Fruit flies in airlock led to contamination

Question

I have some mead and cider going, and left for a month. When I returned there was a layer of white mold that ive heard referred to as air mold. I think it is because fruit flies got in the airlock and died. I tried adding camden tablets (5 per 5 gallons), but it seems to still be coming back. IS there anything I can add to decontaminate the ciders and wine? Unfortunately im talking about my whole fall harvest of apples so we are looking at 45 gallons that I am grasping to save Any advice really appreciated!

Answer 1

First, if you have one-piece airlocks, throw them in the garbage. Use the three piece ones with cup and snap on lid. The latter kind is unlikely to siphon with a temperature drop, keeps out pests, and holds more fluid to delay complete evaporation.

When you added the Campden tablets, did you do this by racking onto the tablets in a freshly sanitized fermenter? Mold will sink into solution if it dies, not magically disappear, and is potentially toxic, so it has to be skimmed off or the wine racked out from under.

A finished cider or mead usually won't support mold growth, so I would check gravity. If fermentation isn't finished, then I'd rack onto Campden and yeast vs just Campden.

Answer 2

Skim the mold off of the top, and transfer most of the liquid from below it. Only transfer the liquid that you know hasn't touched the mold. This may or may not work. Although, if your airlock is working correctly, I don't think mold should be able to get in.