berliner weisse

Berliner Weisse. How does it look? Mold in the airlock.

[/url]20180708_124557 by Germe Phink, on Flickr[/img]

[/url]20180708_124557 by Germe Phink, on Flickr[/img]

How long have you been fermenting for? Why do you suspect that mold formed? I think it looks clear and bright in the carboy. Not sure what the final product will look or taste like. I have never seen mold in a beer I’ve made.
Did you lacto pitch, kettle sour, or acid mash? Also, can you say more about grain build and your steps?

First sour beer. Mold seems to be only in the airlock–which is the airlock’s purpose I guess, to filter, but it’s still not appetizing. Carboy seems fairly clear with a hazy milky substance on top.

Started with an American Wheat with an OG of 1.040 and FG 1.010 – so near a healthy 4% abv. Then simply added WLP630 to a secondary glass carboy with bung and airlock and tucked it away in my warm water heater closet on 5/8/18.

Goal for this experiment: to not die from drinking the dreaded ale of death that grew insidious black mold and who knows what else.

  • I just added a thimble’s worth of star san into airlock and over that black gob for good measure.

Star San doesn’t kill mold or yeast, just most bacteria.  Iodophor kills everything. So does bleach, but it doesn’t play well with beer.

Anyone think it’s a problem having that gunk in the airlock though?

I’m thinking that I don’t need to do anything here, just wait.

If it was me, I’d switch airlocks, or if you don’t have a spare take it off and clean and sanitize it and put it back. Cover with a piece of foil while it’s off being cleaned.  Just in case.  Not much trouble for peace of mind.

Cleaning the airlock in a hydrogen peroxide solution, then sanitize, then replace.

I have put isopropyl alcohol in airlocks. But it evaporates. So be careful. A friend of mine uses vodka.
You might want to taste some and see where that’s at. I think you are fine. Meaning. You won’t die.

You let too much liquid evaporate out of the airlock, exposing the gaps at the bottom of the middle “hat” piece. This means you almost certainly now have mold spores in the beer itself, which in turn means it’s just a matter of time before you see mold growing on the surface of the beer (if it’s not already). If I were you, I’d sample the beer, and if it tastes ok, package it now, or at least cold crash it to retard the inevitable mold growth. Having mold in the airlock in the first place means that there was food in it, i.e. carbon (sugars), probably left over from a previous, explosive krausen that pushed through the airlock(?). I’d soak that airlock in hot PBW before using it again.

I second the mention of vodka.  It depends how much you brew as to whether the cost is worth it.  I usually just pick up a bottle of cheap vodka, or whatever is on sale.  Keeps the airlock completely clean and if a few drops end up getting in the beer, no problem.

Lately I have abandoned the air lock when I ferment in primary until things have slowed down. On my brew days I make a large amount of star San, usually filling the carboy first because of the foam, and pour that sanitizer into a bucket. When I top off the bucket I sanitize everything from the brewday and fill a growler about 1/4 way with sanitizer (though I am switching to an apple juice jug because my blow off blows over.)

After I pitch my yeast I throw my rubber bung stopper with 1/4” tubing on the top of the carboy and with the tube I submerge the end in sanitizer. Once the initial blow off is over or slows down, then I put an airlock on the carboy and fill th airlock with either sanitizer, or alcohol and water, depending what I have handy. The remaining sanitizer is used for my kettle and mash tun after pbw.

I tend to keep a spray bottle of star San lying around, but right now I don’t have any.

Hope this helps you with ideas for your future brewing adventures.

If using an old time glass carboy (not debating here whether glass is desirable for other reasons,) 1" ID vinyl tubing fits perfectly in the neck, and is impossible to clog.