like it's cleared. Temp was up a bit and dropped the temp down pretty hard by putting it outside. It's gone.....My friend took a photo of before and after that i'm trying to get from him to post. I'm bottling this weekend.....Thanks for all the feedback.....i'm thinking this wasn't mold because not sure cooling it would kill it that quick.

Yeast rafts/ left over krausen/ hop debris.

If a cold crash made it drop, it probably wasn't mold.

 

[Yooper]

Yeast rafts/ left over krausen/ hop debris.

If a cold crash made it drop, it probably wasn't mold.

Agreed! I am glad it worked out for you!

 

[unionrdr]

Why not star san? It's not going to pick up anything and if it does, it kills it, but it's safe to drink if you do get a vacuum in the airlock.

Vodka would work, but there are sugars in there and it will get nasty over time.

Not if plain,unflavored vodka is used. I read up on distilling recently,& found out that the low ABV stuff is closer to first runnings. It gets more potent,as well as cleaner,with further distillings.
So plain,cheap vodka is fine for airlock usage. I've used it for quite some time now,as suggested by Gary from Home Brewer TV. He as a PHD,so I figure he knew what he was talking about. And it has def worked well for me so far. Never an infection in this regard. The cell walls of microbes can't stand up to the alcohol for long.

 

[MMJfan]

Why not star san? It's not going to pick up anything and if it does, it kills it, but it's safe to drink if you do get a vacuum in the airlock.

Vodka would work, but there are sugars in there and it will get nasty over time.

I too use star San in my air lock...

 

[unionrdr]

I quit using starsan in airlocks because as the airlock bubbles,the starsan foams up & goes out the lil holes in the airlock cap. It is then lost,& must be topped up frequently. The vodka,not nearly as much.

 

[kombat]

I too use star San in my air lock...

Another StarSan-airlock vote here.

 

[beaston]

Looks like it's cleared. Temp was up a bit and dropped the temp down pretty hard by putting it outside. It's gone.....My friend took a photo of before and after that i'm trying to get from him to post. I'm bottling this weekend.....Thanks for all the feedback.....i'm thinking this wasn't mold because not sure cooling it would kill it that quick.

Another "I think I ruined my beer" thread put to rest. haha

Also I use vodka in my airlock.

 

[J8D]

Because of all the photos in this forum showing infections I have started to fill my secondary right up into the neck when I rack the beer. I am a big time believer that headspace is a bad thing.

I use starsan for all my sanitizing. The foam left behind after my violent shaking of the carboy (or even kegs) completely fills any deadspace I may have once it is filled up with wort or beer. This works for going from kettle to primary to secondary (although I don't do secondaries), to keg. Now if you are using the 7 gallon buckets for fermenting, it does remove some of the space but not all of it.

Another concern with the whole dry airlock deal is in the cooling of the wort. I am in Florida. The water coming out of the pops is 80 degrees much of the year. Even with my pre chiller on my wort chiller, I typically can't get my beer down to pitching temps. So it goes into the fermenter, and then into the fermentation chamber, with the airlock inserted. Of course, as the wort chills, the volume in the carboy contracts, and can completely suck the airlock dry. I just make sure I am checking my newborns every day to make sure their airlocks are wet.

 

[PhelanKA7]

yeah, my buddy swears by bleach and water in the airlock but now i'm thinking......if you get a vacuum, that batch is dead..

What is this I don't even