smelly primary after I cleaned it?

I recently racked my beer and after cleaning my primary, it still smells like delicious beer. It's a plastic ale pail. Is my primary not clean enough? I know plastic can absorb odors, but do I need to worry about bacteria making a home on the inside of my bucket? It's only the second beer that fermented in this pail. I guess this brings up another question... how many batches of beer can be fermented in one bucket (What's the life span of a plastic fermenting bucket)?

No worries on the smell. You can give it a soak with OxiClean to remove some of it but they pretty much always have a bit of a smell.

I don't know how may batches you can get but I know that some of the guys have been using the same bucket for many years. If you're careful to not scratch it I don't know why you couldn't use it indefinitely.

Let it air dry...on it's side, always works for me...

I posted this same question after my first batch. I was horrified that the smell lingered, I was worried that every batch forward would be tainted with the smell of Willamette hops. Wow was I wrong lol. Its fine man. Just rinse it out, sanitize it and leave the cover off so it drys. Won't affect the next batch in the least.

What exactly is the issue if you scratch them?

Roachmeister said:

What exactly is the issue if you scratch them?

Click to expand...

Bacteria could make a nice home in the scratch and infected your beer.

I use a little baking soda with warm water in/on my plastics to rid them of almost all odors...

+1 on Oxyclean. No need to scrub. Just rinse the bucket out well and fill with water and oxy. I let mine sit for a few hours, then rinse out really well. There's still a slight smell, but barely noticeable.

I ferment exclusively in plastic buckets and have had the same ones for two years so far, and going strong.

Yah, I agree with jbam that Oxyclean free does some good work. After cleaning, I fill my fermenters with a Starsan solution nearly to the top and let it sit to kill the bugs. The smell you noticed, however, is just your plastic fermenter's expression of love for your beer!