Theres white stuff floating on top of my (beer, wine, mead). What is it and what can I do?
What you probably have is film yeast. Mycoderma candida sometimes called the flowers of wine. It starts out as an oily looking spot on the surface of your wine, beer or mead. It grows into a white film that will cover the surface. Mycoderma candida is airborne and can infect a fermenter that isn’t topped up and protected by an airlock. Mycoderma candida id difficult to get rid of once it has infected your beverage. I’ve had some success with gently removing as much of the culture as possible with a cloth soaked in vodka or sulphite solution and then covering the surface of the beverage with vodka, brandy or sulfite solution. The fermenter must be filled up to the neck for this to have any chance of working. Mycoderma candida is usually slow to spoil the beverage so while the flavor may not be affected it is quite unattractive. Mycoderma candida is aerobic and cannot survive without oxygen so cut off its oxygen supply. In the future avoid unnecessary inspections or sampling of beverages
