What is growing on my grapefruit?!

[jhlfrty]

Hi All -

I am in the midst of brewing an American Pale Ale kit purchased from Midwest. After about a week of first fermentation, I took a hydrometer reading and a taste. I was coming in about 1.5% ABV lower than the kit should have been. The kit said that first fermentation should last 7-10 days. The initial fermentation was pretty active for about 12 hours, but hadn't done much in a few days.

So I decided to to go off recipe a bit and added approximately 1.5 lbs of grapefruit to my secondary before I racked the beer. My intention was to enhance the intended citrus flavor of the kit and boost the ABV. After about 5 days I noticed small white dots growing on the fruit. Now, 2 days after I first noticed them, there appear to be a lot more of them. They don't appear to be like a spider web/fuzzy, as people typically describe mold ... but I want to be sure.

Does anyone have an of what this is? Have I ruined my batch?


Picture link below!

Thanks!

 

[flars]

Did you sanitize the grapefruit before adding to the secondary? If you didn't could be mold or wild yeast growth.

 

[jhlfrty]

I washed the grapefruit vigorously with water. The knife, cutting board, and bowl I placed it in (and my hands) were all sanitized though. I was unsure about if I could use my sanitizer (starsan) to sanitize fruit. After the fact, I realized that there are a few other methods I could have used to have sanitized. My secondary and racking equipment were all thoroughly sanitized. Additionally, since racking, there has been no air exposed to the brew .. but a bit of light through the glass carboy.

 

[seagondollar]

I washed the grapefruit vigorously with water. The knife, cutting board, and bowl I placed it in (and my hands) were all sanitized though. I was unsure about if I could use my sanitizer (starsan) to sanitize fruit. After the fact, I realized that there are a few other methods I could have used to have sanitized. My secondary and racking equipment were all thoroughly sanitized. Additionally, since racking, there has been no air exposed to the brew .. but a bit of light through the glass carboy.

Ive used fruit a lot, and sometimes I get that pelicle looking stuff on top. Never had an issue with souring or anything. Your alcohol should contain what your worried about since its post fermentation.

 

[d_rock]

I'm a noob when it comes to fruit additions and wild yeasts, but could it be the same yeast already present in the beer, but now growing on top as it works on the sugars in the grapefruit? Maybe someone more knowledgeable could expound on my take. I considered citrus additions to an IPA I have fermenting now, so I'm interested in the possibilities.

 

[jhlfrty]

That is what I was hoping. Considering that I racked on top of the fruit and also transferred a fair amount of the trub, there should be a decent amount of the original yeast in there.

About 12 hours after the transfer, my airlock started moving and has been going more than i expected for secondary ... So something is definitely happening in there...

Also, this is only my second brew ... so going off recipe was probably not a wise move. But we live and learn!

 

[seagondollar]

That is what I was hoping. Considering that I racked on top of the fruit and also transferred a fair amount of the trub, there should be a decent amount of the original yeast in there.

About 12 hours after the transfer, my airlock started moving and has been going more than i expected for secondary ... So something is definitely happening in there...

Also, this is only my second brew ... so going off recipe was probably not a wise move. But we live and learn!

Yep, that's normal too. Obviously your sugars from the fruit are fermenting. Going off the recipe was an excellent move. If it works out, you learned something. If it sucks and tastes nasty, you learned something.

 

[day_trippr]

I expect those white spots are not your brewers yeast.
Also, heaps of pith may provide a character you're not going to like.

Good luck...

 

[jhlfrty]

I expect those white spots are not your brewers yeast.
Also, heaps of pith may provide a character you're not going to like.

Good luck...

If this is the case, should I move to bottling sooner to prevent is from further interacting with the beer?

I was going to let my secondary go for another week or so.

Any benefit to bottling early, racking from under the fruit, and hoping for the best?

 

[day_trippr]

If this is the case, should I move to bottling sooner to prevent is from further interacting with the beer?

I was going to let my secondary go for another week or so.

Any benefit to bottling early, racking from under the fruit, and hoping for the best?

I'd be inclined to rack the beer out from under whatever that is, bottle it up and hope for the best.
FOR SCIENCE! you could leave some beer behind and see how whatever that is develops.

fwiw, citrus pith tends to contribute a distinct garbage note, hence my earlier comment.
And in this era of amazing C hops you really don't need to play with bug-ridden citrus to get the character you seek.
Between Cascade, Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic and other strains there's a virtual fruit salad available for late additions...

Cheers!

 

[jhlfrty]

Just closing the loop for any future viewers of this post.

Kegged and bottled some of this batch. Results were HORRIBLE. It was most definitely wild yeast. Incredibly acidic off flavors and tons of issues with carbonation. I am assuming it was due to poor sanitization of the grapefruit addition.

5 gallons wasted, but many lessons learned.

 

[brick_haus]

Thanks for the update.

 

[jabba11]

I second the pith comment...bleeccchhh

 

[day_trippr]

If I was ever inclined to add citrus fruit post-boil, I'd first gather the zest, then totally remove the rind, crush the fruit and dump it in a pot, bring it to 160°F for five minutes, dump the zest in at "flame out", cover the pot with plastic wrap, stick it in the fridge 'til it cooled down to at least 80°F, then pour the works in the fermentor.

But, again, the breadth of citrusy hop strains available today can often replace most citrus fruit wrt character without risking a batch of beer.

And, regardless, pith is definitely to be avoided...

Cheers! (Rule 1: if it doesn't taste right in your mouth, it won't taste right in your beer)

 

[jabba11]

If I was ever inclined to add citrus fruit post-boil, I'd first gather the zest, then totally remove the rind, crush the fruit and dump it in a pot, bring it to 160°F for five minutes, dump the zest in at "flame out", cover the pot with plastic wrap, stick it in the fridge 'til it cooled down to at least 80°F, then pour the works in the fermentor.

But, again, the breadth of citrusy hop strains available today can often replace most citrus fruit wrt character without risking a batch of beer.

And, regardless, pith is definitely to be avoided...

Cheers! (Rule 1: if it doesn't taste right in your mouth, it won't taste right in your beer)

I zest grapefruit for an IPA I make. I just soak it a few minutes in grain alcohol because I put it in (usually when I dry hop). With the fruit you can also use campden tablets. Ive don that with mulberries in my yard. Blend them up put in a bucket and use appropriate amounts of campden (cant recall without looking it up) let it sit overnight. Cooking fruit changes it some. Grapefruit is pretty acidic anyway on its own, not sure how much sanitizing the fruit portion would need.