Stubborn deposits/stains on glass carboy

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supermoth

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I picked up a couple of glass carboys a while back on craigslist. One of them, I later realized, had some stains on the inside. I tried cleaning with a hot oxyclean soak, then with starsan, both to no avail. I'm now soaking with distilled white vinegar but I think these stains, or deposits, or whatever they might be, are permanent. I hate to throw the carboy away, but I don't want to introduce mystery nasties, chemical or otherwise, into my beer. So I'm here for the consensus. Does anyone have similar experiences, horror stories, or reassurance?
 
I was given an old 10 gallon (REAL) acid carboy, I think from a pool cleaners-ish-ness kind of thing (etc.).

"Stains" never came out, I think they are 'etchings' in the glass. So it's just decoration. Ever.

Out in the back yard with a solar light on top.

Hope yours works better.
 
I found a 60 years old 5 gal glass carboy in my grandmoms barn, has some yellowish stains on it.

i used a small amount of bleach and water, then sanitized. fourth beer in i havent had any problems. honestly i believe if it doesnt come off with vinegar and as long as you sanitize it, you should essentially prevent any mystery nasties.
 
The 'varnish' from old gasoline wouldn't come off with (water based, 5% acid solution) vinegar.
.... much .....
..... at first .....

so.... let's make beer....?

(yes, this was a 4 second snipe, but that is scary advise ---- sorry-----)

ymmv (hopefully)
 
I bet a razor blade would take it right off...if only you could get in there somehow...i'll take em if you're gonna throw em away :)
 
In case of emergency break GLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
brewd00d, that was my gut instinct. there was someone on here a while back saying essentially "if it won't come off, it won't come off in my beer." I guess I'll find out soon enough.

turtle, I'd take you up on that, but you're so far away!

Gregscsu, yes, tried a brush. LHBS told me "Try oxyclean, try starsan, and if that doesn't work...well, that should work." Nope :(
 
I dunno man, you wanna take a chance on looking at that carboy in 5-10 brews, and saying "Gee, look at that. Wonder where the stains went." ? :drunk:
 
I'm in that situation - was gifted a carboy from a friend that had been used for making wine, and had some trouble getting those decades-old wine stains out. Did vinegar and then StarSan, along with a brush and some straight-up soap, and wasn't able to be sure I got everything off. And it's had my latest batch (an ESB) sitting in it for a couple of weeks. Gonna bottle that on Saturday, and I'll find out for sure then...
 
fill it with a bunch of salt or something porous and roll it around for a couple days, and be sure you record it and post it here.

speaking of media...why come there no pics yet? :confused:
 
I once had a carboy with a paint stain (guy "threw it in" when I bought a bunch of flip-tops from him off Craigslist) or something similar on the inside...couldn't get it off so eventually just tossed the carboy. Haven't thought about it again until reading your post.

If you're worried, ditch it--there's another cheap one around the corner. Having said that, if you can't get the stain off with oxyclean, bleach, or solvent then it's unlikely to magically come off in your beer and cause you problems.
 
turtle, I tried taking some photos, but they don't come out well enough to be useful. The camera has trouble focusing on a layer of something translucent inside something clear!

actually, now that I see it, it looks slightly like osagedr's avatar (the frowny glass)!

I'm on vinegar now, will try bleach later. If it works, if my beer is affected, or if I die of poisoning, I'll post back. Thanks for all the information. Sometimes all you need to hear is "I tried it and I was fine."
 
Buy a 12 pack of Natty Light and dump it in there. If that doesn't take the stains out, then your beer won't.
 

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