Strange solid layer in fermenter

[obeahsf]

Hi all,

There is a sponge-like solid forming on the top of my beer. The beer was dry hopped and, as I didn't weight it down, the bag never fully submerged. Could this be a mold growing as a result of this? Does this seem like something that will cause any off flavors in the beer?

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[PrimalBrewer]

Huh, looks like a mold to me, but never run across it in brewing. I'd love to take a look at it under my microscope though, looks interesting.

 

[Klickmania]

I had similar looking stuff floating in an english bitter I brewed early in the summer. Never figured out what they were, but the looked and felt like dough almost. I tried racking away from them and repitch another yeast (it didn't drop a point in 3 weeks ). It smelled at tasted something awful so I ended up dumping the batch and chocking it up to bad/moldy yeast. I have since fermented in the same glass carboy without any infections/flavor issues. I'd say do the same thing if your gravity hasn't moved and you might end up with better results.

Here's the link to that thread. Pictures are at post #10. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/3-weeks-primary-no-fermentation-332921/

 

[strumke]

Looks like it might be large clumps of yeast. Taste it and see if it tastes off at all. If not, give the carboy a nudge and they may sink down and become part of the yeast/trub cake.