Cider ready and... mold

[OswaldvW]

I was ready to bottle my perry that I pressed a few weeks ago and when I looked at the carboy this evening, I noticed mold. See picture.

What would you do? Toss it or bottle it?

 

[TheNewGuy2]

Toss that shiz man. Sanitize thoroughly as my knowledge of the green monster, it's hard to get rid of. You need heat and much chems. It looks like it's already releasing spores. Clean that baby out!

 

[UpstateMike]

Yeah, dump it. Clean out that carboy and then fill it with hot water and a tablespoon of bleach and let it sit for couple days, then dump, rinse, and let it dry.

Before you reuse it, sanitize with StarSan.

Looks like a 1 gallon carboy, right?

 

[Chris_The_Rogue]

Yeah dump it, super clean the carboy and reexamine your sanitation process. Might be a fluke but you wouldn't want it happening again.
Did you use campden tablets?

 

[WVMJ]

Next question is why did it happen? Lots of airspace in that carboy. Did you sulfite the must when you started? I just found some white floaties in a batch of cider I did not using sulfites on purpose, I thought the airlock was on good and tight but it must have leaked, dumped in some sulfites after swabbing out the white stuff on top, might have saved it. Your stuff looks toxic, make sure you dump it outside so you dont release a horde of spores into your house. Iodine should also do a good job cleaning it out. WVMJ

 

[OswaldvW]

to answer questions:

1.) yes, one gallon carboy
2.) yes, used campden tablets
3.) why did it happen? I don't know. Sanitation is something I am VERY careful about, so I am a bit puzzled about this.
4.) will thoroughly clean and sanitize carboy before I use it again.

Thanks for all the responses.

 

[UpstateMike]

to answer questions:will thoroughly clean and sanitize carboy before I use it again.

Thoroughly clean and sanitize the bung and airlock too.

 

[Chris_The_Rogue]

Unrelated question...Did you name your carboy Igor?

 

[Yooper]

to answer questions:

1.) yes, one gallon carboy
2.) yes, used campden tablets
3.) why did it happen? I don't know. Sanitation is something I am VERY careful about, so I am a bit puzzled about this.
4.) will thoroughly clean and sanitize carboy before I use it again.

Thanks for all the responses.

The answer to #3 is the HUGE amount of headspace. Once fermentation slows, headspace is the death of mead, wine, and cider.

 

[OswaldvW]

Unrelated question...Did you name your carboy Igor?

Yes, for Igor Stravinsky.

 

[MarkKF]

The answer to #3 is the HUGE amount of headspace. Once fermentation slows, headspace is the death of mead, wine, and cider.

Is that true even if u had a week of vigorous fermentation or if you flooded the carboy with CO2?

 

[balrog]

The answer to #3 is the HUGE amount of headspace. Once fermentation slows, headspace is the death of mead, wine, and cider.

So if I"m making a batch of EdWort's Apfelwein, it produced krausen and gunked up the carboy neck down to wort's surface (only about 1/2"), should I rack that to something and add water so that during 8 wks of "sitting" it lessens the chance of growing something unwanted? It's only 2wks in, but still producing cute little streams of bubbles around the wort's top edge for now.

 

[Yooper]

Is that true even if u had a week of vigorous fermentation or if you flooded the carboy with CO2?

Yes. C02 will dissipate. It won't stay in there forever. Oxygen allows things like mold and bacteria to grow.

 

[OswaldvW]

The answer to #3 is the HUGE amount of headspace. Once fermentation slows, headspace is the death of mead, wine, and cider.

I'm honored. Yooper responded to one of my threads! I followed your crab apple wine recipe this fall, but you will be happy to know that I have already racked it to another carboy and there is hardly any headspace at all in its new home.

 

[Maylar]

Yes. C02 will dissipate. It won't stay in there forever. Oxygen allows things like mold and bacteria to grow.

CO2 (molecular weight 44) is much heavier than air (29). How can it dissipate in a sealed fermenter with an airlock? Where does it go, and how could oxygen get in?

 

[Yooper]

CO2 (molecular weight 44) is much heavier than air (29). How can it dissipate in a sealed fermenter with an airlock? Where does it go, and how could oxygen get in?

Well, first remember that it will never, ever be 100% c02, even with active fermentation. And sure, c02 is heavier, but the Ideal Gas Law and the Laws of Physics still apply, even in a carboy.

As far as where air enters, it can enter through silicone bungs, rubber bungs, airlock material, water in the airlock, etc. Here's a simple read on some of the science behind this: http://www.mocon.com/pdf/optech/Closures - Oxygen Passage Study.pdf It was actually written by people measuring the o2 in Bettle Bottle fermenters, but if you scroll down to the airlock and closure part it should help.

I've heard MANY brewers talk about this mythical "co2 blanket", but never a winemaker or someone who is familiar with the Ideal Gas Law and other laws of physics, including diffusion. It's true that in the short term, there IS a protective effect from the co2 produced during fermentation, but since gases always seek equilibrium, and gasses readily mix, there is no such thing as a long term c02 blanket. If there was, we'd all die in our sleep from the c02 being heavier than other gasses in the air.

 

[MarkKF]

Wonder if it's worth putting a two hole bung in the carboy and routinely add a blanket of CO2 from a tank.

 

[Chris_The_Rogue]

Yes, for Igor Stravinsky.

Neat. Ive heard his music before but never had a composers name to add to it.
And you good sir have more class than I, For I would have named mine Igor in honor of Marty Feldman.

 

[Maylar]

Thanks, Yoop. That study on oxygen leakage is an eye opener.

 

[barnaclebob]

I've heard MANY brewers talk about this mythical "co2 blanket", but never a winemaker or someone who is familiar with the Ideal Gas Law and other laws of physics, including diffusion. It's true that in the short term, there IS a protective effect from the co2 produced during fermentation, but since gases always seek equilibrium, and gasses readily mix, there is no such thing as a long term c02 blanket. If there was, we'd all die in our sleep from the c02 being heavier than other gasses in the air.

Like you said, its possible to lay down a co2 blanket for short periods like while racking or transferring to another vessel. After a period of time the co2 will diffuse. I've tested this on my current batch of cider by creating a co2 blanket in my kettle, transferring the cider to the kettle, cleaning the fermenter then transferring back. I then lit a match and lowered it into the now empty kettle. It would go out below a certain point.