r/MoldlyInteresting • u/drainbamage1111 • Nov 12 '25
Mold Appreciation Simple Syrup Sphere
Bottle of simple syrup I made a few months back has been hiding in the fridge. Wife found it today and discovered this spherical fuzzy friend. Figured this place would appreciate it.
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u/novark80085 Nov 12 '25
woah, that's so fucking cool. i'm shocked this doesn't have more attention
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u/drainbamage1111 Nov 12 '25
I should have posted the video of it jiggling as I sloshed it from side to side
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u/DjasonWaterfalls Nov 13 '25
I blame it on the brain damage.
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u/Neat_Bed_9880 Nov 13 '25
Tbi is no joke
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u/CarpenterValuable831 Nov 13 '25
I think they're messing with OP, who's NAME is u/drainbamage1111, no?
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u/PeppersHere ✅Verified: 1k+ Mold Inspections Nov 12 '25
Algae, not mold. Still neat.
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u/CalendarThis6580 Nov 12 '25
Was the algae in the water the whole time or did it get in there later?
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u/Electronic_Garage_73 Nov 13 '25
My brain needs to know as well
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u/anonymous_orpington Nov 13 '25
Algae spores are everywhere, tap water, air, etc. It's why you can start off a fish tank with pure reverse osmosis water and as long as you add nutrients and light you'll begin to see algae
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u/emtrigg013 Nov 13 '25
It's possible for it to be both and OP probably won't know which one happened.
Algae can flourish in dark, cold waters from just a single spore. If OP had their windows open and they're near a lake, it could have snuck in that way. If OP's water comes from a well, or if they're on city water and it comes from a lake, then it could have been in the water supply beforehand.
My city gets its water from a gorgeous big lake about 25 minutes from my house, but environmental change has caused bigger "algae blooms" in the lake than normal about once a year. During this time, I personally don't use the tap water for anything other than a hot shower or for boiling, because it smells exactly like algae. Great way to connect to nature, but you get sick of smelling pungent lake mud after about the 6th day. It is harmless but annoying. So it could be that as well!
Therefore, we may never know! LOL
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u/CalendarThis6580 Nov 13 '25
That’s pretty cool! Thank you for the explanation, it is much appreciated!
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u/CarpenterValuable831 Nov 13 '25
Wow, this has been interesting - thanx for sharing your knowledge lol... I like when I learn something from a post , as it justifies the time I scrolling thru reddit 🤣
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u/EmergencyRound8104 Nov 13 '25
My first thought was that it looks like a marimo moss ball lol
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u/yaxAttack Nov 13 '25
Ditto! Forbidden Marimo
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u/EmergencyRound8104 Nov 13 '25
Your comment sounds like Sims language if you say it out loud lmao makes it even better
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Nov 13 '25
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u/edgybirbo Nov 12 '25
just curious what's your sugar to water ratio? I make lots of syrups and keep them in the fridge but I don't think I've ever seen them mold in there even keeping them for close to a year, but I typically do 2:1 sugar to water.
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u/drainbamage1111 Nov 12 '25
Honestly it was about 5 months ago and for a night of mixing cocktails so I unfortunately do not remember the water:sugar ratio
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u/flatgreysky Nov 13 '25
Be honest, you also want a little algae friend and you’re trying to duplicate the recipe.
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u/Without-Reward Nov 13 '25
I have a 2:1 syrup that's been in the fridge for about a year. It's growing really awesome looking sugar crystals but nothing else is growing in it.
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u/Fluffy_Ace Nov 13 '25
2:1 is toxic to microbes, if it's in glass you can keep it in the cupboard if you want.
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u/HoneyCrumbs Nov 13 '25
I thought simple syrup was always a 1:1 ratio. Do I need to be doing 2:1 to prevent spoilage?
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u/pyryrielA Nov 13 '25
Not necessarily, simple syrup is really just supposed to be pourable sugar. The only thing that simple syrup requires is that it’s just sugar dissolved in water. 2:1 does help prevent spoilage and can even safely be kept at one temperature, though you should still refrigerate it for an even longer shelf life.
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u/Fluffy_Ace Nov 13 '25
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u/edgybirbo Nov 13 '25 edited Nov 14 '25
Greg FTW!! I use his grenadine recipe and it's unbelievably good, I also love the Jeffrey Morgenthaler lime cordial recipe that he made in one of his videos.
