Mold/Infection/yeast on top of wort

[cvalicka]

Hi all,

First time poster, long time reader . I'm currently working on my 5th or 6th extract brew, a black IPA. I am concerned about my beer as it is in the secondary carboy and I noticed just this evening that it has something I haven't seen before growing on top. I have surfed the interwebs to find various advice about what to do and wanted to post my picture and see if I could get some feedback.

Anyway, I noticed these networked spots that appear to be mold on top of the wort and also noticed it forms a thin film/skin.

Is this beer ruined? Any idea what it is forming on top?

Chris

 

[shafferpilot]

well.... yeah, there is somethin foreign in there. But your beer isnt' ruined. If it were me, and btw I've been there before, I would rack that puppy into a keg right now and carb it up and drink the hell out of it... Of course I would do my best to leave the crud in the fermenter. Then clean the ever loving crap out of that carboy, give it the bleach treatment and move on with life.

 

[ChillWill]

Erm... I can see some fried eggs in there? I'd stick to using normal nutrient in future.

 

[cvalicka]

Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately, I haven't dry hopped yet and don't have the equipment to keg- I was planning to bottle. Are they both out of the question?

Chris

 

[cvalicka]

Actually, I was thinking about it a bit more and what I'm thinking of doing is transferring to another fermenter, dry hopping for a few days and then seeing if the stuff comes back. Thoughts?

Chris

 

[twigboy2000]

That's definitely not mold. Looks more like Brett or Lacto. How does it taste?

-chuck

 

[Revvy]

Yeah, you've got a pellicule for sure. It doesn't mean the beer ruined necessarily or anything. You might have a delightfully funky brew happening there.

I think your plan to rack and dry hop is a good one.

 

[EvilTOJ]

It's doomed unless you bottle now and drink quick. Bleach ALL of your bottling equipment after you bottle that sucker, and also bleach out your bottles when you empty them.

I'm totally not kidding. Otherwise that contamination can follow your brews for months.

 

[Yooper]

Oh, yeah, you've got a pellicle for sure! It's hard to say for sure what it is, but I hope you like sours!

I'd leave it be and see if it turns into a nice sour. I wouldn't rack and expose yet another fermenter to whatever this is.

Bleach bomb all of your equipment, and throw away and replace any plastic. You've got an infection.

 

[Revvy]

It's doomed unless you bottle now and drink quick. Bleach ALL of your bottling equipment after you bottle that sucker, and also bleach out your bottles when you empty them.

I'm totally not kidding. Otherwise that contamination can follow your brews for months.

He's ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVEEEEEE!!!!

Where the hell you been, buddy? Missed you.

 

[cvalicka]

The current plan is to clean, thoroughly, the fermenter that this came from and rack to it for dry hopping and a few days wait. I'll post in a few days time with an update.

Again, thanks for all the feedback!

Chris

 

[Germelli1]

I would bottle that ASAP. After it carbonates, get it in the fridge asap too, then drink them quickly. Right now it is probably still drinkable, but the longer you wait, the more vinegary/sour it will be

 

[jsguitar]

Another option is to rack to a kettle and pasteurize it, chill, and rack to new fermenter and repitch new yeast. http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index.php?page=Fermentation-FAQ#infected
He says to slowly bring it up to 165-170 and hold at that temp. for ten minutes.

 

[Zanzibeer]

Id say chill and let it ride for a while, then add hops a few days before you bottle.
Its cool you got the pellicle, it could turn into something nice after a while, just a funky black ipa, keep an open mind.

maybe throw in some sugar since those guys will eat everything up, maybe so much that the alcohol ecomes toxic and kills them, then you got something with funk hat will mess you up.

Id be against the bottling soon since the pellicle means there is already some funk and its gonna be there now or later, let it ride and be an experiment.

Keep the yeast cake for when you eventually get into sours, you have a house wild yeast/bacto mix

That is a pretty pellicle btw... I want it in my brett Bwine

CLEAN EVERYTHING!