moldy beer

Maine Homebrewer

Grandmaster Brewer
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I recently lost several batches in a row to mold.  In fact all batches I started over the winter met a moldy death.  I was attempting to make lagers, taking advantage of my 50-55 degree basement.  What I didn't take into account was the cat boxes and dog kennel. 
My ales live on the ground floor under normal room temperature conditions.  But more importantly when I rack them they are not exposed to the same air as what is in the basement.

At least that's all I can think of that went wrong, because I had over thirty mold free batches in a row before this string of bad luck, and all ales since have been fine.  Same equipment.

I just wanted to share because I was all excited about making lager for the first time, made five batches to have a nice supply for the summer, and lost it all because I shared the air with my pets.

Stupid people don't learn, smart people learn from their own mistakes, wise people learn from others. 
I hope to give people the chance to be wise with this post.
 
Bummer on the moldy beer - I had to dump out 2 batches over the winter one for mold (surface gunk) the other was a fermentation I could not revive.

But a string like you've had is weird - while you've been brewing longer than I have ... something has to have changed or gone bad. Once you've sealed a carboy and fitted it with a air-lock it should be pretty hard to infect. Although one of my bad batches did have a loose seal on the rubber bung that holds the airlock -- not sure how --- but now I am always checking seals whether in primary or secondary.

I would examine every part of your brewing system and chemicals ..... good luck
 
Note to self: Get rid of dogs and cats! They kill Beer!  ;D

Seriously, Sorry to hear about the bad batches. I understand the disappointment. Been there, Done that!

Cheers
Preston
 
The Red I made since the bouts of mold is just fine.  No exposure to basement air, and no mold. 

I'm relieved in that I have isolated the problem, but disappointed that all my efforts to make lager failed.

I need a climate controlled brew shed or something...
 
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