White scum on top of finished syrup

[TylerMcT]

At the end of last season I finished off packing the last run in one 32 gal drum and then had a ten litre sealed Pail to put the rest in. My question is I opened the Pail last night and there was a white/yellowish soft scum that formed on the top. Is this mold ? What would have caused this, not at the right density or improper packaging ?

[mountainvan]

Mold. More likely than not packaging. Did you flip the sealed bucket over to get the top exposed to the hot syrup?

[BreezyHill]

Agreeed, Mold. Had a few bottles in glass that were not inverted long enough and they molded with a white film. We opened the bottles and heated it up on the stove and skimmed off the mold. Brought to 200 to kill off everything again, put in a jug and into the frig when it was cooled. We were low on our house supply anyways.

You can repack in bottles with no issues as long as the taste is good or use.

Ben

[lpakiz]

Some years ago, I had mold on buckets just like that, maybe worse. The syrup smelled and tasted fermented. I boiled it for several minutes, (10-15?) and had to add water back to correct the density. Turned out perfect.