I use a 6.5 gallon fermentation bucket. I clean it well ( I think) after each batch. However, it still smells like beer. Is that a problem? Does that mean it's not as clean as I think it is? I clean It with a soft cloth, hot water and a little bit of dish soap. Sometimes use oxi clean too. Any input?
is my bucket clean?
- Thread starter woody34
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BradleyBrew
Well-Known Member
dont worry about the smell... all my buckets smell like beer. If you clean and sanitize you are good to go..
Stauffbier
Well-Known Member
Every once in a while I soak my buckets with a mild bleach solution for 2 or 3 days, then I soak it with oxiclean for a day, then I rinse it well and put it in the sun for a day. It takes most of the old beer smell out, but you can still smell it a little.. No worries!
+1 to giving it a nice long soak for a day or two every so often. Otherwise, sounds like you are fine to me.
Drop the dish soap!, it may kill your beer's head retention. Just use the Oxiclean, no neet to use other detergents. Like an earlier poster said if the smell really bugs you use bleach every once in a while but rinse well.
iskuse
Well-Known Member
I put a scoop of oxiclean in mine and fill it up with water. Then I let it sit in the sun all day. probably like 8 hours, if no sun, let it sit in the garage over night. the sun helps to remove the stain from the beer.
What bleach solutions are you guys using to nuke your FVs? I might do mine as I think i've been using a mildly infected yeast strain for a while now, though it never get's bad enough to affect the beer. I'm going to start with fresh yeast and probably nuke the FVs.
terrapinj
Well-Known Member
there are plenty of threads on here about how impossible it is to get the smell out - as long as it smells like yeast/beer you are fine - you can even expect some discoloration that won't go away as well
Stauffbier
Well-Known Member
I don't really measure. I just go by eye. If I had to guess I'd say I use about 1/2 to 2/3 a cup of general purpose bleach to about 5 gallons of water. Make sure to use cold water anytime you mix with bleach...
