Mold growing on beer corks

[rideincircles]

I went to check my beer fridge tonight and noticed mold on some of my beer corks. The bottles are all commercial that I was cellaring. The temperature of the Whirlpool fridge never gets below 65 when its on high, and I think it is due to a totally full fridge not getting airflow or a sensor issue. Right now the temperature was about 70 when I noticed the mold. It worked fine before I used it to cellar beers, and the top freezes fine so I am not sure why it won't get cold.

As far as the mold on the corks go, can it spread? or will it stop at the cork? I read that it can be wiped off, but wasn't sure how it would affect long term aging. As far as my fridge goes, what can i do to make it get cold again? Is it a sensor issue somewhere?


I was looking around for this and didn't see any major discussions about it on here.

Here are some pictures. The mold is most easily noticed on the right side cap.

 

[NTexBrewer]

You should be fine with the mold. I had this happen with a bunch of corked homebrew beers that I was aging to give at Christmas last year. I just pulled them all out and cleaned them with Starsan. I then put a small silica dehumidifier in my fridge and I have not had any problems.

If your freezer part is making ice then you probably have a circulation problem. I'm not sure how all fridges work but most circulate the cold air from the freezer into the fridge with a fan. Maybe the fan is broken.

Some side-by-side fridges have a slide opening at the bottom of the fridge so you can adjust how much cold air comes in from the freezer side.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H0XFCS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

This is the dehumidifier I use in my beer cellar.

 

[GHBWNY]

Can you hear the circulating fan running? In the summer, our fridge would stop cooling, but the freezer would still freeze. It was a matter of a plugged drain tube (with food particles, etc.) not allowing condensation to drain and it would back up and re-freeze around the fan stopping it dead in its tracks. Obviously, if the fan is not circulating cool air, your fridge will not cool down even though the freezer still works. It happened several times and here's what we had to do:

Empty the fridge, unplug it and let it completely thaw out from around the fan. Sometimes it took a couple days. Be sure to clear any obstruction from the drain tube or it will happen again. Plug it in and if you hear the fan running, you're good to go. If not, the ice around the fan may have stalled it and burned it out.

 

[rideincircles]

Cool. Thanks. I will see what it does when I thaw it out. Fan not working seems like a likely culprit. I was planning on cleaning it out to get stuff ready for Burning Man to freeze.

Would the fan be an easy part to replace?

I came across this site and it mentions a couple other possibilities also.

http://www.repairclinic.com/RepairH...ator-freezer-is-cold-but-refrigerator-is-warm

 

[GHBWNY]

Cool. Thanks. I will see what it does when I thaw it out. Fan not working seems like a likely culprit. I was planning on cleaning it out to get stuff ready for Burning Man to freeze.

Would the fan be an easy part to replace?

I came across this site and it mentions a couple other possibilities also.

http://www.repairclinic.com/RepairH...ator-freezer-is-cold-but-refrigerator-is-warm

Looks like in the case of many of those maladies, a good thawing might do the trick. It's a no-cost fix provided you have a temporary home for your frozen/perishable items.

 

[rideincircles]

I think I got it figured out.

I cut off the power today and started pulling out the beers with mold, but it looked a bottle bomb went off since they were sitting in moldy liquid from somewhere. I didn't find a broken bottle, so I assume it was just condensation that soaked in beer label or some paper that was up there.

I emptied out the top freezer next and removed the the tray that is screwed in and there was a bunch of water that had frozen a sheet of ice underneath. I assume that froze up the fan air exchanger or however that works.

Not certain if the ice sheet was condensation or just ice that leaked out of a cracked ice tray or something, but I assume I found the issue. I still am cleaning it, and I will have to wipe off all the bottles for good measure.

The fridge does have an ice machine but it is not plugged in. Is water going to leak all over my floor? I plan on putting a towel up there to soak it up. The bottom of the fridge was 75 so I am not too concerned about emptying it entirely. The top just had ice and hops which I moved to another freezer.

 

[rideincircles]

The fridge is still not getting cold enough. I think it is just below 70, while the freezer was around 10 degrees. How does the flap work that lets air in? It seems like air moves in the upper part, but not in the lower area.

The 2 holes from the freezer to fridge is what is keeping it cool. Not sure how else it works.