mold, pelicle, or something else?

[je52rm]

Brewed 5 gallons of sour ale that is 18 months old. Tasted really good and very sour. Decided to add frozen organic blueberries (thawed first).unfortunately I forgot to purge with CO2. I've been outta town for 2 months and now this is what I'm looking at. Obviously there's some normal looking white pelicle in there but there's also some weird looking stuff that kinda has a purple-ish blueberry hue to it (I circled an area thats easy to see what I'm referring to). Anyone have an idea what this might be? Is it possibly another pelicle forming that's taking the purple color from the blueberries? Is it mold or some type of mildew? There's nothing fuzzy/mold that i can see. I'm bummed out and don't wanna lose a lot of time invested. Either way I won't dump it for a while to see what it does.

 

[slym2none]

Invisible pic?

 

[joshesmusica]

Photos are working for me.

I would say it's just likely taking on the color from the blueberries. If you've got sour, like a lactic sort of sour, then you'll just want to look out for vinegar-type odors in the next few weeks, although I'm doubtful that an acetobacter could take hold in that kind of environment.

I've added strawberries, and food coloring, and even fermented a typical norwegian christmas soda that's red. the yeast tend to take some of the chemicals that have the color with them.

 

[je52rm]

??? Can anyone else see the pics I attached? I click on the post and there are 3 that I uploaded with original post.

 

[CA_Mouse]

It really looks like you have mold the edges of the white areas look like tendrils, I've never had a pellicle that looked this was that wasn't mold growth. Fortunately it was only a 2 month old Kettle Sour, so I didn't loose a lot of invested time.

 

[slym2none]

I even quoted the post to see if I could see the image URL, but nothing is there but your written post.

Maybe it's just me. All pardons.

 

[CA_Mouse]

I am able to see them just fine.

 

[Yooper]

I am able to see them just fine.

Me too. But I still don't know what it is.

 

[slym2none]

Heh - looks like I adblocked an overly-large (for my screen) pic, but it was an attachment, so's I blocked all further attachments, too.



Fixed... sorry to trouble anyone.

 

[Agate]

High likelihood of mold. But nothing to lose at this point, I'd let it go for a few weeks and see if it spreads or gets fuzzy. Might as well wait until you have no doubt before you dump.

 

[je52rm]

If it's mold I would assume that there's no way it's drinkable without taking a big risk correct?

 

[Yooper]

If it's mold I would assume that there's no way it's drinkable without taking a big risk correct?

"Risk"? Not really, it just will ruin the beer.

 

[j1n]

If it's mold I would assume that there's no way it's drinkable without taking a big risk correct?

doubt it. black mold is really bad for you but not all mold is. there's mold in cheese n stuff that we eat so not all mold is equal.

 

[je52rm]

As I stated previously I am gonna just let it go for another month and see what happens. I thank everyone for their input. I guess the main questions are:

What exactly should I look for that will determine if it's ruined or possibly still salvagable?

If it is mold will it start going rampant and be an easy indicator that it's basically ruined?

Is it even logical to possibly taste it in a month or 2, if there's no major growth or changes, to see if it's still "good"?

At what point should I throw in the towel and dump it?

 

[Agate]

The more I stare at it, the more it just looks like a pellicle. If it's mold, it'll get bigger and fuzzier. You'll know.

I scrape mold off my pickles and sauerkraut all the time. Haven't gotten sick yet. However, some mold can release toxins. You'll know in a month if it's mold.

 

[joshesmusica]

Just so everyone is clear, if you have mold spores on the surface, the roots of the mold have likely gone deep into the food itself. Just scraping off the spores doesn't make something free and clear from mold.

Either way, you'll know that it's mold eventually. It won't look like a pellicle.

 

[CA_Mouse]

If it starts to get fuzzy and smells like moldy bread/cheese, than I would advise to dump it. if it does get fuzzy or change much in a month, then I would take a very small sample in a pipette and taste a few drops. If it tastes of vinegar, than it needs to be dumped. If, on the other hand, it tastes tart or slightly acidic, than let it ride and check it again in a month. In any case, it you can purge the headspace of the fermenter with CO2 that will help with the good souring bacteria.

 

[je52rm]

It's was already very nice and sour before the fruit addition. It was at 18 months when I added the fruit. It was initially fermented with clean US-05 then a month later racked to secondary with dregs from some really killer sours (3 fonteinen, russian river, hansenns). This is why I'm so bummed about potentially losing it.

 

[CA_Mouse]

It's was already very nice and sour before the fruit addition. It was at 18 months when I added the fruit. It was initially fermented with clean US-05 then a month later racked to secondary with dregs from some really killer sours (3 fonteinen, russian river, hansenns). This is why I'm so bummed about potentially losing it.

I got that, but adding the blueberries would have sweetened it up and taken the sourness down some. As long as it doesn't turn fuzzy and become vinegar, you should be okay. Let us know in a month how it looks. It sounds like you did most everything right. Not purging the headspace could have caused issues, but more than likely it was something on the blueberries.

 

[Yooper]

I got that, but adding the blueberries would have sweetened it up and taken the sourness down some. As long as it doesn't turn fuzzy and become vinegar, you should be okay. Let us know in a month how it looks. It sounds like you did most everything right. Not purging the headspace could have caused issues, but more than likely it was something on the blueberries.

I don't think it was something on the blueberries. I think it's the huge headspace and opening it up to add the blueberries. It seems like oxygen loving mold could take hold then.

 

[je52rm]

Yeah I'll post another pic in 2 weeks and then a month to see what you all think. Thanks everyone for their input! Hopefully It turns out to be good and still drinkable.

 

[CA_Mouse]

I don't think it was something on the blueberries. I think it's the huge headspace and opening it up to add the blueberries. It seems like oxygen loving mold could take hold then.

I've forgotten to purge headspace and not had anything like this happen. My Berliner Weiss I purged the headspace, but still had mold spores from somewhere on the organic cherries I added. I'm fairly certain that most airborne bacteria can't survive in an acidic beer if the pH is below 3.5 or so. Unless he was careless and opened the fermenter outside, on a windy day in an open field, that really only leaves the blueberries as the most likely source of mold.

 

[je52rm]

So here's a picture of the same beer over a month later and still looks exactly the same. There's no mold growth or anything. Thoughts? ??

View attachment 1450927820078.jpg

 

[Agate]

Pellicle. Nothing in the picture is alarming.

 

[passedpawn]

Looks wonderful to me. You might consider purging with CO2, but I'm guessing that's gonna be a great sour beer. 18 months is pretty impressive. The sours I made were really good at 6 months. How long are you planning on taking this. I mean, life is short

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

So when I've been brewing for several years, I won't look at that and want to evacuate my lunch?