Igloo Mash Tun Left Full of Grain and OUTSIDE FOR NEALRY 2 MONTHS!!!!

Ugh, so I loaned a friend my rectangular Igloo mash tun a couple months back, got busy, haven't been brewing, now I'm running out of beer and decide to call him up to get it back.... only to find out that he "accidently" forgot to empty it and left it outside in the rain/snow for pretty much the whole time. He said he opened it up and had a look inside and that it is pretty nasty. In the interest of not being wasteful, and just buying a new cooler, does anyone have any thoughts on it's usefulness at this point? Are there any particular concerns/worries that I should have in regards to contamination/bacterial growth/ etc? Would a good HOT soak in PBW possibly remedy any of those concerns? I realize this is on the pre-boil side of things, but I'm slightly concerned that any extended mashes could potentially pick up off flavors from any nasties hidden in the plastic.


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Last time I loan anything to this feller!

Oh god. That is not very respectful of your ****. I'm sorry to say that after a second of feeling bad for you, I really want to see pictures of it. I hope you can keep using it.

Sounds like they should buy you a new cooler.

haha, it's cool, I mean, it's just "a thing" after all, not like he killed my dog or something.

But yeah, as I said, my main concern is a) not being wasteful, and b) making sure it is still safe to use.

I agree, but at the least, I'd rather have him clean the living sh*t out of it, and buy me some grains for my next batch, if it's still useful.

I would give it a good hot water and oxy soak and then see if you notice any odors, if it smells ok I would try it with a small light color low hop recipe to see if it is not transfering any off flavors. to be honest it probably is salvageable.

I would think it would still be usefull, after that long i would expect that everything that was going to be eaten by bacteria was gone and it was just composting. A good scrubbing, PBW soak, and check for scratches/ cracks that might hide nasties and use it.

I would also like to see photos!

is it possible to upload photos if I'm not a premium member?

BootsyFlanootsy said:

is it possible to upload photos if I'm not a premium member?

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Yes... You can also use imgur or imageshack to upload images, and embed the images here.

ok. will do.

+1 for pictures. As jtsims said, after a certain point nature probably helped you by starting to compost - the slimy/nasty turns into dirt. A good soak, plus I'd probably do a weak bleach solution - bleach has a way of removing smells and unseen deposits - and I'd have no issues using it.

Yuck!

Dump it out, rinse it off. Fill up with warm water, couple cups of bleach, let sit for a day or two, rinse off, done.

MC

Lots of bleach. Then rinse well.

It should be fine.

that would be one sour mash....

keep the runnings!

in for pics too.

I'd say just get a new one.

I did the same thing, almost. I was "temporarily" using a keg tub as a trash can for branches and leaves. Forgot about it for a couple of months. After a hot oxy soak and thorough cleaning, it still smelled nasty.

I say make him buy you a new cooler and hardware.

Teach him a lesson about respecting other peoples brew equipment that he borrows.

you can also use photobucket.com to post on here

Pics / sparge for berliner weisse / bleach, in that order.

passedpawn said:

Pics / sparge for berliner weisse / bleach, in that order.

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Lol that's what I was going to say...

I'd say the cooler is in perfect shape to stash your former friends dismembered corpse.

OF course that's after he buys you a new cooler and manifold.

On a serious note though plastics can hang onto odors for EVER. I'd suggest having him clean it as good as he can, then you repeat the process knowing your beer is going to be in there....than decide if it is worth the risk.

If you do use it, I'd brew something like a blonde that will show any flaws or oddities easily. Wait until you taste that batch before using it a second time.

So what is this 'oxy' soak you speak of?
I just got a new igloo cooler+valve+bazooka tube, and was wondering how I should clean it before first use...

FrizzleFry said:

So what is this 'oxy' soak you speak of?
I just got a new igloo cooler+valve+bazooka tube, and was wondering how I should clean it before first use...

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OxiClean - Home Page

Can be found at grocery stores, hardware stores, target, etc. Look for Oxiclean free if possible.

Accidents happen, but that sucks.

FWIW, I had a cooler we use for camping and I forgot and left some some food in it. This was in the garage during the middle of summer. About a week after our camping trip, I went in the garage and could smell the nastiness. I cleaned the heck out of that thing (including separate soakings with bleach and a baking soda solution) but it still stunk. It was almost brand new so I didn't want to throw it away. I think it finally stopped stinking about a year later.

So long story short, based on my experience with a stanky cooler, I'd be concerned about the potential for unwanted flavor and/or aroma contributions.

stevea1210 said:

On a serious note though plastics can hang onto odors for EVER. I'd suggest having him clean it as good as he can, then you repeat the process knowing your beer is going to be in there....than decide if it is worth the risk.

.

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Thats why bleach is definitely the option. I had spent grains sit in a trash barrel for a week that were forgotten about. A warm week, lid on...stunk to high hell when lid was taken off. Needed to bleach that sucker after.

TyTanium said:

Look ONLY for Oxiclean free

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Fixed. If you can't find the free version, buy PBW instead.

You haven't smelled stink until you've left a cooler with a box of bait squid in it in the hot Florida sun for a few days... So bad that I cracked it and dumped about a half gallon of bleach in the cooler and quickly closed it back up. I shook it up, dumped the mess in the trash, cleaned it with some more bleach water and rinsed it out. It was fine after that. I wasn't using it for a mash tun, though...

Good luck.

let him keep that tun and have him buy the parts so you can build a new one. If I did that to a friend, that's what I'd do. That way, if he CAN salvage it, he at least got something out of the deal hahahaha

ok well, friends are friends and everyone makes mistakes... so I'm gonna let it slide this time. but here is the picture as requested.... it cleaned up easily, and has no discernible odor that I can pick up... so I'm gonna just roll with it.

but yeah, it was nasty, I watched him as he cleaned it out.... there was a THICK layer of orange gunk under all that white slime. it was rank to say the least.

Yea, if it doesn't smell, you should be fine. A hot oxyclean/PBW soak followed by a nice bleach bomb and SUPER thorough rinsing should take care of it. You're boiling everything that comes out of it anyway.

BootsyFlanootsy said:

but here is the picture as requested....

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oh that doesn't look too bad. i'm just glad we don't have smell-o-vision yet.