Mold in blow off

[daytondb]

Checked my brew today and found mold in the blow off cup. didnt see any in the tubing or carboy. Been fermenting for about a week and a half. Never had this happen. Is it ok? thanks.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

Did you put any kind of sanitizer in the cup? Vodka, starsan, oxi-clean, bleach? Most likely some micro-organisms managed to start growing in the cup if you didnt. If you just noticed it today I'd make sure to put sanitizer in when you replaced it, keep an eye on the beer.

 

[daytondb]

I used star san and changed it out. Thanks.

 

[ACo]

are you sure it's mold? can you describe what you see any better?

It's probably not a big problem though as there is mold spores in homes that float around. Just change the blow off and use some sanitizer with the water.

 

[daytondb]

Not sure. circular, blueish and white floating on top. Looks like what you would find on old cheese!

 

[ACo]

well that sounds like mold to me....

just keep doing what you are doing and it sounds like you will be fine!

 

[daytondb]

Will do. Thanks everybody.

 

[RobbyBeers]

Anybody ever actually had a problem with infected blowoff water spreading into their batch? I just use plain H2O, but I err on the side of caution and change it out once a day. Still, I've always thought it would probably take a pretty extreme case for the infection to go up the tube. (Pseudo-science warning: ) I know it's possible with spores and all, but it doesn't seem particularly likely.

 

[Arkador]

I don't think you should have any problem with your blowoff cup infecting your batch. As long as your hose was properly sterilized, the positive pressure during fermentation would keep any of that stuff out. I don't think i have ever sterilized my blowoff cup.