Mold?
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Are you sure it's mold? The pictures are inconclusive IMHO. If you're certain it's mold, I'd sample it, and try to rack from underneath it as soon as it's done fermenting. You could also rack from underneath it to a secondary if it's not done yet, but there's no guarantee you won't just move the mold spores from primary to secondary.
Seems inconclusive from the images IMO. Could just be some film from the beer being racked. Co2 released from the beer might have carried some particulate to the surface.
Best advice I can think of is to take a sample and see how it tastes. Even if it's infected, if it tastes ok, you might be able to drink it all up before it goes bad.
Best advice I can think of is to take a sample and see how it tastes. Even if it's infected, if it tastes ok, you might be able to drink it all up before it goes bad.
hey thanks for the quick response
ya I think it is mold sorry about the picture quality its a thin film of hairiness I don't know what else it could be
Its already in a secondary should I rack it out into another secondary and if it is a just a film from racking, will it go away
i wouldnt feel too bad getting rid of it because it was a five and a half gallon batch and the secondary with the mold is a one gallon carboy with a half gallon of wort in it
could the extra contact with air have anything to do with it
ya I think it is mold sorry about the picture quality its a thin film of hairiness I don't know what else it could be
Its already in a secondary should I rack it out into another secondary and if it is a just a film from racking, will it go away
i wouldnt feel too bad getting rid of it because it was a five and a half gallon batch and the secondary with the mold is a one gallon carboy with a half gallon of wort in it
could the extra contact with air have anything to do with it
Hopper5000
Well-Known Member
if it truely is mold I wouldn't want to drink it. Also, that is a ton of headspace in there. Secondary you want to have as little beer as possible exposed to air. If you take a closer up pic we might be able to help a bit more. It could be a pellicile from an infection too
Hopper5000
Well-Known Member
its forcing me to sign in and i dont have a flickr account, your other pic doesn't have that issue... there are plenty of potential causes for something like this but added head space means more area for funkies in there... it's mostly a concern with oxidizing your beer too
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99242126@N05/9343324179/lightbox/
is that better?
sorry Im new to flickr
is that better?
sorry Im new to flickr
Hopper5000
Well-Known Member
ya that worked, it looks like a pellicile to me but I could be wrong. You could just leave it and see what happens. I didn't realize that this was only a half gallon of beer. You should look up what a pellicile looks like online and see if it looks the same as what you got going on. If it does then it might get a nice sourness or brett flavor if you just leave it alone for a while. You could just dump it too.
Well hairy is not a term I'd want used to describe my beer! That sounds like a pellicle infection. Images seem to be loading hold on.
Ok, honestly that looks like it might be the early stages of a pellicle to me. Maybe a nice SOUR beer??
And headspace won't cause it. It might cause some oxidation if there isn't enough residual CO2 from the primary to push all of the air out of the headspace. I'd look for anything that may harbor bacteria, like unsanitized hands, mold or old beer in the transfer hoses, spigot (if your primary was actually a bottling bucket), autosiphon, etc. Generally a fermented beer will have enough alcohol to inhibit the growth of low levels of bacteria.
Ok, honestly that looks like it might be the early stages of a pellicle to me. Maybe a nice SOUR beer??
And headspace won't cause it. It might cause some oxidation if there isn't enough residual CO2 from the primary to push all of the air out of the headspace. I'd look for anything that may harbor bacteria, like unsanitized hands, mold or old beer in the transfer hoses, spigot (if your primary was actually a bottling bucket), autosiphon, etc. Generally a fermented beer will have enough alcohol to inhibit the growth of low levels of bacteria.
I don't know why the above posters hesitated, but I thought that was a clear pellicle from the first pic. Anything in your beer that's bright-white is never ever right. Unless you're infecting it intentionally.
Best advice came from Homercidal. Taste it, and if it's ok, drink it up ASAP.
Best advice came from Homercidal. Taste it, and if it's ok, drink it up ASAP.