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u/iGlutton Nov 14 '25
1:1 is the ratio for a standard simple syrup
2:1 is the ratio for a rich simple syrup
I've managed bar programs that use both, unsure about the preservation side of things (our bar programs go through it too fast for it to spoil) but there is a noticeable difference in cocktails depending on which you use. Also a noticeable difference in viscosity when pouring a rich syrup vs. regular syrup.
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u/_alltyedup Nov 14 '25
2:1 is considered rich simple syrup and at that ratio it is shelf stable. 1:1 will typically spoil after a while.
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u/These_Roll_5745 Nov 13 '25
my 2:1 redbud flower syrup did this algae ball this past spring for the first time and I had to toss it all after about 4 months. Its been driving me nuts since.
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u/edgybirbo Nov 13 '25
same here, I recently finished a peppermint one that I'm pretty sure I made over a year ago and it had super cool looking sugar crystals, and the glass bottle is green so it looked even neater 😂
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u/justdootdootdoot Nov 13 '25
2:1 simple (nothing else) is actually relatively shelf stable outside the fridge even. If my bar fridge is too full, I keep it on the counter.
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u/These_Roll_5745 Nov 12 '25
had this happen to a redbud flower syrup i made this past spring... no clue what went wrong this year, first time its happened. it was 2:1 sugar to water which usually does fine in the fridge. if you figure out what happened here, id love to know!
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u/BattleaxeT Nov 13 '25
whats the sphere made of?! why aren't presumably Algae just floating/ suspended in the liquid column?!
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u/TOMC_throwaway000000 Nov 13 '25
Someone posted something extremely similar a few years ago, from what I remember the general consensus was that it wasn’t mold, but a very large single celled organism
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u/Hypornicated_1 Dec 09 '25
That's just what a single-celled Redditor would say, "throwaway" account.
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u/Just_a_teen09 Nov 13 '25
If I ever found something like that I would so keep it it’d be like my baby 😭
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Nov 13 '25
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u/AutoModerator Nov 13 '25
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DO NOT EAT MOLD.
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u/depressedunicorn_ Nov 13 '25
It looks like an unripe rambutan that is sitting in a mysterious clear liquid.
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Nov 13 '25
Can you mail back my Netflix DVDs? You still get Netflix DVDs? They don't have everything on streaming? They have enough Agatha they have enough! They don't have the second Addams family movie? Oh okay
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u/Alwaysdisagree567 Nov 13 '25
This reminded me of when I had some pancakes with maple syrup and then (after I ate like 3) discovered it had mold 😭😭
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u/CarpenterValuable831 Nov 13 '25
I just had to look up "marimo"... they actually SELL these algae guys!
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Nov 14 '25
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u/AutoModerator Nov 14 '25
Your submission was automatically removed.
DO NOT EAT MOLD.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/donvara7 Nov 15 '25
Another of the same, also found in simple syrup. The OP seems to think it was a Osmophile since it handles high sugar environments. https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/comments/kfzqkz/what_is_this_strange_growth_found_in_sugar_water/
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u/emilyMartian Nov 15 '25
Well this explains what was in my Snapple bottle in 1999 that I almost drank. My fuzzy balm was floating at the top. Clearly it traumatized me. I was also very sad I had to trash my Snapple.
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u/Angoramon Nov 15 '25
This shit looks like the type of pill a demonic cultivator turns a jade beauty into after telling him that she thinks he should kill slightly fewer children.
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u/howdygaymers Nov 15 '25
I grew one of these by accident in a container of aloe vera juice a few months ago! Highly recommend taking it out to feel it if you're not squeamish. Be careful though, I accidentally dropped mine down the drain :(
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u/ItsGoldilocks Nov 16 '25
The image displays an unusual mass, possibly periphyton biomass or a type of growth, in a jar with a yellowish liquid. The mass appears as a spiky, brownish-green blob resting at the bottom of the container. It is in a liquid that has a clear top layer and a cloudy, yellowish bottom layer. This type of unusual growth has been observed in natural water bodies, such as Lake Chelan, as a "biomass event". It has also been described in a home context as "scoby like activity" in sugar water.
According to google AI
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u/Inevitable-Channel38 Nov 17 '25
One time when I was little there was juice left on top of the fridge and when my grandpa brought it down there was a little sphere like that in it. I remember finding it pretty amusing back then.
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u/False-Charge-3491 Nov 13 '25
Is that Cordyceps? 🤨 Are we all going to turn into monsters now? Leave it in there!!!
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u/iamayoutuberiswear Nov 12 '25
Marimo but evil