Bulk Tobacco Mold?

[magicpiper]

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title ( See Rule 9 ) - Bob

I was checking through my bulk tobacco in the cellar and noticed what looked like haze on the inside of a few jars. I opened them and confirmed it was condensation. It’s also important to note that it was only the Sam Gawith jars that had condensation. All others look normal. The wet jars smell as they should and have no visible mold. Is this something inherent to SG flakes? Should SG be dried prior to jarring? Anyone experience this?

 

[haparnold]

Gawith is wet wet wet. I haven’t jarred any, but I would be inclined to dry it first.

 

[BROBS]

I was checking through my bulk tobacco in the cellar and noticed what looked like haze on the inside of a few jars. I opened them and confirmed it was condensation. It’s also important to note that it was only the Sam Gawith jars that had condensation. All others look normal. The wet jars smell as they should and have no visible mold. Is this something inherent to SG flakes? Should SG be dried prior to jarring? Anyone experience this?

it's just the casings and oils getting on the jar. Some of mine do this too and I used to think it was because I wasn't getting the jars clean.. but then I noticed only some jars out of the same lots of jars was doing it. I came to the conclusion it's from the casing/toppings/humectant and is harmless, besides clouding the glass. You can stick a dry paper towel in there and wipe it off if it really bothers you.

 

[cigrmaster]

I have over 40 pounds of SG Best Brown, FVF and St James and have no mold issues. They were sopping wet when I jarred them and have just kept getting darker the more years have passed.

I have yet to see mold in a tin or on a bulk and I am talking over 200 pounds of tobacco. I don' t heat seal, don't use mylar, just store them as they come. I honestly think people are over thinking this.

 

[3rdguy]

Of course we are, we are pipe smokers!

I also have condensation in some of my jars but it has never led to an issue.

 

[sablebrush52]

I was checking through my bulk tobacco in the cellar and noticed what looked like haze on the inside of a few jars. I opened them and confirmed it was condensation. It’s also important to note that it was only the Sam Gawith jars that had condensation. All others look normal. The wet jars smell as they should and have no visible mold. Is this something inherent to SG flakes? Should SG be dried prior to jarring? Anyone experience this?

I've seen this with the Motzek Strang that I have jarred, and some Gawith. I did dry my St James flake before jarring and just popped open a tin of 2012 and it is fabulous! The Virginia has aged to a sweet perfection and the Perique has developed a nice fruitiness.
I haven't had much of a problem with mold so far. I did have some blending Virginia that went moldy in it's original bag during a period when sy to jar it, but it would have gone moldy anyway. Where I live is a dry climate, so mold is less likely to activate.

 

[magicpiper]

Thank you all for your input. Haven’t seen this in any of my bulk jars. Since none of the others had this, I was naturally concerned. All of them are jars of Virginia flakes with about 4 years on them. They are mouth watering when you stick your nose in the jar. I’ll probably start working on these to see how well they’ve aged.

 

[jeff540]

I lost the bottom half of an 8oz bag of Esoterica Dunbar to mold a few months ago. I had jarred it in a freshly washed and dried jar, but I hypothesize that there was a speck of water remaining in the bottom of the jar. The mold looked like a hazy white flower starting to form on the inside bottom of the jar, about the size of a quarter.

That's the only mold issue I've had thus far in 20+ years, and I attribute it to user error. If you jar tobacco, make sure you use a factory fresh jar, or if a formerly used jar then wash and dry in warm oven (220F*) or similar to ensure it is bone dry before filling with tobacco.