Smelly Plastic Fermenter

A few days ago, I finished bottling a stout made from extract and specialty grains. I washed my primary (6 gal plastic bucket) and put it in the closet. I checked on it yesterday and it had a funny smell. The smell was like stale beer mixed with bile. I soaked it in diluted bleach overnite and it still has that smell.

Is there anything I can do to get rid of the smell? And if not, it that going to be a problem?

Thanks, Rob.

I know the smell. Let it sit and air out for a while and it should be ok. A bleach soak usually fixed it for me, so I'm surprised it didn't help.

If I leave mine without the lid on it the smell goes away for the most part. I too was shocked when I lifted the lid and was smacked in the face with the smell of stale beer. Bleach seems to make the smell go away faster.

Spend the $20 at your LHBS and buy a 6.5 gallon carboy.

I asked the exact question recently. After a few replies I soaked it in oxyclean while I brewed another batch and smelled like new when I dumped the water. Good rinse and it was ready to go.

Matter of fact I am pulling a batch of beer out of it right now!

It won't be a problem. I've had that before, and it's normal. Bleach usually works very well, maybe a slightly less diluted mix (followed by a very thorough rinse)?

The carboy's one possible solution, but not everyone likes using glass for primary. Certainly there's an element of danger; 'bout once a month, someone's talking about having a carboy break on them it seems.

drouillp said:

I asked the exact question recently. After a few replies I soaked it in oxyclean while I brewed another batch and smelled like new when I dumped the water. Good rinse and it was ready to go.

Matter of fact I am pulling a batch of beer out of it right now!

Click to expand...

How much Oxyclean and water did you use?

I have an orange (from Iodophor) colored primary that I soaked for 3 days in 1 gal of water and 1 scoop of Oxy and nothing...no change.

I had that funk too until I had this idea....take the hot water coming off the wort chiller and added one step. I guess the combination of the two worked because the smell has gone.

I normally use one good scoop of oxyclean to do most 5 gallon tasks.

orfy said:

I normally use one good scoop of oxyclean to do most 5 gallon tasks.

Click to expand...

yep I used about a scoop (maybe a little less) and filled 'er up to the brim, put the top on so everything was touching the mixture and let it sit for an hour or so. worked great. Used this for my plastic tubing too. I thought I was going to get a new racking tube after only 1-2 batches of it (it smelled really bad and was turning very green). Used some oxyclean in it and it's fresh and clean.

I doubt you'll get the iodophor stain out. that's some strong stuff. i have a bottle of it, used it once but i'm not sure i'll be using it again. don't like the smell and all the rinsing and drying and yadda yadda yadda.

orfy said:

I normally use one good scoop of oxyclean to do most 5 gallon tasks.

Click to expand...

yep I used about a scoop (maybe a little less) and filled 'er up to the brim, put the top on so everything was touching the mixture and let it sit for an hour or so. worked great. Used this for my plastic tubing too. I thought I was going to get a new racking tube after only 1-2 batches of it (it smelled really bad and was turning very green). Used some oxyclean in it and it's fresh and clean.

I doubt you'll get the iodophor stain out. that's some strong stuff. i have a bottle of it, used it once but i'm not sure i'll be using it again. don't like the smell and all the rinsing and drying and yadda yadda yadda.

Cheers!

drouillp said:

yep I used about a scoop (maybe a little less) and filled 'er up to the brim, put the top on so everything was touching the mixture and let it sit for an hour or so. worked great. Used this for my plastic tubing too. I thought I was going to get a new racking tube after only 1-2 batches of it (it smelled really bad and was turning very green). Used some oxyclean in it and it's fresh and clean.

I doubt you'll get the iodophor stain out. that's some strong stuff. i have a bottle of it, used it once but i'm not sure i'll be using it again. don't like the smell and all the rinsing and drying and yadda yadda yadda.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll give it a try at those amounts.

You don't need to rinse or dry with Iodophor...

Thanks for the all the tips. I used a scoop of oxyclean and let it sit for 5 hours or so. There is still a faint odor, but nothing as nasty as yesterday.

I'm glad I got that cleared up. I'm going to try my first all-grain on Saturday and I didn't want a contaminated fermenter screwing it all up.

I just wanted to say... I really like the title of this thread. There's something sorta naughty about it...

Or maybe I'm just sick...