AG is moldy :(

[Slowninja]

Had an all grain mash ferment out, when it stopped I strained off the grains and put the liquid into a carboy (airlocked) to clear. Its been in there about a week and now its got mold on top..

Is it ruined?

[bellybuster]

syphon off from under the mold, it'll probly be fine.
are you sure it's mold? Yeast colonies can look moldy-ish

[Slowninja]

Its floating on top, I'm thinking probably not yeast. All the yeast should have settled out by now

[Butterman]

May as well run it, right?
I mean boiling and alcohol will kill anything harmful (well I suppose the definition of harmful is a matter of perspective when making likker) and see what it tastes like.
Let us know what happens, I would be interested.

Butterman

[rtalbigr]

Is it a white film, kinda lacy? I get that from time to time, especially if the carboy is not full. If that's it just run it, it won't hurt anything.

Big R

[MDH]

If it's white and looks like cobwebs you have lactic acid bacteria. This is good depending on how you look at it. I recently tried a Kilchoman that is allowed to undergo extended ferments for this exact reason and it was rich.

[DuckofDeath]

Cobwebs is not lacto bacillus.. cobwebs is usually a nasty infection. It could taste good, could taste bad don't know. Lacto is a good bacteria used in cheese production and will make your likker better.

http://www.celticmalts.com/journal.asp? ... =0%7C4%7C9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Slowninja]

It looks more like the mold you'd find on old cheese

[sambedded]

Is it white, blue or black? How about pictures?

[Jimbo]

A lot of molds are pretty harmless. Smell and taste it. If its tastes good straight, it'l taste good 'still'd. Run it now.

You cant age AG mashes like beer. They're not sterilized (pastuerized) anywhere in the mashing process (beer is boiled), so the bacteria get all fired up about chompin on them yeast trub and other stuff after the ferment is over.

When its done bubblin ya gotta run it.

[MDH]

Cobwebs is not lacto bacillus.. cobwebs is usually a nasty infection. It could taste good, could taste bad don't know. Lacto is a good bacteria used in cheese production and will make your likker better.

http://www.celticmalts.com/journal.asp? ... =0%7C4%7C9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

A soft white bubbly milky layer on top of fermentation is normal after the ferment is done. Leaving a mash for up to a few weeks after it is done will not kill anybody unless it happens to be near active sources of brett bacteria, and if you haven't pasteurized/boiled all of the barley it is more than likely helpful bacteria.

You are right, there is another infection that appears like cobwebs made out of crystals; this is actually a fungus that simply eats alcohol and turns it into CO2 and water! Obviously distilled flavor water is not what we are looking for so it's good not to be confused.

[Slowninja]

Ran it tonight... Wash smelled kinda bad, product smelled like shit, tasted like shit.... Must be shit

[Jimbo]

Damn, well at least ya tried. Wash everything with hot soapy dishsoap, antibacterial is a nice adder. And then sterilize the hell out of everything. I use Iodophor, works great. Y'all got a bug you dont want hangin around.