Growth on Stout- Add Fruit?

[dkennedy]

Folks-

I have an Irish Stout that seems to have decided to play host to some form of colony- looks very much like the second picture in this post. Here is my subject, lesser quality photo than in the other thread.

Beer smells and tastes okay at first, but has a mildewy tone to it. It is slightly under planned FG (1.010, weighs in at 5%) 3 weeks in primary.

Questions, as I'm not a sour guy, but don't mind experimenting if there is a decent chance of success:
1- Is that mildew tone common / will it age out?
2- I'm toying with the idea of adding fruit, maybe even some bugs (this fermentor is already condemned, may as well go all-in)- should I get rid of the existing pellicle prior to introducing other things, or let it ride?

Open to other ideas too- I don't mind dumping this if it doesn't turn out, but figure it could be a fun experiment.

Thanks in advance
DK

 

[tgmartin000]

That doesn't look like yeast or brett /bacteria. A pellicle should be white from everything I understand.

Adding fruit or bugs won't save a bad beer. I'd dump it.

 

[Gavin C]

That's unfortuante mate.

Mildewy doesn't sound too appealing. Looks nasty.

I'd dump it in a flash. Wouldn't waste any more of my time and effort on it.

If you think you'll get enjoyment out of experimenting with fruit and mold go for it. Can't see it being a worthwhile venture myself.

 

[m00ps]

I've have really good success from accidental sours on more than one occasion. But those did not have mold or mildew on them. They just turned sour. Plus, I added my reliable sour blend which has a variety of bacteria and Brett to clean things up.

Good results from accidental sours are pretty rare. If you have mildew, I'd say the chances are much less. I'd dump it

 

[RM-MN]

That doesn't look like yeast or brett /bacteria. A pellicle should be white from everything I understand.

Adding fruit or bugs won't save a bad beer. I'd dump it.

That looks like your yeast brought a bunch of trub to the surface and the outgassing CO2 kept it there. It sure doesn't look like any infection to me. I'd bottle it up and see what it turns into. Check bottles regularly in case it wants to ferment more so you don't end up with bottle bombs if I'm wrong. You have too much invested in this batch to just dump it without giving it a chance to clean up.:rockin:

 

[evchenko]

I'd dump it if it were me.

 

[Hello]

If it didn't have mold or mildew, I'd play with it. Yours, I'd dump down your neighbor's drain.

 

[bosster01]

I'd try and gently stir it, without aerating it. That looks like suspended trub... with yeast rafts intermixed.

See if you stir it gently if that stuff will fall to the bottom/disappear. The moldy flavor you're describing could be your senses tricking you since you have the presumption it's an infection.

 

[IslandLizard]

Some flavors can be hard to interpret. Are you sure it's "mildew," not just yeast you're tasting? Most molds float on top, and are fuzzy, and usually take longer to develop.

If you cleaned (PBW, washing soda, etc.) and sanitized that bucket, lid and other cold side equipment well (Starsan or Iodine), there should be no reason for mildew or mold to form in 3 weeks or your beer to taste like that. Souring bacteria and wild yeasts are much more common.

 

[beersk]

I agree with bosster01 and IslandLizard, it seems kind of soon for mold to be growing on it and looks like suspended trub and yeast. Perhaps if you have a secondary you can rack from underneath the sh*t on top into a glass carboy and let it sit for another couple weeks. If the stuff forms again, then maybe it's bad. I wouldn't dump it unless I was certain it was contaminated.

 

[dkennedy]

Thanks for the feedback- 3 weeks does seem mighty fast for mold to set in, which is part of what has me puzzled on this one. I kept my sample and revisited through the evening, hoping that if it breathed that the flavor would straighten out, no dice.
Everything cold side was cleaned (PBW) and sanitized (Star San), and the second batch on that day has no issues (quite delicious, if I don't say so myself).
When I took my sample, I had to move the 'stuff' aside- it is a fairly solid layer, sort of folded a bit over so that I could get a thief in. Rather unlike any krausen or yeast rafts that I've seen, especially from this yeast (Omega Irish, usually a good performer for me).

At this point, I guess that I have nothing to lose by letting it ride, see if it straightens itself out...will also allow time to plan out how to dump it down my neighbor's drain!