Mold Problem in Kegerator

Since I built my kegerator about a year ago I have had chronic mold growth problems in it. Every few months I have had to pull everything out and give it a bleach bath. This was the 5th time or so that I have pulled the kegs and wiped it down. I am using a very strong bleach/water mix.
I have had one growth on a beer that was put into the kegerator with no problems, but the airlock was knocked off and unattended to for 3 weeks while lagering, that I can understand.
I am wondering if there is anything that I can do to subdue this mold growth. The kegerator internal temp does change as I do a lager every few months. Is the temperature fluctuation causing to much condensation and allowing growth or am I bringing moldy kegs into the kegerator. I sanitize the whole keg and carboy with Iodophor prior to putting putting it in the kegerator.

What am I doing wrong or is this just a fact of kegerator maintenance?

Try some Damp-Rid. I also got an Eva-Dry on Amazon. Both are good at removing moisture. The Damp-Rid is also dirt-cheap, and found at Home Depot, Lowes, Etc.

Good Idea, never thought of that. Guess that never even occurred to me

No worries! I'd personally try the Damp-Rid first. A lot of people on here have had success with that, and like I said, it's really cheap and easy to find.

damp rid got rid of my mold problem. get the little tub to start, then a bigger bag to replace it every...oh 4-6 months depending on humidity.

Thats not bad at all. I was looking at the price of the max size damp rid. Damn expensive. but for just my kegerator I'm sure the small on will do just fine. Thanks people.

Arneba28 said:

Thats not bad at all. I was looking at the price of the max size damp rid. Damn expensive. but for just my kegerator I'm sure the small on will do just fine. Thanks people.

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you can make your own rid damp.Take 2 small plastic paint buckets I think they are a qt drill holes in one place it inside the other now fill with plain old calcium chloride . Its dirt cheap in the 50 lb bag and I use it to deice the walkways in winter anyway.


The same calcium chloride can be reused 100's of times. Take the water out place it in a baking pan lined with aluminum foil and just heat in the oven . As the water evaporates the calcium chloride is left. The reason for the foil its almost impossible to remove the calcium chloride from the pan. Remove the foil and crumple it up breaking up the calcium chloride and you now have fresh Chloride for the dehumidifier.

springer said:

you can make your own rid damp.Take 2 small plastic paint buckets I think they are a qt drill holes in one place it inside the other now fill with plain old calcium chloride . Its dirt cheap in the 50 lb bag and I use it to deice the walkways in winter anyway.


The same calcium chloride can be reused 100's of times. Take the water out place it in a baking pan lined with aluminum foil and just heat in the oven . As the water evaporates the calcium chloride is left. The reason for the foil its almost impossible to remove the calcium chloride from the pan. Remove the foil and crumple it up breaking up the calcium chloride and you now have fresh Chloride for the dehumidifier.

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...genius...

The only problem with buying de-icer, is not everyone lives where there's ice. de-icer? I think the closest place I could buy some is Canada. Do you think cooking damp rid in the oven will get rid of the moisture and not kill us all?

EvilTOJ said:

The only problem with buying de-icer, is not everyone lives where there's ice. de-icer? I think the closest place I could buy some is Canada. Do you think cooking damp rid in the oven will get rid of the moisture and not kill us all?

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Calcium chloride is a form of salt it will not go into vapor.All Rid damp is calcium chloride at 1000 times the price. You can also buy calcium chloride at most concrete places or at least they can order it as its used an accelerant to cure concrete.

springer said:

Calcium chloride is a form of salt it will not go into vapor.All Rid damp is calcium chloride at 1000 times the price. You can also buy calcium chloride at most concrete places or at least they can order it as its used an accelerant to cure concrete.

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Brilliant!! I was thinking about that. I tried baking soda. Just got all gooey.

springer said:

Calcium chloride is a form of salt it will not go into vapor.All Rid damp is calcium chloride at 1000 times the price. You can also buy calcium chloride at most concrete places or at least they can order it as its used an accelerant to cure concrete.

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Would it be worth it to try to use food grade calcium chloride if I also use it as a brewing salt? And then after I dry it I can pull a little out for my next brew.

shek said:

Would it be worth it to try to use food grade calcium chloride if I also use it as a brewing salt? And then after I dry it I can pull a little out for my next brew.

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Personally, I'd be concerned about any other contaminants that the Calcium Chloride would pick up along the way. Yes, you'd roast/boil off any bugs, but I'm thinking more like odors from the kegerator/oven, etc. The stuff is cheap enough, I'd just keep it separate. Just my $0.02. Others may disagree...

Calcium chloride is great for removing water vapor from the air thats why I leave the 50lb bag inside a homer bucket . If I didn't it would turn into a damp 50lb block

I thought it looked like calcium chloride! Ha! Time to just buy that from now on!

I think you need to figure out the main cause of this problem.
where is the moisture comming from. I dont know what kind of keggrator you have but maybe your seal is bad.
fridge has a cooling plate that collect moisture then there should be a drain that goes to a pan on top of the condensor. the heat of the condensor evapolates the water.
is your drain plugged up?

Bleach is also not a good choice for mold control. It does not kill the spores, and the high water content of the mixture promotes growth... there are so many mold spores in the air that sanitation is a loosing battle. the only real way to control mold is Lack of food combined with removing moisture.

I've read numerous sources that 3:2 vinegar to water is effective at killing mold.

What's a good temperature to dry out wet CaCl2? I tried 300ºF, but it just turned into a puddle of bubbling molten slag and made a mess of the oven.