MLT cleaning

I brewed my 1st all grain batch this past weekend. I did a thorough washing and rinsing of my picnic cooler MLT using dish soap and let it dry.

It is stored in the basement on a shelf with the lid closed and when I opened the lid today I got a good whiff of wort. Does the plastic absorb the odor of the mash or is it not clean enough? What cleaning methods are employed by others to ensure a good environment for the next mash?

Did you dissasemble your drainage setup? (ss braid, or manifold) and spigot? Wort and bits of grain can hide in there. But I usually do have a smell of grain still in the tun.

My cleaning consists mostly of just hitting the MLT with the hose and rinsing out really well. Drain some of the water through the bulkhead to rinse that out, MAYBE a quick scrub with a soft sponge, let it air dry and store open. Every few batches I may disassemble and rinse, but that's about it.

I just hose it out... never bothered actually cleaning it.

Kilted Brewer said:

My cleaning consists mostly of just hitting the MLT with the hose and rinsing out really well. Drain some of the water through the bulkhead to rinse that out, MAYBE a quick scrub with a soft sponge, let it air dry and store open. Every few batches I may disassemble and rinse, but that's about it.

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Thats what I do too. I glued my manifold together (not thinking about possible cleaning), so I have to make due with running water through. I dont seem to have problems.

As long as you dont have crazy s*** growing you will be fine. The wort gets boiled after. Just dont leave a bunch of grain in there to get sour.

What I do is just disassemble the copper manifold and flush everything out with hot water including the cooler and then let air dry and put away. Then before using just sanitize everything.

harley03 said:

Then before using just sanitize everything.

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I'd suggest saving the sanitizer and not bothering. Your boiling the wort after the mash anyway.

i disassemble my manifold, wash it all out, fill the cooler up with some water/cleaner soke it 10-15 minutes, drain and let it air dry in the basement. i leave the lid off though, but i still think there is a hint of grain smell to it even.

Kilted Brewer said:

I'd suggest saving the sanitizer and not bothering. Your boiling the wort after the mash anyway.

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+1, I don't even break out the sanitizer until after the boil. Really the only thing getting sanitized is my transfer tubing from keggle to carboy, my carboy, and my airlock.

Kilted Brewer said:

I'd suggest saving the sanitizer and not bothering. Your boiling the wort after the mash anyway.

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True! I was just doing it for extra insurance and piece of mind I guess

I just rinse well, NO SOAP, I'd also suggest looping the discharge hose back into the cooler so it is stored w/ the lid ajar, less chance of mildew or funky growth.

I always take my line to the false bottom apart before storing and make sure it is dry. If you leave the lid on and it is wet you might have a nice bacterial farm the next time you look at it. Ask me how I know?

I just scrub it out and leave the lid unscrewed when I store. I've found a little mold in my MLT before. Boiled it out and took care of it. Take my advice. NEVER LET GRAINS SIT IN YOUR MLT FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS LIKE A LAZY BASTARD. They smell like dead rotting horse piss. It's pretty brutal.