HELP!!mould in finings went into my precious AG beer

[delboy]

ok about 15 minutes ago i was fining some beer in preparation for putting into a corny keg i poured out about 15 ml of finings (two stage finings this was bottle B)and gently mixed them in so as not to aerate the beer. Everything fine so far until i happen to cast a glance into the bottle before i screw the lid back on to the fining bottle. Oh bugger theres a bunch of mould quite happily growing away in there (i could see cloudy bits in the finings but at the time thought it was precipitated finings).
Im really annoyed at my stupidity even more so because this is my second all grain batch and my first that was going to be kegged.
What do you reckon have i screwed the batch or what? This brew is about 5.6% do you think this alcohol content will inhibit the mould?
Should i try and keg this, force carbonate and drink it green before the mould gets a chance to render it undrinkable or horror of horrors does it need to go down the drain noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo??

[ColinKeb]

well either way the worst that can happen is that it will be infected. i'd just carry on as normal and see what happens , i doubt it will kill you when you try it , if its gone off it will taste like it otherwise youre laughing . hope it is good anyway .

[eskimobob]

Now that would be really annoying
I have come close to do something similar once or twice but not for a long time. I'm no microbiologist but I'd sit tight and see what it's like - you might just get away with it... They say the only real mistakes are ones you don't learn from.

[delboy]

After much initial annoyance the scientist in me has come to the fore, i syphoned off 3 quarters of a bottle poured in a few mls of mouldy fining liquid
and sealed with a bottle capper (finally got to gripes with that thing, just need to show it who's boss). I'm planning on storing this under the same conditions as the 5 gallons to see how it fairs with the mould. I want to see how rapidly it grows in the presence of 5.5% alcohol. If i see its growing like crazy and stinking the beer up at least i'll have learned something .
At the moment im hopeful that its one thing growing in sturegeon swimbladder/seaweed extract (can't remember which one is A and which one B) but maybe it'll be harder for them growing in beer although as colinkeb says this blighters can grow on practically everything.

[maxashton]

Depends what kind of mould it is really. Isinglass is the sturgeon collagen from swim bladders, and Irish Moss is the seaweed.

I wonder what the mold was actually eating in that bottle of collagen.

Let's hope the 5.5% kills it!

[delboy]

No unfortunately this looked like exactly like a mould infestation it had a white crystalline appearance with a greeny blue ting in the middle of the clumps (and if smells a bit off). I might get the camera out tonight and get a shot of it.
I actually have two unopened bottles of hop & grape issinglass in the fridge but the skinflint in me wanted to use up the last of the other fining kit .
What about doing what the grape squeezers do and adding a camphden tablet for every gallon of beer or something like that?

[maxashton]

You'd kill the yeast off, and wouldn't be able to prime without adding new yeast. Also, sodium metabisulphate (campden tablets) isn't a very effective sanitizer, and i'm pretty sure it doesn't kill spores.

[delboy]

a wee pic to show what was left in the fining bottle
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/files/7424-mold.JPG

[pongobilly]

looks like mould to me, why on earth didnt you see it when you were about to use it

[delboy]

Believe it or not i work with microbes and cells for a living (expressing proteins and the like) Previously i have always looked into the fining bottles, but sods law the one time you don't Mr mold and his extended family of many millions has set up home(replete with smoking jacket, pipe slippers and crackling log fire thank you very much) . I don't do the whole aseptic technique at home (to much like work) but i take reasonable precautions like holding the bottle at an angle while pouring so air borne bugs don't get in etc.
I don't want to go all anal about contamination so i'll probably continue in the same vien but next time i'll check before i pour .

[maxashton]

Looks like a slime mold, doesn't it? Might be ok.

you might want to pass that on the the DoD

Don't ever get anywhere near my socks.

[delboy]

I went ahead and kegged the gorgonzola brew, trying to force carbonate it so i can drink it before the mold takes over, although with my other brews i think ill stay traditional and prime the cornys.
Tastes mighty good so it'll probably be drunk in short order esp cause swmbo likes it also (don't know whether to tell her about the mould or not i suppose what the eye doesn't see the heart doesn't grieve over).
Also my little 'experiment' where i poured about 5-10mls of the moldy finings into a bottle of beer and capped it is looking good nothing appears to be growing YET!!!