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Ugly lookin stuff floatin in my carboy

Ok, so my beer (porter) has been in the carboy for in the neighborhood of 4 weeks. It seemed to have a small 2nd wind of really slight fermentation about a week ago. I bottled it today, and on the top of the liquid was some white stuff, kinda nasty, reminded me of thin flakes of skin, or thin pieces of elmer's glue. Any ideas? It didn't smell bad, and Im drinking the odd amount I had left (only about 1/3 a bottle) and it tastes fine (I used coffee, that taste is a little strong, but not as much as a few weeks ago). Whats goin on??

Reply to
White Trash
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Sounds like a fungal mold growth. The spores are all around us in the air. May not be harmful but the beer might spoil quickly. If it tastes OK, it usually is.

Reply to
Jupiter

Sounds good to me, we'll find out in a couple of weeks if its alright or not I suppose.

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Reply to
White Trash

I read your question, and have also read the follow-up comments on this, and actually want to respectfully comment about a follow-up about it being fungal mold growth. Many do not know this, but yeast itself IS fungal in origin. I would be interested to find out what strain of yeast you were using to determine if it could be the yeast itself (many belgain strains, not JUST lambics will form a pellicle if left around for 4 weeks). If you are using dry yeast like nottingham, these are loaded with wild yeasts and I would not recommend 'aging' a beer for 4 weeks unless a lager and ONLY if you have proper temp control. Let's say that you were using a quality liquid ale yeast and there is contamination from something. I would venture a guess that it would be bacterial contamination, and probably either lactobacillus or a pediococcus infection. Don't worry though, these will only sour your beer and should not hurt you if you have at least 5% alcohol in your beer. Keep me informed as to how it ends up

Rob

Reply to
Rob Bernys

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