Carboy scum ... WTH?

I had a carboy that had a thick crust of super-dried krausen in it that I filled with water to let soak. Life happened and it was a month before I got back to the carboy. Now I had other "things" growing in the carboy but the krausen was pretty soft.

So, I drained the carboy and while refilling with water I added 4 oz of OxiClean as my first test of the product. Krausen remainder and other things cleaned up pretty well ... but ... now I have a deposit of something inside the carboy that looks like lime deposits. I live in San Antonio and we have pretty hard water from what I understand. You can actually hear the difference between when scrubbing clear glass vs. the "limed" areas with a brush.

So, I'm wondering if what I'm seeing is a lime deposit that's actually been building up over time and went unnoticed until the OxiClean really make it stand out?

I intend to put vinegar in the carboy to see if that'll help loosen the deposits but really want to get the issues resolved before brewing another batch and without declaring the carboy as history.

Thoughts?

Will vinegar remove lime deposits? I wonder if something like CLR would work? Soak it awhile, rinse really well then soak in oxyclean again for awhile? Good luck.

I'd try the vinegar....then if that doesn't work....maybe some adult strength Satrsan.

The oxiclean will pull minerals from the water and cause mineral deposits if you have hard water. The good news is that unlike normal mineral deposits, they won't be bonded to the glass very well. A quick rinse with anything slightly acidic should take it right off. Standard strength star-san solution, a little vinegar or lemon juice in some water, etc.

Finally had to clean one of the carboys with mineral deposits so could rack an Irish to secondary. I poured 3/4 gallon (that's what was left in the bottle) of vinegar into the carboy and laid it on its side in the yard. Every 20 minutes or so I'd scrub the portion that had been soaking with a carboy brush and all the deposits lifted right off. After cleaning the first carboy I poured the vinegar into the second and followed the same rotate and scrub routine until it was clean too.

Thanks!!!