Should I be concerned?

[UncleDave]

I recently purchased a freezer and ranco for fermentation and I've noticed mold growing on the inside lids of my plastic bucket fermenters. This never happened when I used a swamp cooler, but I suppose the close warm quarters of the freezer is a different climate. I have a renewable desiccant inside the freezer to remove humidity so I am doing everything I can think of to prevent excess moisture from building up.

So far, the mold has stayed around the lid and is not growing on the beer. But this is a Russian Imperial Stout and I had hoped to age it a few more weeks before bottling. Should I be concerned with removing the beer from the bucket asap or do you think it will be ok for a few more weeks?

Also, I'd like to prevent this from becoming a regular occurrence, so if I move to Better Bottles for primary fermentation, will this solve my problem or will I have to use glass carboys to fully rid myself of the problem?

 

[lanceearlhaines]

Also, I'd like to prevent this from becoming a regular occurrence, so if I move to Better Bottles for primary fermentation, will this solve my problem or will I have to use glass carboys to fully rid myself of the problem?

After your batch is done. do not open fermenter buckets unless you want to grow moldy beer, hopefully your fermenters are air tight to prevent contamination. on bottling day spray 5- 10 % bleach solution around edge where the mold is growing let it soak for 30 min and rinse. You don't want mold or bleach in your bottles. after this batch Clean and scrub all surfaces very well with cleanser, clean again then Sterilize everything with 10 % bleach solution in a spay bottle. Bleach!!! wear a respirator those hospital masks wont cut it, save your lungs from cancer or chemical burns. Replace air intake filter with a hepa or make your own filter to insure the air going into the freezer does not contain mold spores. Use MORE desiccant the kind you can bake and reuse. Mold loves high humidity and oxygen. you could fill the air space with co2 if it is completely sealed with no air communicating in or out. co2 is denser than air so it will fill from the bottom up. a candle can indicate when its filled, without oxygen the candle will extinguish. Now the mold wont grow and the beer will be safe. If you clean and sterilize well mold won't grow. Avoid opening it. this will let mold spores in. mold needs food to grow i.e.; organic matter with nutrients. So clean your buckets inside and OUT sanitize too! and don't spill or the beer will give food to the mold. Remember yeast and mold are both fungi so they thrive in similar conditions. Remove the food and oxygen and moisture and you'll be good. moisture is the least of the problem without food and oxygen mold cannot grow. Clean the area around the freezer if you have it in a damp dusty garage with lots of cardboard boxes and such these places are mold spore storage and growing factories and it takes only a slight breeze to blow millions of microscopic invisible spores into your freezer. some spores are unavoidable unless you have laboratory conditions so make sure there is no organic matter (sometimes not visible to the eye) for the spores to settle on and grow. clean scrub and clean again followed by bleach and no spillage. The surface is not the issue but rather how clean the surface is. I am willing to bet it is a used freezer that someone let stuff mold in. in which case it is filled with spores. clean it and bleach it. If it has a complicated air circulating system it is probably filled with spores, seal it off permanently! after cleaning and before bleaching, the innards will be impossible to rid of spores unless it is taken apart piece by piece and sterilized. remember scrub and bleach everything going into the freezer 30 min soak unless its metal 5 min only to avoid corrosion. avoid contact with any other surfaces like the floor, use gloves and a respirator and wear white or clothes you don't care about bleaching to protect yourself. Bleach and rinse your gloves first to avoid spreading spores to already sterilized surfaces. don't forget the lids and remove the seals and bleach them and the cracks from which they came. Rinse the inside of buckets with cool boiled water to remove chlorine to avoid off flavors. you can sanitize again after this if you want. I hope this helps you grow the good fungus and not the bad. Go Yeast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!