Contamination? Should be dumped? (See Pics)

Why risk it again. Time to upgrade to something like a speidel or ss brew bucket. The carboys are good for collecting ro water.

 

That's for sure.

 

I like my brew bucket but if its glass just soak it in some PBW overnight and it'll be good to go. No reason to throw a perfectly good carboy out as I can't really see any real risk of glass holding onto any bacteria if properly cleaned. Any plastic used should be discarded though.

 

Not that John Palmer is the be-all end-all source, but this excerpt from How to Brew would say not to worry if the beer tastes fine:

 

Yeah I don't know. I've read that aflatoxins are a risk. I'm not educated enough in this area to form a strong opinion, but I would really want to drill down on that before concluding that mold is nothing to worry about.

 

Thanks! I will clean it with some hot PBW a few times. This is a glass carboy. Looking at buying that nice 14 gallon unitank fermenter from SS brewtech!

 

So if something hairy grows on top during normal fermentation, that's something to be concerned about.
But if mold is growing on top it's okay to skim it off and all will be hunky-dory? He definitively says that an infection caused by molds is not dangerous.

I'm not convinced of the latter. Not saying he's wrong, but I'll err on the side of caution until convinced.
Will the alcohol, or maybe something else, deal with the spores that are missed by just "skimming"?

 

I think we used to have a microbiologist who frequented this forum, but I can't think of his name. I think he was from Texas, but not sure of that. Anyone remember his member name? He might be able to clear this up a bit.

 

@barfdiggs maybe? I don't think he's been around for quite a while though.

 

@Ozzylizard mentioned HERE he's a trained microbiologist.
@DrMindbender alluded to himself similarly HERE

I have no clue if their comments were mad in jest.

Edited to add @Patches826 as a potential witness.

 

Can tell you that in a hospital we work with lots of spore creating fungi that don’t die from 70% isopropyl alcohol so I don’t think the alcohol in your beer makes it safe. The only thing we use to kill spores is bleach and it’s usually 20 minute contact time.

 

I can't really tell from the photo if that bluish area is a young mold or not. I'd wait a couple more days and see if the areas darkened and got fuzzier. If they do, I'd think of Aspergillus sp. or Penicillium sp. Then I'd dump it, just to be safe. And yes, I functioned as a clinical microbiologist for a god-awful number of years and got my MS in bio with a concentration in micro.

 

Nope, none of these names are who I'm trying to remember, but I'm glad that @Ozzylizard chimed in.

The name that I'm trying to recall just joined the BA site and this forum when he started homebrewing 2-3 years ago. The name is on the tip of my tongue, so maybe I'll get it before the evening has passed.

 

Should have just let this one go. May have ended up as a tasty “wild” beer. All white pellicle like that is not a bad thing.

 

@corbmoster is the name. He has not been seen here for 20 weeks, so maybe he's not going to see this page.

'Corby' are you a microbiologist to be able to chime in on this thread?

 

More likely to taste like butthole and vomit. Ask me how I know....

 

In time like these, I like to reminiscence on the ancient pirates (who may or may not have actually brewed) and the monks in dank monasteries of the olden days. Would they have scraped off the mold and kept brewin? If we are impressed by the mythical pyramids of the world that we see today, then who knows, we may have been impressed with pirate beer.

 

You have brought this up before and it is totally irrelevant when it comes to safety. This isn’t a wild yeast that will make a beer taste good or bad if you try it out. It’s not lacto... it’s not pedio.... as far as I know mold doesn’t add ANYTHING to the flavor of the beer.

 

Dude late to the show here but call the ghostbusters. All I can say is that’s one for the driveway. Star San is your best friend. Dump.

 

The word your looking for is arrrrbitrary. Remember, pirate beer was likely rather safe, relatively.