Mead Infection?

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gyrfalcon

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I'm not sure if this is foam or an infection... Any ideas? It's been fermenting it since 9-29-07 and took two samples with a Fermtech AutoSiphon which was sprayed with Clorox Cleanup and then washed before use.

DSCN0188.JPG


HighRes: http://picasaweb.google.com/gyrfalcon16/15GallonsOfMead/photo#5125427909859724418

Ps: The brown spots are whole cloves.... You can zoom on the picture with the zoom tool.
 
I think its fine. Mine has white foam at the top too....every batch I have made so far. They have all turned out fine.
 
Shakz said:
I think its fine. Mine has white foam at the top too....every batch I have made so far. They have all turned out fine.

Thanks! I thought it was okay but I can get a bit paranoid.
 
I had a batch of raspberry mead go south not long ago due to an unsanitary secondary fermenter. The surface looked just like a culture in a petrie dish from highschool. When I opened it up it had a vinegar aroma - heartbreaking.

Anyway, that foam DOES NOT look like a petrie dish culture, it just looks like foam to me. I would have been happy to see that foam instead of what I had. Everything looks well in the garden.
 
that's normal. that's as close to a 'krausen' as mead gets.

is that cinnamon sticks floating in there?
 
malkore said:
that's normal. that's as close to a 'krausen' as mead gets.

is that cinnamon sticks floating in there?

I took the cinnamon sticks out after 2 days. The stuff floating in there are clovers I wasn't able to pull out.


Do you know how long should I leave mead in the primary?
 
give it a month, then take a gravity reading. mead starts off fermenting nicely, but will slow down as nutrients are used up and the alcohol starts stunting things.

little additions of yeast nutrient can be helpful along the way.

usually after a month its done with primary. i'd secondary for a while to get yeast to fall out, then bottle or even consider a tertiary.
 
Deofol said:
How does it taste? Did you give it a swill?

Haven't done anything... Thought it would be best to ask for advice before trying anything.


sirsloop said:
rack to another carboy and leave some behind... see if it goes away.

This was my first thought, but I wanted to ask before I did anything.

I'll sanitize a new carboy and re-rack it leaving behind any junk. I'll also sample it to see if there are any bad off flavors. If anyone else has some ideas let me know.
 
idk... its gonna taste pretty rough at this point anyways. Umm... did you put any fruit or anything in there, or is that like a growth? Yeast in mead makes like a white frothy gooey like substance that sticks to the top, especially if there is fruit floating for it to stick to. If its just little clumps growing and floating, i'd be weary. Fear not tho... it can't hurt you!! (or at least thats what palmer says!)
 
sirsloop said:
idk... its gonna taste pretty rough at this point anyways. Umm... did you put any fruit or anything in there, or is that like a growth? Yeast in mead makes like a white frothy gooey like substance that sticks to the top, especially if there is fruit floating for it to stick to. If its just little clumps growing and floating, i'd be weary. Fear not tho... it can't hurt you!! (or at least thats what palmer says!)

This is 5 gallons that was racked off of 15 gallons I made 6 months ago: http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=39135

I mistook the white frothy stuff for infection once already, but this junk definitely looks like mold as it's a blue/green color. No fruit or anything was added to this batch.
 
Honstly... I would take a sample. It's the wierdness of this hobby, but if it tastes good, go with it. If it tastes like OMSDOFAIOHOIUHSODUIJHAKJHW#!!!!! Then reconsider....

I'm pretty sure I've ate cheese that had some green/blue regions that scared the hell out of me..... But I lived.
 
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