Did I ruin my bucket?

I had a stuck mash the other day. Really stuck. So I unfortunately came to the conclusion I had to dump the grain and water out so that I could clean out my braid. The only thing I had that would hold the whole mess was one of my ale pail fermenters. I wasn't even thinking about all the critters that are on the grain. It has been soaking in oxi for a few days at this point, but now I am paranoid that my bucket is hopelessly infected. So what does everyone think? Do I use it for grain storage, or tempt fate and ferment in it.

unionrdr said:

Did you cover the pail? Did you finish brewing with the grain/wort mix?...

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I covered the pail while I was working on the braid, but the grain was only in the bucket 3 minutes tops... not sure if this matters.
I did finish brewing, although it pretty much immediately stuck again. I decided I milled my grain too fine, and that was the culprit of the sticking.
I just don't wanna be out a batch because I ferment in this bucket that had grain and pre-boil wort in it.

There's nothing wrong with your bucket. My fermenters pull double duty all the time. Just clean em up right after you use them (whatever the use may be) and sanitize good before fermenting. I even have scratches in some of my buckets (which everyone claims will harbor microbes) and have never had a problem. As long as you practice good sanitation, it's really hard to contaminate a batch of beer.

Why would you conclude that your ale pail was hopelessly infected, any more so than when you conduct a biochemical reaction in it every time you make beer?

bottlebomber said:

Why would you conclude that your ale pail was hopelessly infected, any more so than when you conduct a biochemical reaction in it every time you make beer?

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Because grain is absolutely loaded with lactobacillus that doesn't die off at mash temperatures. It's a good idea to keep the preboil stuff like grain containers and stuff away from your fermenters!

However, I'd probably rinse the bejeebus out of the fermenter with hot hot water, and then sanitize it and call it good. I used to use my bottling bucket for partial mashes, and it was fine.

Yooper said:

Because grain is absolutely loaded with lactobacillus that doesn't die off at mash temperatures. It's a good idea to keep the preboil stuff like grain containers and stuff away from your fermenters!

However, I'd probably rinse the bejeebus out of the fermenter with hot hot water, and then sanitize it and call it good. I used to use my bottling bucket for partial mashes, and it was fine.

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Interesting... good to know. I don't have a fancy brewing setup like many people on here, so I just drain my wort into an ale pail, then it goes back into the HLT/BK for the boil. Ill have to be have a special designated bucket for that now.

i also pull the wort out of the mash tun and dump back into my keg with the same bucket that i ferment with. however, i think, for the time being i will keep doing that, as i have not noticed any problem...

Ok, I am convinced. I will just clean it really well and hope for the best. Thanks all!