Mold or Yeast floating?

[pdog44450]

I have had my first ever batch, which is Czech Pilsner fermenting for 13 days. I planned on bottling today or tomorrow but I have rafts of what I hope to be yeast, not mold. I took the lid off for a few pictures which I'll put links to below. The first 3 days of fermenting the room temp where the keg was was 64 degrees F, but it started fermenting after like 2 days so it started fine. After that I put it on a heater that brought the temp up to about 72 degrees F. I was thinking of just taking a meat baster and removing the yeast or mold and then bottling. Can anyone diagnose this or tell me if it signifies it's not finished fermenting or what? Thanks in advance.

http://tinypic.com/r/2niuno5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/15zmvr9/8
http://tinypic.com/r/2sab1ac/8

 

[vincentAlpha]

Hows the brew smell? If it smells alright and you can grab a sample with some sanitized tools then I'd say give it a taste and check the gravity(not necessarily in that order). Never had a mold issue myself but common sense would dictate if the FG is close to what you were aiming for and it smells/tastes alright you've managed to make beer.

 

[pdog44450]

Hows the brew smell? If it smells alright and you can grab a sample with some sanitized tools then I'd say give it a taste and check the gravity(not necessarily in that order). Never had a mold issue myself but common sense would dictate if the FG is close to what you were aiming for and it smells/tastes alright you've managed to make beer.

Thanks for the reply. The brew smells like beer! It has a pleasant smell and it tastes like decent, flat beer and the color is great with a tiny bit of cloud so I think I've managed to make it! Unfortunately I don't have a hydrometer to test gravity so as of currently that is out of the question. Before I knew not to open the lid, I opened it a time or two like 5 or 6 days into fermentation but never after that. Could bacteria have possibly got in then? I santized it extremely well prior to pitching. Does that look like mold to you?

 

[Brettomomyces]

It looks a lot like yeast to me. Yeast strains can vary a lot when it comes to floaties like that.

Opening it like you did is fine, obviously don't go peaking every hour, but you probably didn't hurt anything. Infections are more likely from poor cleaning/sanitation and usually from something hiding somewhere in a nook, scratched plastic, dirty fittings, etc.

 

[pdog44450]

It looks a lot like yeast to me. Yeast strains can vary a lot when it comes to floaties like that.

Opening it like you did is fine, obviously don't go peaking every hour, but you probably didn't hurt anything. Infections are more likely from poor cleaning/sanitation and usually from something hiding somewhere in a nook, scratched plastic, dirty fittings, etc.

Ok, if that's the case then I highly doubt that it is infected because I sanitized extremely carefully. I think I will just suck that out with a baster and dispose of it and then bottle it. Thanks for your input

 

[Brettomomyces]

Don't even worry about trying to get rid of it, when you rack to the bottling bucket you'll leave the yeast and trub behind. Those little bits of floating yeast will eventually drop to the bottom also. And if a little bit gets in, that's fine too. Yeast will settle out completely over time and using cold storage. And it's got lots of nutrients in it also if you do happen to drink a little

 

[day_trippr]

^Good advise. The less messed with the less likely an actual infection will be incurred...

Cheers!

 

[pdog44450]

Don't even worry about trying to get rid of it, when you rack to the bottling bucket you'll leave the yeast and trub behind. Those little bits of floating yeast will eventually drop to the bottom also. And if a little bit gets in, that's fine too. Yeast will settle out completely over time and using cold storage. And it's got lots of nutrients in it also if you do happen to drink a little

Ok I waited till today to bottle an have not removed it yet. I'm going to take yours and day_trippr's advice and leave it alone. I take it that it won't create any off flavors? I guess worst case scenario is the last bottle that gets filled might have a funky flavor

 

[flars]

Thirteen days is a fairly short primary time. I would leave it for another week, especially not having confirmed a complete fermentation or decreasing SG due to possible infection, without having stable hydrometer readings.

 

[pdog44450]

Thirteen days is a fairly short primary time. I would leave it for another week, especially not having confirmed a complete fermentation or decreasing SG due to possible infection, without having stable hydrometer readings.

I found a hydrometer at petco for $3 which is the only local place that seems to have one. Do you think it's worth picking up?

 

[flars]

I found a hydrometer at petco for $3 which is the only local place that seems to have one. Do you think it's worth picking up?

Looks like it reads from 1.000 to 1.060. The graduations seem to be close together, so it would may take careful reading, but it will work.
There is also a finishing hydrometer for brewing. SG from about 0.980 to 1.020. The graduations are far apart making it easier to read final gravity.

 

[flars]

The Petco hydrometer is calibrated for 70°F. Most other hydrometers are calibrated for 60° or 68°. Brewers Friend has a tool for temperature correction to give you the corrected SG..
http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/