Cleaning Fermenter After Brewing

Hey Everyone,

I just got done bottling my first brew a few days ago - from what I can tell it's all good and I'm psyched !!! Anyway, when I got done I rinsed everything in warm water and scrubbed it down with a sponge I use only for brewing equipment like I've read to do. It all came clean pretty easily and looks like new again. My only issue is that the fermenter still has a faint smell of the brew. My question is whether I should clean it with something or is it ok. I've read about letting bleach water sit in it overnight but then I've also read this is a good way to get bleach beer. I know soap is a no-no. Just wanted to check in and see if it is an issue or not and if I'm missing a step.

I fill mine with bleachy water let it sit over night, rinse, fill with clean water an let it sit. If you rinse well you will not get bleach beer and all the smells will be gone.

Soaking overnight in a solution of OxyClean will work well, too. Although it is not always possible to completely eliminate the smell of your beer. But why would you want to, anyways???

I just make sure there are no chunks, and it "looks" clean. I don't care about smell. Next time I use I rinse with idophor (and let sit for a few minutes) and I'm done.

dale

question.

Plastic bucket I am assuming here?

Those buckets tend to always have a faint smell of the brew in them. My bottling bucket always has a slight brew smell. That is the nature of the plastic.

Buckets smell like beer, and beer smells good, so there's nothing to worry about.

Now I'm off to do some bucket sniffing.

The smell of beer will not harm future batches. As a matter of fact I rather like the smell of a plastic fermenter after a batch has been run through it. If it smells bad I'd clean it but otherwise you can RDWHAHB.

Beer smell good.

Just don't scrub too hard - you don't want to put scratches in it.

Look for scratches if in plastic. If its all good then RDWHAHB. If its scratched use it as a storage bucket and get a new one. Its cheaper than replacing a batch of beer!
my2cents