can beer mold? pic inside....

[tnbrewer371]

so asking if beer can mold? i brewed a double ipa with a considerable amount of rye at the begining of november, well with holidays and work requirements...im just getting around to dry hopping it, this isnt my normal schedule...my normal schedule is 4 weeks in primary than dry hop and bottle, im usually pretty good about keeping up with my beer but i let this one kinda fall to the way side..anyway, opened it up to dry hop it today and saw a waxy white film on top and wondering if it is possible it could be mold, it smells very alcholy so i know it has feremented out, is there anything else this could be? i havent dry hopped yet and im headed to take a hydro reading right now.... let me know what yall think im dealing with, surely someone has seen this before....

 

[tnbrewer371]

ok fg is showing 1.013, sg was 1.083, there werer 4 half pound dextrose additions after primary fermentation wore down, spaced out over 10 days

it looks like wax, like candle wax and feels like it to, a thick waxy film, i had to open the ferementor for the 4 dextrose additions and never noticed this.....

 

[slarkin712]

How does it smell and taste? Does it smell moldy and is it kinda hairy? And yes, mold can grow on the surface of beer. I'd try to skim some of that stuff off and taste it. It could just be yeast and trub. Either way, I'd still rack from underneath it and bottle/keg/dry hop it.

 

[tnbrewer371]

not hairy at all doesnt smell like anything over the insane smell of booze from the way this beer attenuated out, smells like any other ipa ive ever brewed!!

 

[slarkin712]

Give that skin stuff a taste. Could be a pellicle from an infection, maybe brett. Like I said, dry hop it and then bottle. Watch the carbonation in the bottles routinely. If they start to get a little over-carbed put them in the fridge and drink them quickly.

 

[Ben58]

Looks like lacto infection.

 

[blizzard]

Try cross-posting this in the lambic forum. I would say this definitely fits the characteristics of an infection. It could be mold, but doesn't sound like it. Seems more like it is a pellicle of some kind, especially that part on the left that is a little thinner. I'm not sure about the waxy feeling, it never really occurred to me to touch a pellicle before.

At any rate, taste the beer. It could have a number of off-flavors - sour, phenolic, bretty, etc. If it tastes bad, it's a dumper. If it still tastes ok, I would package and consume quickly.

 

[chocotaco]

Hard to tell from the blurry pic but it could be normal krausen from the dextrose additions or it could be a pellicle from a lactobacillus or acetobacter infection. Personally I am leaning toward normal krausen, but tasting the beer (with a sanitized beer thief) should give you more information.

It doesn't look like mold to me. Mold on beer would be stringy/thready, green, or otherwise obviously nasty.

 

[tnbrewer371]

beer tasted like a normal pre carb ipa...gonna bottle it up, i used a slotted spoon and got the floaties off the top....wish me luck


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[BansheeRider]

beer tasted like a normal pre carb ipa...gonna bottle it up, i used a slotted spoon and got the floaties off the top....wish me luck


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Send me a bottle and i'll let you know if it's infected

 

[tnbrewer371]

so when i went to add the dry hops.....the film on the surface was back, even after skimming it off the first time? a lot thinner this time but it was back? it tasted fine first time around so i threw in the hops and am gonna bottle in the next couple days. most recent pic.

 

[DSorenson]

looks like you have an infection! I caution you about bottling this, as it will continue to produce CO2 for quite some time resulting in inevitable bottle bombs. I'd let it ride and see what kind of sour you get out of it.

 

[tnbrewer371]

I brewed this back in november, the 8th i think, do I still need to be cautious about bottling? also, how does one inadvertently get a lacto infection? trying to track down what went wrong, first contaminated batch in over 80 batches since I started brewing.....

 

[DSorenson]

You can get an infection from just about anything; lacto can be found in the air, as far as I know.

Beers with bacterial infections take quite a long time to finish in general. They just keep working. Consider the a least one year old ferment on most lambics.

 

[Facinerous]

I would say we are assuming infection. In your case I would add some souring agents and make an intentional sour out of it. You already said it tasted ok, so whatever the infection is it hasn't taken over your flavor profile yet.

So add a little brett lacto and let er go for another few months. 6 months or so. It wont come out super sour, but can save the beer from dumping. The brett lacto should be able to out compete whatever your infection is since you cant taste any imperfections in the beer as of now.

 

[dlovin]

One of the better beers I have made was a " bonus beer" we got from resparging all the grain from the five different batches we made that day . When I opened the primary this is what I saw. The beer didn't come out sour at all it. It was on the idea of a Sam Adams or Bass


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[tnbrewer371]

Dlovin....that's exactly what mine looked like, did you figure out the culprit?


