Mini brew conical=4 bad batchs

4 brews have come out tasting like plastic. I cant seem to clean this thing so it doesn't smell...ideas??? the cap is yellow plastic rubbery like smells like burning plastic..i may use something else.

errrrrr im so angry!

What have you used to clean the conicle with so far?

starsan and a iodine sanitizer

ewwww.... I'm harvesting the first batch from mine tomorrow.......

I soaked mine in oxy-clean for about six hours before sanitizing, but it still smelled like plastic....

This isn't good......:cry:

i got a really bad taste of plastic chemicals in my oatmeal stout..im pissed

fireballbrewer said:

i got a really bad taste of plastic chemicals in my oatmeal stout..im pissed

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After three bad batches.....What expectations did you have that the 4th one would be good?

I mean.... Where do you go from here? How should this thing be cleaned to minimize that? Here I am, thinking that a food grade item should be able to have FOOD in it, without causing flavoring.....

no way! that's ridiculous, especially considering the cost of the product. you try contacting them?

People are brewing in plastic all the time. What you have used to clean/sanitize should work, so have you looked at your brewing process? Could be off flavor from fermentation temps or other defects.

I brewed the majority of my brewing until recently in plastic fermenters of all kinds and never had any plastic tasting beers. Have also bottled in plastic beer bottles without issue.

You're using two different sanitizers but no cleaner. Try unscented oxyclean or pbw.

Thirteen said:

You're using two different sanitizers but no cleaner. Try unscented oxyclean or pbw.

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+1

If it is from the plastic, which is entirely possible, it's the plasticizers that are left over from the forming process. Will take some strong cleaner/detergent to dissolve them and wash them away. Heat will help too.

Think of it like drying paint or curing fiberglass. The plastic continues to give off plasticizer vapors (exponentially less over time tho) as it 'cures'. 'Green' plastic can be really smelly.

You could even try rinsing/wiping it with an alcohol, but hot pbw/water should do the trick.

Sorry to hear. Good luck.

Thirteen said:

You're using two different sanitizers but no cleaner. Try unscented oxyclean or pbw.

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+1

I soaked mine in oxyclean for 24 hours. I started with hot water. I got mine used from a friend and it sat in his dirty garage for about a year. I am not having any problems with smells or off flavors.

I would try a cleaner first and then use starsan to sanitize.

I have one of those fermenters too, and the few times I used it I didn't have any taste/odor issues. I believe the fermenter body is made of low density polyethylene (LDPE), and the cap is plasticized PVC. That being so, then there are no plasticizers in the LDPE, though there are some stabilizers in it. But they should be food grade, not extractable, and if they are, then they shouldn't affect flavor or odor. A good soak with hot water and PBW or Oxiclean as others suggested should eliminate any problem you may have with taste or smells.

The cap being plasticized PVC does have plasticizers in it, and they could be contributing to your problem, but again they should be food grade and not contributing to taste or odor. The plasticizers are probably the same as used in the vinyl tubing many of us use to transfer beer and hot wort, without problem. Since the fermenting beer isn't in contact with the cap, the chance for leaching is pretty slim.

I'd be quick to email or call the manufacturer. I had a problem with mine that I bought used, and emailed the company and they were very helpful in solving my problem, even though I hadn't bought it from them.

I have the 6.5 conical and dont notice any plastic tast. I also fill it up with the hottest tap water and pbw and let it soak till the next day.

I have been using these conicals (2) for years. I did have a couple of bad batches several years ago but I think it came from the yeast.

My cleaning / sanitizing methods for cleaning my conicals are as follows:

Drain the conicals into my Kegs.
I have a sink and and place it in the it a clean the left overs from my batch.

I then fill it up with hot water and let it soak.

I then drain the conical rinsing the sides as the water goes down.

I then fill it back up again with hot water and put in my Oxyclean and let it sit for several hours.

I then fill it back up with boiling water and Iodophor or Star San and cover and let it sit over night.

Drain right before filling.

Couple of other ideas you might try.
Throughly clean all the valves.
Use vodka in your Airlock. I have had the water sucked back into it.
Try using Star San. I usually alternate between Iodophor and Star San.
Make sure that what ever you are using to drain into the Conical has been sanitized.

Based on my experience I really don't think it is the conical causing the off taste. Maybe just the mechanics of using it.

TD

I transferred my first beer from this conical last night after cold crashing for four days, and can't taste any off flavors in the beer, at first sample. The yellow plastic lid does still smell of plastic, even after an overnight soak in Oxy-clean.

I'll have to post a full review of using this conical here in a bit.

There is a chance that the plastic character is coming from the yeast. What yeast did you use, what temperature are you fermenting at, are you making an appropriate sized starter?

Chlorophenols can give a plastic-y off taste. Those can come from chlorine or chloramine in the brewing water, or sometimes if you have sanitized with bleach but didn't get it all rinsed off.