moldy lambic style

[tjones_jr]

last year I started a kriek lambic styled ale...

instructions and recommendations said to let it sit in the secondary fermenter for 6 months before bottling.

well, i forgot about it and now it's almost 12 months! I checked it out the other day and noticed some mold growing on the surface of the beer.

is the batch ruined, and if not, how do I salvage the beer from the mold?

[stronk]

Even 6 months is a very long time to sit in secondary! Given that it's a lambic, the mould might just be due to some of the nasties included in the yeast package. With a lambic, you can stretch the definition of 'ruined'; just taste it (preferably without the mould) and see if you like it.

[Payson]

I had a fruit style lambic in tertiary for over 6 months and all turned out well, in fact, it recently won a best of show. It lacked what you describe but I agree with Stronk that it's all in the taste.

[toneyc]

You could rack it out from under the mold and taste it. If it tastes ok, bottle/keg it!

:)
Toney.

[stronk]

It would be safer to keg it, I think, as it would avoid the risk of anything exploding.

[tjones_jr]

kegging isn't an option, but i'll taste and bottle this weekend.

if i had bottled after 6mo it should have been fine, but i think the temp changes during the summer brought on the mold. I'll just be careful not to shake the carboy. No need to spread that mold around.