?mold infection

[davinator6]

Hi everyone,

I am a homebrewing "newbie", just having started out a few months ago. I've managed to brew 3 successful batches of beer so far, and love it!

On my 4th batch (which I was hoping to have drinkable by Christmas), I did a "brewer's best" american lite beer. I started it on Nov 27th, and transferred to the secondary fermenter on December 2 (i.e. 12 days ago).

I was disappointed this afternoon to check on my beer and notice a thin "filamentous" film on the top of the beer. It certainly doesn't look like yeast to me (the growth pattern looks too branching), and I am assuming this is a mold infection (see below a picture I put on as an attachment).



I have read a lot of forums and see a lot of differing opinions on this... (I realize every infection is different!). I guess my questions are:

-is this an infection? (I presume it is but would love to hear that it is not!)
-is this a "mild" infection or simply just the early stages of an infection? My thinking would be that growth conditions are unfavorable for a mold, and as such it would grow slowly.
-when I bottle the brew, if I am careful not to siphon off the surface (where the mold is) will this help, or is the mold presumably all throughout the beer and only manifesting on the surface?
-should I even bottle the beer or just pitch it and start anew?

Unfortunately I didn't record any SG readings (yes, I know..(-: )

Sorry that this is similar to past postings... all other postings on the topic looked far worse than this.

thanks!

Davin

 

[ColoHox]

It is hard to tell from your picture. That does look a bit suspicious though. Although, the best approach really is RDWHAHB, it will probably be fine.

If it is contamination, there is a chance it won't affect the flavor of your beer, not all do. Thus, racking from under the surface growth may avoid any problems. Have you tasted the batch?

If you are not concerned about the taste, and you are at final gravity, might as well bottle it up. The flavor could degrade over time, if it is contamination. Or, it may be okay, in which case, drink away.

 

[unionrdr]

I think it does look like the early stages of an infection with the little lines forming. If you start seing slimy white bubbles forming,& the liny part develops into a white film with bigger lines or starts looking like bubbly broken ice pack,it's a lacto infection. I got one a while back & racked from underneith it. Bottling it seemed to have saved my Maori IPA,what with the co2-rich environment in the bottles.

 

[davinator6]

thanks for the help!

I figured it look suspicious for an early infection, but I`ll take the advice of `relax and have a home brew!`

Ended up bottling it last night after a total of 2 weeks in the carboy... things didn`t seem to have progressed significantly, and the beer didn`t have any off flavors. I`ll open one up within about a week to taste the final result.. if there is any doubt I`ll be pouring it out for sure!

Next time will definitely go to a one step fermentation to avoid the chance of infection... nothing more demoralizing than seeing this after hard work!

:rockin:

 

[unionrdr]

That's the reason many of us don't do a secondary unless oaking,adding fruit or the like.

 

[CRoth36]

I recommend bottling it up and sending us each a batch of bottles for tasting.

 

[IslandLizard]

It happens.

Double check your cleaning and sanitation practices. Clean the racking cane and hoses meticulously, and sanitize well.

Infections do not contain themselves to the surface. The pellicle is a tell-tale of what happens underneath, but doesn't always form to tip you off, since it needs oxygen.

So... watch for bottle bombs (do a search how to handle that). After a week you may want to try opening a bottle carefully with gloves and face mask. You could immerse the bottle under water with just the top sticking above. If it gushes out or tastes funny it is infected. Small slow infections can be "curbed" somewhat by placing bottles in a cold fridge and finish them quickly. So keep an eye on them, from a distance.

 

[davinator6]

awesome thanks for the tidbits!

Love to the idea of sending out bottles for sampling...if only that were feasible