Mold or Pellicle?

[mbbransc]

I brewed a saison on 11/28/14 with WY3711. After 9 days, I racked to a smaller carboy secondary and pitched WLP644 Brux Trois (brett/sacch/whatever). I threw in 1.5oz toasted Hungarian oak cubes as well that settled in the neck. After a few days, I noticed some white on the cubes. I deducted there must have been some oxygen in the cavities of the cubes and didn't pay much mind. Looking it it last night, I thought the white looked fuzzy so I'm now fearful it may be mold. I took the airlock out to get a sample and the tops of the cubes looks even more disturbing. I'm wondering now if I should try to remove the cubes to save the beer. I pulled a sample and it tastes great; small bit of fruitiness to it.

OG: 1.055
FG: 1.003
Current pH: 4.7
Ambient temp: 70-71*F

[IMG="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72230761@N02/16142853145/"]
[IMG="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72230761@N02/16142857215/in/photostream/"]

 

[Psylocide]

It goes like this for the URL image link -

URL GOES HERE[/img.]

Remove the period from the second [/img.] to make it work.

 

[mbbransc]

It goes like this for the URL image link -

URL GOES HERE[/img.]

Remove the period from the second [/img.] to make it work.[/quote]

Thx! I did that too (but used the Add Image icon) but it doesn't appear at all. When I edit the post, I can see the text is indeed there, but nothing appears when posted. I wonder if it's because it's on my Flickr account. I have it set to public but I wonder if there is a problem Flickr isn't allowing it to appear.

I'll try posting it to image shack and see what happens...

 

[mbbransc]

 

[Psylocide]

Well, looks like image shack works.

 

[wildactbrewer]

I think that is pellicle. I was under the impression that mold would appear on the surface but I'm not sure. I thought I had a mold problem at one time too. Turned out it was pellicle, but in any case I got found some interesting info in John Palmer's book.

He said that there are VERY few things that would grow on fermenting beverages that can actually hurt you. In fact he went on to say that mold itself is pretty much harmless if ingested.

 

[dantheman13]

Looks like yeast build up. One good indicator of mold is color... it looks like the camera color is off. The orange looking goop is the same color as the orange goop along the sides of the carboy entrance. It looks like yeast to me. Mold is also usually fuzzy looking.

 

[mbbransc]

Looks like yeast build up. One good indicator of mold is color... it looks like the camera color is off. The orange looking goop is the same color as the orange goop along the sides of the carboy entrance. It looks like yeast to me. Mold is also usually fuzzy looking.

I thought the cube in the middle did look fuzzy. That's what got me looking closer. The view from the top is certainly orange, not a camera/phone issue. And yes, the insides of the carboy neck do appear to have a orange hue as well.