Mycotoxins in infected beer

[kadozen]

So, on the Reddit hombrewing sub recently, someone had a clear infection of some kind. They said they were going for a Berliner and tossed it at the sight of a pellicle. Fine, that's cool, their beer after all. I asked if they had at least tasted it just in case they had caught something yummy. This invited many people on a downvote brigade stating that the beer was most likely full of mycotoxins and that they would likely get ill, and it wasn't worth risking.

Now, I know someone here will know: can an infected beer be chock full of mycotoxins? I know mycotoxins on the malting side can be a problem, but once it's mashed and all, nothing pathogenic can form, right?

Thanks in advance. Any sources would also be nice if you got em

 

[Agate]

Only time it's a concern... If there's clearly mold growing, dump it. Otherwise, drink on!

 

[estricklin]

If the wort was fermented by yeast BEFORE bacterial contaminants moved in, there's basically no way anything can be there that would actually hurt you, taste good, that's another story.

 

[ten80]

Now, I know someone here will know: can an infected beer be chock full of mycotoxins? I know mycotoxins on the malting side can be a problem, but once it's mashed and all, nothing pathogenic can form, right?

Thanks in advance. Any sources would also be nice if you got em

Mycotoxins... it depends. Fungi grow under aerobic conditions and don't tolerate pH values below 4.5 very well, especially in the presence of alcohol and CO2.

Given this, plain wort is VERY susceptible to infection if the pH is above 4.5 and yeast is not actively fermenting.

Typical recommendations for a kettle or mash-soured berlinerweiss are to lower the pH to 4.5, blanked the wort in CO2, then allow the wort to mash or wort to sour to about 3.3-3.5 pH and add then add yeast.

I just sampled my bottle-conditioned, 3-month old no-boil berlinerweiss and it was super clean with no sign of a pelicle in the bottle. Clearly the result of my following the souring procedure described above.

Not knowing how the berliner was brewed (mash soured, kettle soured, or lactic acid added), one cannot say what the cause of the pelicle was and whether the pelicle was due to bacteria, wild yeast, or fungi.

So the answer to you mycotoxin question is likely "probably not... but it depends"