Moldy wedding beer!

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Babachewy

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So I've been brewing for my wedding next month and I ran into a problem last night. I had been lagering a Märzen since March using tinfoil as an airlock. Also the 6 gallon carboy was a little big for the lagering minifridge, so I had to tape the fridge shut, so I haven't looked at the beer in ages. Last night I go to keg the beer and there are big blue "lillypads" of mold floating on top of the beer. It tastes alright and the gravity is where it should be. I racked the beer from underneath the mold into a keg.

Next I checked on a Kölsch I was lagering for a month and a half or so with a tinfoil airlock and yep, some smaller molds floating on top of that one as well. Again, it tasted fine and the gravity was where it should be, so I racked from underneath the mold into a keg.

So pretty freaky stuff. I know pathogens won't survive in beer, but I'm worried this will upset my guests stomachs or something. Anyone have any experience boldly drinking beer that had mold on it? Anyone just want to lie to me and say everything is going to be alright?

At least the wedding tripel is fine. :drunk:

No more tinfoil airlocks for me in the lager fridges.
 
I've already learned my lesson on the airlocks. I was out at the time and forgot to put one on when they became availible.
 
Yeah I'd probably use something safer than tinfoil for long term aging or lagering. Tinfoil works fine when fermenting because the CO2 produced will push out the O2...but after racking over and lagering you want to use something to keep the beer from oxidizing and in this case, developing mold. You could try sampling a few after it's bottled and if you don't get sick after a few days, serve it up. Not a good way to start of a wedding, being sick though...

Honestly if it were me though...I'd just stick with the tripel. It's a good beer and you don't have to worry about getting people sick. Some people could react more to the molds in the beer. House beer is one thing, but wedding beer is quite another.
 
How cold do did you lager them? My concern would be that the mold was growing very slowly as the beer is in the mid-30s but when you warm them up the mold will really take off. I would add add campden tablets and/or Sorbistat K to make sure you kill anything before it gets worse.
 
They were lagering at 32 degrees or so. They're currently on gas to carbonate at room temperature (and hopefully the CO2 will keep any mold from thriving), but I'll hit them with some campden when I get home, that's a good idea.
 
I feel bad for you.

Do you need an airlock?

I'm sure someone has a spare.
 
Thanks for the offer, but I have plenty of airlocks now and unless they come with a time machine it's not going to fix my current problem.
 
Even if you had a proper airlock, that's not what you want for long term aging. Throw a cap or solid bung in there. I'm lagering my first back right now as well. Also a Marzen. It's been sealed in a keg in my keezer set to 40° since April.
 
I think that if you had tinfoil hats on your carboys, some of the rays were sneaking past and depositing aliens in there. It may be an alien conspiracy to take over the world using beer as a transport device!

:)
 
I would stay with the Tripel. If word gets out every guest who has the slightest upset stomach for whatever reason will be saying they were poisioned at your wedding. I can almost here the Master Card dude getting ready for his cue.
 
If it tastes all right and doesn't make you sick...what they don't know won't hurt them.
but it's BLUE!! read the OP- blue mold just doesn't sound good. break out the microscope maybe you've populated your beer with drunken smurfs:drunk:
 
You might be right.

I've decided to save the moldy beers for my personal consumption and keg a Weizenbock and light Hefeweizen I have lying around instead, to join the tripel. Thanks for the input, everyone.
 
I am glad to see Moldy Wedding Beer was not actually the name of your new recipe. I was going to suggest against it. :D
 
I had mold growing on a stout one time (the airlock went dry). I racked out from under the 2 or 3spots of mold and went on to carb in the keg and drink it as per normal. It was fine and lots of people drank it without any ill effects.
 
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