Mold/Contamination on top of carboy

[speck]

I have a question and I have just found and joined in the fun here. I recently took the leap with my first batch of all grain - a delicious chocalate porter. I almost drank it before I pitched the yeast. I have been brewing for several years now (at least 10 batches and have never had a problem with contamination) I am a clean freak. Right when I was pulling the chiller out of my wort and going to siphon off the trub into the carboy, my neighbor came over and got inthe way so I may have grabbed a dirty spoon or something, not sure. Somewhere I screwed up I think. Anyway, after 2 weeks in the secondary, and at bottling time I pulled the cover off the carboy and there was white mold in the neck of the carboy (3/4 inch of headspace under cap). There is also a 1/4 inch layer of cloudy white on top in the neck also. Am I on the right track in my diagnosis or could it be something else. Should I bother going ahead and bottling it or just pitch it? Normaly I ferment and rack the beer upstairs in the kitchen but this I did downstairs. It is slightly damper and a very slight mildew smell in the basement, but the temperature is much more constant at 70F versus 65-75 fluctuations upstairs. Could this have contributed to this disaster in any way?
Thanks guys

[dhempy]

Hi Speck:

You're sure this isn't residual krausen from the fermentation? How vigorous was the fermentation? Did your air-lock blow off or get full of krausen?

Dan

[jward]

If it is mold and only grew on the wort stuck on the neck of the carboy... You might be fine. Like BC said, get a sample avoiding the gunk and taste. If it tastes OK, I would bottle it. Age can help with some beer off flavors. However, I'm not sure sanitation problems and time go together. I would keep an eye on this batch.

If you filled the carboy somewhere else and put it in the basement already air locked I would expect your basement did not cause the problem. If you fill the carboy in the basement I think you are asking for problems. I read about one guy who built a closed system for moving wort from boil kettle to fermenter and beer from fermenter to kegs because he kept getting infections. Once he went to the closed system the infections stopped. Some time later he found that stuff growing in the condensation drip pan of a refrigerator in the same room was the source of the infections.

[speck]

It was a pretty mellow ferment with wyeast british ale yeast. It did appear globular in form before I scooped it out best I could and very distinctly seperated from the beer as it is a black porter and this was milky white. I was going to wait a couple days more and check it out again. This is the first and last batch I transfer and play with in the basment. My wife will have to come to terms with destroying the kitchen. Turkey baster and a taste test on Friday sound like the best plans. That's it. moving is the option left for me. I could handle finding out my house was built on an ancient haunted burial site just fine, but causing the ruination of good homebrew... I can't roll with that. I'll let you know what the outcome is with any further evidence should I find something. Good site here guys. Thanks all.

[maltbarley]

Welcome Speck! I hope the beer turns out ok.

Where do you hail from?

[jward]

...I could handle finding out my house was built on an ancient haunted burial site just fine, but causing the ruination of good homebrew...

At the risk of a hijack....Happy Halloween labels....
Poltergeist Pale Ale
Graveyard Imperial Stout
Black Magic Porter
Haunted Hefe
Redrum Red (I might have to use this one)
Burial Ground Brown
Bought the Farmhouse Ale
Go towards the Light Lite
White as a Ghost Wit
Molding Mummy Mead

[backyard brewer]

Redrum Red (I might have to use this one)

If you do, make sure you bring a keg!

[speck]

Most days I hail from Milwaukee, WI - Others I can't keep track. I found this place thru the article in the new BYO magazine and am very glad to have a reliable reading material to get me over the novice brewer hump. Lots of good posts and topics here. Thanks again all. Wish I lived closer to CA so I could maybe partake in some of your festivities.

[maltbarley]

Lucky guy: I'm a big fan of Sprecher brews but they no longer have distribution around here.

Please post whatever questions you have. The only stupid question is the one you didn't ask (or the one you didn't at least try in the search box).

[jward]

If you are ever out this way on vacation or business you might mention it. Lots of watering holes and local brews.

[dhempy]

Plus one web hit for the BYO article!!!

Dan

[speck]

Well I have succeeded at bottling the Ebola virus. Last night I used a sanitized turkey baster to remove the newly formed milky white layer of gelatinous mass and then proceeded to remove approximately 2 of 3 gallons from the 3 gallon carboy. I tried to get the center wort and stay away from the top. I bottled about a case of the porter and sampled about 3 or 4 mouthfuls. It tasted just like flat young beer, not sour at all. While cleaning up the bottling mess I started to get that not so fresh feeling. I spent the next 3 or 4 hours puking and cleaning out my insides. I haven't had that much fun since the night before my colonoscopy (those that have had one know what it is like). The moral of the story is - white stuff on top of beer = bad. Anyone else ever experience this phenomenon?

This morning I did a lot of research on several forums and learned a ton about what I have been doing wrong but it was an overwhelming amount. I am going to start a new topic about brew day sanitation schedules to hopefully get some more feedback on this. I could not find anywhere that discussed this specific topic on the schedules and rituals of sanitation anywhere.

[BrewMasterBrad]

Bummer. I have never heard of anyone getting sick off of infected homebrew before. I responded to your other thread about cleaning and sanitation.