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[Homercidal]

I would agree with others who said to be careful with the bottling. An infected beer is likely to slowly continue to eat the stuff that yeast cannot and they create enough pressure to blow bottles apart. If I were to bottle this stuff I'd get some heavy Belgian bottles and cork and cage them.

 

[dlovin]

We never really figured it out, I showed the picture to someone that works at Ipswich brewery at a Halloween party last year and they thought it was a pellicle possible Brett. Infection. I can't speak to bottling it because I kegged it .


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[tnbrewer371]

ok so just checked the gravity it seems to be at 1.012 - 1.013 so it hasnt seemed to have moved since I last checked it about a month ago... am I okay to bottle this? also, test test was good, tasted like an uncarbed ipa, if I had a lacto infection what would it taste like?


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[RiverCityBrewer]

Lacto infections sometimes taste/smell like soured milk or greek yogurt (to me anyway) ... intensity can vary and in a very strong beer may not be perceptible at first.

 

[tnbrewer371]

there isnt any type of off flavor such as you suggested when sampled from the primary, the OG hasnt moved in a month im thinking im good to bottle? anyone disagree?


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[Hopper5000]

It can take a while for the sour flavors to show up as the alcohol environment in beer is difficult for things to grow in. Could be lacto, pedio, brett, etc. If your bucket lid doesn't seal very well and there were a lot of changes in the ambient air temp it's possible a bug got sucked in that way (among many other reasons). If you indeed intend to bottle then I would carb and drink them as quickly as possible. Also as a caution, anything plastic/rubber that touches/has touched this beer may be infected too and is basically impossible to clean because plastic has pores. If you don't want to continually infect future brews it would be a good idea to dedicate that stuff to sours.

 

[IslandLizard]

View attachment 186586
One of the better beers I have made was a " bonus beer" we got from resparging all the grain from the five different batches we made that day . When I opened the primary this is what I saw. The beer didn't come out sour at all it. It was on the idea of a Sam Adams or Bass


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Although you're hijacking the thread that pellicle is quite awesome, worth mentioning.

Now back on topic...

It looks like the OP's beer has a lacto infection. If it's very hoppy and very strong it will not make a decent sour. If it still tastes good, dry hop it, bottle it, keep tabs on the pressure, and drink it fast. (I)IPAs are best fresh anyway.

 

[tnbrewer371]

its a double ipa and i watch my calories and work out of town half the month, may be hard to drink it super fast but ill do my best!


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[IslandLizard]

Many of those bugs work slowly, yet tenaciously, and it may take months to notice appreciable attenuation and enough pressure buildup to become dangerous. After dry hopping, priming, and an initial time at room temperature (2-3 weeks) to carbonate, monitor the progress and then put them all in a cold fridge to slow things down. Stick em in a strong plastic bin to limit potential damage in case they explode.

Drink fast. The fairly high % of alcohol is probably a good preservative right now preventing the bugs from running rampant. But their growth is exponential!

ADDED: Or if you can keg it, there is way less fear. Still the beer will sour slowly but surely. It may become really good a some point, if you're appreciative of a slight sourness.

 

[dlovin]

Sorry for hijacking the thread with my impressive pellicle


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[Yesfan]

......ADDED: Or if you can keg it, there is way less fear. Still the beer will sour slowly but surely. It may become really good a some point, if you're appreciative of a slight sourness.

If he does keg it, will he have to change out all the seals on his keg if he wants to use it for a normal ale or lager in the future?

 

[IslandLizard]

If he does keg it, will he have to change out all the seals on his keg if he wants to use it for a normal ale or lager in the future?

Excellent sanitation practices are needed, yes. The O-rings can be boiled in PBW for peace of mind. I've heard people switching back and forth from sour to regular using the same equipment without any problems. Others have persistent infections, even when not aiming for intentional sours.

 

[tnbrewer371]

i still havent decided what to do with this beer. noticed yesterday, as it has warmed up a bit in the house here, that im getting a bubble in the airlock every 25-35 seconds, as opposed to nothing really at all, so its obviously doing something again, maybe as a previous poster mentioned to, the bugs have multiplied exponentially....not sure where to go from here...im tired of looking at it/dealing with it....


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[FRS]

CO2 is less soluble in warm beer, so you are probably seeing CO2 that was trapped in solution during fermentation being released. If the gravity is remaining constant you aren't seeing enough fermentation to bubble the air lock. I'd bottle them and store in a rubbermaid container or something. If you're worried about drinking them fast enough, maybe only bottle half the batch? It'd be a shame to dump the whole thing!