Theres something hairy growing on me beer!

[longbody]

Hi folks,



Anyone recognise this stuff ? It was growing on top of a brew I bottled yesterday.

In fact, I had the same stuff growing on a batch I bottled 3 months ago. Then I thought then it was a bacterial infection, and my beer was ruined, but when I drank it, it was oh-so-bloody-marvellous. No off flavours, no haze, no floaty things, not flat, not gushing. So I decided it wasn't infected, just a bit of froth from CO2 coming out of solution in the hot weather.

Anyhow, now I've got it again. This time, I had a closer look at it. Theres plenty of bubbles in it, from gas coming out of solution, but the white stuff is actually little hairs, or threads, about 4 or 5 mm long, of shiny white stuff. It looks slimy, but its not, it has a texture like thick cream. Sorry, I didn't do a taste test.

According to Palmer, beer exposed to too much air during fermentation can develop mould on top. His solution, bottle it and drink it as soon as possible. Only thing I can think, thats whats happening here.

Anyone have a better idea ?

[Chris]

It's hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like krausen to me. Nothing to worry about.

If it really is mould, I'd ditch it.

[Kevnlis]

How long are you leaving your brews? If you are taking gravity readings and bottling as soon as you get the same reading 2-3 days in a row then there should be no way for infections to grow since there will be a nice blanket of CO2 on top of your beer. Of course, if you wait too long after it has finished (especially with glad wrap) and too much oxygen gets into the headspace you can get mould and bacteria growing on top of the beer. I agree with Chris here, probably just krausen, and like we brewers always say, if it tastes ok it's safe

[ryan]

Would Palmer`s advice be right? I wouldn`t fancy drinking beer that was mouldy. No way.

[longbody]

Hi folks, your comments are reassuring!

It probably is just krausen, and the fibrous stuff is just something disgusting coming out of the Adelaide water supply (which really does seem very bad).

In fact, I did make a batch of mouldy beer (accidentally) one time back in the 1980's, and it looked nothing like this. After I'd bottled it, I found big gobbets of green slime sliding round in the fermenter. I nearly puked.

Thank you for your comments.

[James L]

Hair ey? That looks like filamentous mould.... i would say that it is most definately infected. Those strands/fibres are hyphae... Its the type of mould similar to what you would find on mouldy bread. As far as i know, because the mould requires oxygen to live, it should only be floating on the top, so the beer underneath should be ok...

Just take a little more care with your sanitising, and you shouldnt see it again...

[Kevnlis]

Sanitation isn't the problem here if it is mould. If there is that much oxygen getting into the headspace the mould spores would easily come in with it.

[buzzkill]

The only way we can be sure is if you tast it..

[longbody]

OK, so someone else thinks its mould.

Perhaps I should have mentioned I've been dabbling in racking this year. This brew was made up to 26 litres, brewed for 7 days at 18C-20C, then racked to a 25 litre jerrycan for another few weeks. The yeast was still active at racking, but possibly not active enough to purge the whole jerry can headspace.

Of the 42 brews I've racked and bottled since February, only 2 have had disgusting stuff floating on the surface, so this is not a total collapse of the system, just something I'd like to sort out and stop.

[Kevnlis]

OK, so someone else thinks its mould.

Perhaps I should have mentioned I've been dabbling in racking this year. This brew was made up to 26 litres, brewed for 7 days at 18C-20C, then racked to a 25 litre jerrycan for another few weeks. The yeast was still active at racking, but possibly not active enough to purge the whole jerry can headspace.

Of the 42 brews I've racked and bottled since February, only 2 have had disgusting stuff floating on the surface, so this is not a total collapse of the system, just something I'd like to sort out and stop.

Try 0.5g/L of cane sugar to prime next time you rack. Should help to purge the oxygen and keep the beer from infections like this.

[ilovechocolate2002]

looks like toilet paper to me!

[damian44]

[Trough Lolly]

Looks like mould to me...The so called CO2 blanket is not an impervious shield for bacteria - especially anaerobic infections; ask the Belgians! I would be very cautious, use a pressure release valve on your containers (eg keg or use Grolsch swingtops / PET bottles with screw tops etc) and have a good hard look at my sanitation protocols.

Cheers,
TL

[ryan]

So getting back to my q. in post 4 of this thread, surely people wouldn`t take the advice {be it from Palmer or anybody else} to go ahead and drink beer that had a layer of mould on top? Thanks, but no thanks. I`ll just have a glass of water

[James L]

Kev,

Sanitation isnt the issue if its mould????

Bullsh!t.

it can be caused by by air getting in, but there is nothing to say that he didnt clean his fermenter properly.. and if its occured before, i'd be more inclined to think it is his sanitation....

[Kevnlis]

James,

Good luck getting enough oxygen into the headspace to sustain the mould growth without bringing spores along with it...

I am not sure there is a proven anaerobic, or even facultatively anaerobic mould in existence? Maybe I am wrong?

I never said sanatation was not important, I just said it was not the issue here... IMHO of course...

[ryan]

So getting back to my q. in post 4 of this thread, surely people wouldn`t take the advice {be it from Palmer or anybody else} to go ahead and drink beer that had a layer of mould on top? Thanks, but no thanks. I`ll just have a glass of water

So no one thinks it odd that Palmer advises people to bottle and drink mouldy beer.
Must just be me.....

[Smabb]

I`ll just have a glass of water

If I was still living in SE Qld Ryan I think I'd take my chances with the mouldy beer and give the water/sewage blend a miss.

[ryan]

Right.....one schooner of Mould comin right up

[Tipsy]

Right.....one schooner of Mould comin right up

If you pinch your nose you really can't taste the mould all that much