Mold in blow off tank and dry

[rsfc]

So, I had a blowoff tube going into a bowl with correctly diluted starsan. Basically I set it and forgot about it for a couple weeks (was out of town much of this time. Came back and the bowl was dry with a good amount of nasty mold in the bowl and on the outside bottom of the blow off tube.

I read a few things here basically saying if it looks and smells good, should be OK. It did, so I bottled it but I'm super paranoid about this beer now. The fact that it was moldy and basically open to air where the mold was growing.

What do you think?

 

[porterpounder]

Unless you saw the mold crept up the tube into the fermenter, then it's not likely going to affect the beer. The beer was likely still under enough fermentation pressure to keep anythin airborne from getting into it. Unless you used the blow off tube as a transfer tube...

 

[Queequeg]

I would be less concerned if it wasn't mould. However as pointed out above if the fermenter was at positive pressure then you should be fine.

 

[hartlesj]

For some piece of mind, check out Louis Pasteur's swan neck experiments. Some of his liquids are still sterile today based solely on the shape of the bend of glass. If the mold isn't growing up the tube, then I wouldn't worry about it as long as it tastes good.

 

[cannman]

For some piece of mind, check out Louis Pasteur's swan neck experiments. Some of his liquids are still sterile today based solely on the shape of the bend of glass. If the mold isn't growing up the tube, then I wouldn't worry about it as long as it tastes good.

Beef broth!

 

[GQT]

Louis Pasteur's swan neck experiments

As long as the inner walls of the 'neck' are dry, i.e. there is no medium that the mold can creep on. If there is any film on the walls, like the remains of the krausen that escaped through the blow off tube, there is some reason to worry.
However if the weather was as dry as to completely allow the water to evaporate perhaps it's more or less safe.

 

[spiff2268]

For blow off it's best to use a bottle or jug. Get a glowler, or even a plastic milk carton.

 

[hartlesj]

That's a great picture. I was trying to find one to post with my comment, but ran out of time.