Stuff growing in my water

taylornate · Aug 17, 2009

To control the temperature of my last brew, I stuck the carboy in my brew kettle, added water, and changed out bottles of ice. Problem is, some slimy stuff grew on the carboy and kettle. What is the most sensible way of preventing this? I thought about using Star-San, but I didn't want to waste it or damage my kettle.

chumprock · Aug 17, 2009

I put a dash of bleach in the water-bath. A very little goes a long way.

Yooper · Aug 17, 2009

taylornate said:
To control the temperature of my last brew, I stuck the carboy in my brew kettle, added water, and changed out bottles of ice. Problem is, some slimy stuff grew on the carboy and kettle. What is the most sensible way of preventing this? I thought about using Star-San, but I didn't want to waste it or damage my kettle.

I stick my carboy/fermenter in a cooler and put a splash of bleach into the water. You wouldn't do that with a brew kettle, though, so I'm not sure what the answer would be here, except not to use the kettle but a garbage can/trash bin/cooler, etc, that wouldn't be damaged by sanitizer.

uechikid · Aug 17, 2009

chumprock said:
I put a dash of bleach in the water-bath. A very little goes a long way.

Yep, a little bleach will do the trick.

taylornate · Aug 17, 2009

Thanks, guys. Looks like the answer is to buy a plastic tub and use bleach. So bleach is safe on the plastics?

ChshreCat · Aug 17, 2009

Should be. You only need about a capful of bleach in the tub to stop things from growing.
I actually just give it about a dozen sprays with my starsan bottle into the water. It's highly diluted at that point, but I've never had anything start growing yet.

Stuff growing in my water

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Stuff growing in my water

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

taylornate

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