https://imgur.com/a/mc4f6lb I think I already know the answer, but is this mold on top of my beer? This is a chocolate milk stout. I added lactose during the boil. I added cocoa nibs that were soaked in vodka to the secondary. It looked fine when I racked into the secondary 2 weeks ago. I was planning on keging today and found this. If this is mold, should I throw it out or rack from below the mold and see how the beer turns out? Thanks.
I would taste it since the mold is on top. If it's ok maybe use 4 gals. Brett almost looks the same and we drink it.
Hard to tell from the picture, but it looks more like some kind of pellicle formation. I don't see anything "fuzzy" on it. I would assume that either brett or some sort of lactic acid producing bacteria has gotten into your beer. I do know that some kinds of "wild" Saccharomyces strains can occasionally make pellicles as well. Either way, I'd say smell it and if it doesn't smell like death then sample it. With all of that said, if there were to be mold on top of a beer it would not be safe to just rack from underneath. Mold can produce toxins in the beer that can be carcinogenic among other things. You don't need to actually ingest the mold itself to suffer from the effects of it.
Is there a spigot on the bucket? If so, get a sample from there and taste it before deciding what's next.
Thats not mold. Looks more like you racked it too early and fermentation wasn't actually finished. Could just be yeast eating the sugars from the cocoa nibs. Could be Brett, but I doubt it. Def not mold though. Just rack to your keg.
I was thinking this. Looks like yeast krausen / braun hefe to me, and makes me think you simply transferred to secondary early. @120bpm: Did you take a gravity sample and taste the sample before transfer?
Thanks for all of the comments! Here are some close up shots. https://imgur.com/a/DUMdZ6U After doing some research based on your suggestions I think it is a pellicle formation with some yeast krausen as well. I did not take a taste or gravity sample before I transferred to the secondary. I will transfer to the keg today and take a FG and give it a taste as well.
@120bpm You should read over this thread, especially the last two pages since they are very imgur-specific, for how to post pics inside threads. https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/help-adding-images-to-forum-posts.620136/ The way you are doing it allows everyone to scroll and see what you have stored in your imgur library. (I presume those other items are yours.)
That’s a pellicle not mold. It’s got some contamination. If you are kegging and it tastes fine then finish it. If you are bottling I would toss it as to not make bottle bombs.
