Cleaning Plastic Fermenting Bucket

Well, after brewing four different times (3 beer, 1 cider), my fermenting bucket still smells like some of my brews, even after heavy cleaning (hot water, StarSan, etc. My buckets are getting what are I hope are not permanent stains.

My question: is there a good way for me to get the smells and stains out of my fermenting buckets? For some reason I feel that I read somewhere the bleach is not a good idea, but if I am mistaken, please let me know. I just want my buckets to not have a smell or any kind of stains from fermenting. Thanks!

 

I have used the same buckets and plastic carboys for about 2 years now. They all smell like beer. I have never had any problems with smells being transferred around. I say just clean & sanitize and forge on!

 

Oxyclean soak overnight - or 1/2 cup of bleach in fermenter full of cool water overnight.

 

I never thought about using Oxyclean. It seems like a lot of people use Oxyclean for a lot of the basic cleaning of their brewing equipment, right?

 

If you can find it, Sun oxygen is pretty much the same as oxyclean, and a few bucks cheaper than oxyclean. It's what I'm gonna use from now on. My fermenters smell like beer and I've cleaned and cleaned. No problems so far.

On a side note, don't use oxyclean or other 'oxygen' cleaner on aluminum or it will turn it an ugly black, but it's just oxidation.

 

ding...ding..ding.. we have a winner.

Don't worry about the smells or the stains. They have no effect on your brews. I have buckets that have had many brews and they all have a stain around the krausen ring, they smell, but they still produce great brews.

 

I've been boiling a couple of gallons of water then dumping into the bucket at the same time I was working on the wort. Then slosh it around, dump it out, and spray a little starsan soluntion into the bucket. Rinse with hot tap water and go.

Anything wrong with that approach?

 

Don't rinse star San. It will not affect your beer in any way if used properly. Actually after it is diluted enough, yeast can metabolize it so it becomes a sort of yeast nutrient

 

Watch out -- if you soak your bucket with bleach, make sure you rinse it completely and let it air out. Bleach has a way of sticking to plastic and making your next batch taste like burning bandaids....

 

I toss a fair amount of baking soda in the water I soak the bucket in "after" I have cleaned it out with a sponge. Doesn't have an odor afterwards.

 

Your bucket is just getting awesome.

That smell is victory.

:fro:

 

I love the smell of kreuzen in the morning...