Crab Apple Cider Mold

[dmitrivada]

Hey everyone! I'm new here.

I've started my first attempt at a wild fermented cider. I started with some decent sized crab apples. I juiced them and strained the juice through cheese cloth then put the juice into a 1 gallon carboy with an airlock. The carboy was sterilized with a bleach solution then boiling water. The cider has been in the vessel for only two days and there appears to be white mold growing on top of the ferment. The airlock is sealed and shows that there is pressure inside the jar.

What have I done wrong? Can I save this batch or would I be better off starting a new one and pitching a yeast from a brew supplier?

I searched the forum for my particular circumstances but wasn't confident with what came up. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!
Patrick

[Tim Hall]

Are you sure it's not yeast, which will sometimes form a pellicle on top. If it's creamy, maybe foamy, it's probably yeast. If it's fuzzy it's mold. And either way you haven't necessary done anything wrong, because there will be mold spores on the crabapples. The trick is to get the yeast going before the mold.