Re: [CH] Fermented Mash Sauce Questions
Kristofer Blennow (kristofer@blennow.se)
Thu, 7 Jan 1999 03:23:43 +0100
On 7 Jan 99, Mark Ellis wrote:
> As an aside, whenever I have been seeing the same white mold on the top of
> the mash, I simply sprinkled about a cup of cider vinegar on it all and
> within 2-3 days all traces of mold is gone. This happened regularly for
> the first3-4 months, but have not seen it since (7 months now). Don't
> really know what the vinegar did except raise acidity, but I knew it
> couldn't hurt!!
I am beginning to wonder if it really IS mold. Mold does not just
vanish, it will maybe die and sink into the liquid, but you should be
able to see it as slimy lumps.
Wild guess... In fermentation of strong wines, you sometimes get
what in Spanish is called "flor". That is the wine yeast floating up
on the surface to get air to be able to multiply in the strong
alcohol. Now if, as Cameron suggests, this strong salt fermentation
really is some sort of yeast thing, or some very unusual bacteria,
maybe that is what you are getting. And in that case it should be
harmless.
Well, just babbling here. We really have to find out what kind of
organisms we are dealing with here.
All the best,
Kristofer