Is this mold on my cider?

[luckyou2042]

I started a cider 8 days ago it fermented out well. Lots of airlock action and bubbles. I have not opened ther fermenter but I saw this on the side of the fermenter and it has me worried about mold infection. I used bottled apple juice and did not add sugar.

 

[shoengine]

It's on the glass? Did you sanitize?

 

[luckyou2042]

Yes it's on the glass only that I can see. Yes I used Starsan on all equipment.

 

[shoengine]

The non-defined edges are what freak me out. Just keep an eye on it and see if it spreads. There is nothing to can really do about it in this state.

 

[Raptor99]

Did it foam up at first? It could be dried apple juice.

 

[luckyou2042]

Did it foam up at first? It could be dried apple juice.

Yes it did foam.

 

[luckyou2042]

The non-defined edges are what freak me out. Just keep an eye on it and see if it spreads. There is nothing to can really do about it in this state.

If I do decide to toss it, how can I sterilize the carboy and equipment? Diluted bleach solution? I've never had this happen before.

 

[shoengine]

If I do decide to toss it, how can I sterilize the carboy and equipment? Diluted bleach solution? I've never had this happen before.

Sterilization is only possible with extremely high heat. Sanitization should be enough for most of our brewing purposes.

Most in the forum have sworn off bleach but on glass there is no real danger. However with bleach you have to rinse with water so there is a possibility of introducing things from tap water but that will vary with your municipal water source.

Starsan "should" be enough for all bacteria. Fungus, I can't answer that. Bleach absolutely kills fungi.

 

[bushpilot]

Did it foam up at first? It could be dried apple juice.

I think this is what you are looking at.

 

[sibelman]

In case you decide to use bleach,

However with bleach you have to rinse with water

I used to use boiled-and-cooled water for rinsing, to mitigate the risk of bugs in tap water. Takes several careful rinses to remove bleachy residue.

But your mead may well be just fine. Don't panic over that stuff on the glass.

 

[Miraculix]

If there's an air tight air lock on top, there's no oxygen inside. This means no mold can grow there.

 

[beren]

If my stuff gets nasty because I forgot about it, I use equal parts bleach and vinegar 1-2 Tbsp. Put one in the water fill the jug most of the way and put the other in. It’s OK, look it up. I then flush with water until there’s no chlorine smell and let it dry. Then when I use it next I just rinse with starsan.

 

[malchizedec]

Not the best pic but I dont think that's mold. It looks more like some gunk left on the glass from the krausen.

Relax, nothing you can do now will change things so, when its ready, pull a sample and taste it

 

[pvtpublic]

That looks like you used dry yeast, and a few of the little clumps got stuck to the side of the carboy. It happens to me all the time.

 

[Jack_0106]

I've had this on my ciders. Its foam that has stuck to the glass and dried out there when foaming stops. Think its also called a krausen?

 

[Raptor99]

It is unlikely to be mold. If it smells okay and tastes okay it is probably fine. As @Miraculix said, mold requires oxygen to grow.