Preparing bucket for a new sacrifice: to bleach or not to bleach?

[TinyHands]

Hey y'all-- I just tried the Citra Pale Ale recipe from JRapp here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/all-citra-pale-ale-399228/

I got it into the bottles the other night, and it smells incredible. So incredible, in fact, that the bucket still smells like Citra. It's not so bad as potpourri-- even the wife likes it. Alas, the time will come for another batch, and I'm not sure I want that in there. It's also stained a bit.

I figure bleach would resolve the situation. I really don't have any qualms about this, because I'm a grown-ass man. I just wanted to know if anyone had a bad experience and would like to serve as a wrecked ship on the bleached-bucket iceberg, with a story about that one thing I should have done to avoid the bleach ruining the next batch. Cheers all.

 

[BigFloyd]

No bleach gets put into any of my brew vessels. Period. I'd much rather risk a little left over Citra flavor than what a tiny amount of bleach residue will do.

An overnight soak in PBW or Oxy will remove anything that might impact the flavor of the next batch.

 

[dkevinb]

I'm with BigFloyd. I just say "no" to bleach. It's really, really hard to rinse it all away, and you will taste it if you don't.

 

[thatjonguy]

Ok, take your bleach. Put it anywhere. RUN!

A soak with OxiClean Free or PBW will take care of the aroma. Staining is going to happen, no sense in fighting it.

Just cave and buy a stainless conical.

 

[RM-MN]

There is actually so little residue of the hops left in the bucket that while it smells nice now, it won't impact a 5 gallon batch of beer enough to notice. My buckets get rinsed out well, washed if there is residue that might impact my next brew, sanitized, and I've got another batch in there.

 

[Yooper]

While the staining and odor won't harm a thing, from time to time I do use a little bleach and hot water in my buckets to really get them clean and odor free. If you do that, you have to rinse with hot water until absolutely no smell of bleach remains- a LOT of rinsing!

I also use a soft wash cloth, like a baby's washcloth, on the inside of the bucket to clean it, and feel for scratches in the bucket that can harbor bacteria.

 

[broadbill]

Back in the daya before Star-san, bleach and rinsing was how homebrewers sanitized their equipment. Not going to hurt anything.

That being said, the stain and hop smell in the plastic won't hurt anything either.

 

[broadbill]

I'm with BigFloyd. I just say "no" to bleach. It's really, really hard to rinse it all away, and you will taste it if you don't.

have you ever used it? I have. Its not hard to rinse away.

 

[dkevinb]

have you ever used it? I have. Its not hard to rinse away.

Yes, I have. Maybe it's not hard but it's time consuming and it takes lots and lots and lots of rinsing with lots and lots and lots of hot water. And your hands are still going to smell like bleach, so it's hard to tell if it's your hands or the equipment that smells like bleach.

Back in the day when there were no alternatives it worked, or even now in a pinch it works, but it's certainly not my first choice.

 

[Calder]

I keep my empty fermenters filled with mild bleach solution. No problems. Just don't use too much. I probably use between a half to one tablespoon of bleach per gallon. I can't smell it when it is diluted.

You do need to throughly rinse with HOT water. I use water from the hot water tap, add a few pints of hot water, rinse well, and repeat a couple of times.

 

[TinyHands]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I think I'll just use OxyClean, since we're swimming in it.

 

[Queequeg]

Strong irrational fear of the beach ITT. As long as you use an appropriate dilution and rinse properly then should cause any issues.

That said I can't imagine that residual smells in the fermenter carry between batches

 

[Renoun]

Sometimes a rinse with either full strength or diluted white vinegar can be helpful with odors that persist after a Oxi/PBW washing.