hist-brewing: mead -bacterial infection?

[Charley Atchley]

>My questions: is that bacterial contamination?  Will it effect the end
>product?  Is there anything I can do to repair the damage?  It seems to
>taste pleasant enough now, but will it change toward racking time?

That is probably not a bacteria infection. It is probably mold. I had that
happen to a batch of mine once. (One of my kids pulled the air lock and it
was a week before I caught it.) The taste never went away. It had kind of a
hint of blue cheese flavor. If it is, then the alcohol is all still there.
(The mold lives on sugars and stuff.) I would never advise you to distill
it, because that would be illegal. Bacteria tends to make an odor. The odor
is still there after you distill it, not that I would ever do anything like
that, because that would be illegal.

Charley