Does my fermenter have mold?

[KKP]

I went to check my beer for tomorrows bottling and noticed small white dots on top of my beer. Biggest white dots are around 1cm diameter. I didn't see any dots last time I took a closer look which was around 4-7 days ago. The beer has now been in fermenter 2 weeks. Is this mold?

I read that mold is usually fuzzy and creates bad smells but my beer is not producing any unusual smells

Is it ok to bottle this tomorrow? Should I first have a taste test since nothing is wrong with the smell?

https://imgur.com/a/VSZYw0N

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I don't know if that is mold but whatever it is it looks nasty. Even the brown stuff that the white stuff is sitting on does not look good. I would say you have an infection there and would not bottle it. What style of beer is this? What is the current gravity and has it remained unchanged for 3 days?

 

[Minbari]

Kinda looks like a pelecule. But i have had similar things floating and nothing was wrong. I would taste it before you dump it. If it taste sour or meaty. It's bad.

 

[Donoroto]

It might be bad, it might not. Once gravity stabilizes, have a little taste. Your taste buds will instantly tell you if it is bad.

If it is not bad, wait a couple days and bottle it (unless you keg, which is preferable).

I have learned that lots of weird things happen during fermentation, I usually can't explain it, but I've never had one actually go bad. The alcohol is actually a decent disinfectant, so once fermentation is nearly done, infection is extremely rare.

 

[KKP]

It might be bad, it might not. Once gravity stabilizes, have a little taste. Your taste buds will instantly tell you if it is bad.

If it is not bad, wait a couple days and bottle it (unless you keg, which is preferable).

I have learned that lots of weird things happen during fermentation, I usually can't explain it, but I've never had one actually go bad. The alcohol is actually a decent disinfectant, so once fermentation is nearly done, infection is extremely rare.

Kegging not an option unfortunately

I was also thinking that it should be around 6% beer and those spots appeared just few days ago after being in fermenter for ~10 days so alcohol should have given a bit protection for infection

Anyways thanks everybody for answers. Ill keep an eye on it for few days and if it doesn't look or smell bad I'll taste it and decide if I'll bottle it or dump it

 

[Ward Chillington]

Good theory on the alcohol properties providing a germ barrier but it looks like there's something else that grew in there besides your yeast.

You've got 3 pseudo antiseptic things going on in the fermentation tank, your hops, carbon dioxide and alcohol but whatever the white stuff is, it's either stronger than those 3 antiseptics OR those antiseptics were compromised.

So...few questions @KKP ...what sort of actual ABV is going on. I read your estimate of 6% but what's your actual measurements?

How's your air lock and your seals for your fermenter? Did you have a leak or got some suck back and whatever is growing got enough air to grow?

How was your pitch and yeast health? The trick in brewing is to have enough good yeast power to over run any other bad bugs or fungus that you don't want. Did you under pitch?

Welcome to the clubhouse..good first post...I hope we can help.
Sorry you're having issues!

 

[GFHomebrew]

I rekon she's fine I've had floaties on top of my fermenter that looked similar. Like little yeast rafts and sometimes with heavy dry hop loads. looking forward to hearing how you get on.

 

[Zambi]

If it sort of smells okay, maybe bottle in 1 litre pet bottles. If they are clear, you can follow development.
Just keep them in the dark, to prevent off flavours by light. I would keep them in a box anyway, in case of bombs

 

[Blackmuse]

@KKP any updates? I’m so curious!

 

[The Brew Mentor]

I'm curious as well.
I'd have racked it to a proper sized 2nd vessel, leaving Behind the top and bottom.
Then if it came back I'd have dumped it, if not then bottle.
And some good advice from @Zambezi Special about keeping them in a safe, separate place.