So I was transferring a $100 barley wine to secondary and putting it back in the closet, when you guessed it, I dropped it. So yeah 5.5 gallons of beer in my carpet. I used my spot rug cleaner to get as much as I could out as quick as possible. But, I'm pretty sure I may have only got 3 or so gallons out. Any suggestions on how to get the rest out so I don't end up with a horrid smell or worse a bug infestation?
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GCPHomebrew
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Call Stanley carpet cleaning company
I used to install carpet years ago.
Was the spill solely in the closet?
If you really wanted to, you could pull the carpet up in the closet and cut the seam under the doorway ( where the 2 peices of carpet are glued together using a large glue strip** there is the possibility that there isn't a seam depending on which direction the carpet was laid but it's very common for the closet to be seamed in) take the carpet outside and spray it with a hose to remove any traces of beer and leave it to dry in the sun. Water can delaminate the carpet backing so some carpet guys frown on it (carpet cleaners/steamers)
Underneath the carpet will be some foam padding. This stuff resembles a sponge as it pretty much is one. It can be removed. Such a small size of pad could probably be found in a dumpster outside of a carpet store as leftovers from new installs or you could just buy it off the roll......it's very cheap and you wouldn't need much. After the carpet is dry, redo the seam and slap it back down.
IMHO that's all to much crap to do over a spill and just set a towel down with a weight on it to soak up any beer replacing the towel when soaked....
Sorry about your loss of Barleywine.
Was the spill solely in the closet?
If you really wanted to, you could pull the carpet up in the closet and cut the seam under the doorway ( where the 2 peices of carpet are glued together using a large glue strip** there is the possibility that there isn't a seam depending on which direction the carpet was laid but it's very common for the closet to be seamed in) take the carpet outside and spray it with a hose to remove any traces of beer and leave it to dry in the sun. Water can delaminate the carpet backing so some carpet guys frown on it (carpet cleaners/steamers)
Underneath the carpet will be some foam padding. This stuff resembles a sponge as it pretty much is one. It can be removed. Such a small size of pad could probably be found in a dumpster outside of a carpet store as leftovers from new installs or you could just buy it off the roll......it's very cheap and you wouldn't need much. After the carpet is dry, redo the seam and slap it back down.
IMHO that's all to much crap to do over a spill and just set a towel down with a weight on it to soak up any beer replacing the towel when soaked....
Sorry about your loss of Barleywine.
No it wasn't just in the closet, I was setting it down to open the closet doors. I'm not even sure how it happened. But needless to say I have about a 20 sqft mess. I just finished going back over it with the spot cleaner spraying hot water with a bit of vinegar and dish soap in it. I am hoping this worked. I may go rent a steamer or maybe I could pull the carpet up out of the closet and then in to the room a bit. Replace the pad in that area, then just restretch the carpet back into place. The worst part is that was my first barley wine, and the hydrometer sample was so good it was beergasmic....sooo not happy right now.
One more reason I use plastic buckets. I have always feared this with carboys. As for the spot, this works great...take a mixture of water and oxyclean and saturate the carpet. Then take a wet/dry vacuum, hopefully you have one or you should go get one, and suck up the water and beer. Oxyclean will help with the stain and the water will get help thin the beer to pull it up. It works great, just takes a while to pull it up. Good luck!
That sucks. Glad there were no injuries though. Better bet than blood in the carpet. I would rent a carpet cleaner. The ones I've used did a pretty good job. Then buy some PET carboys and make another barleywine.
I would peal the carpet back and remove the affected padding and replace it. No matter how strong of a carpet cleaner you have it will never get it all out of the padding. Is it on wood or concrete? Big box stores sell mold inhibitor sprays you may want to spray some of that on the subfloor before you put the padding and carpet back.
The house is on a concrete pad, so no worries about a subfloor. The other crappy part is this house is only a little over a year old, so tearing up this carpet is just as painful as losing 5 gallons of precious barley wine.
hifidelity
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Look at the bright side- you said you were transferring to secondary when this happened so most of the fermentation had already taken place. If it had happened pre-fermentation the situation would have been a whole lot stickier.
Sorry for your loss, though.
Sorry for your loss, though.
You don't need to tear up the carpet unless its stained. when I had a foundation leak in my basement on my carpet I pealed the carpet back and removed the padding. put the carpet back down flat, cleaned it and let it dry. I folded it back over sprayed the concrete with mold inhibitor because concrete is porous let that dry. Then put down new padding and stretched the carpet back out. I would atleast hit the concrete with a cleaning solution before putting the padding and carpet back.
Look at the bright side- you said you were transferring to secondary when this happened so most of the fermentation had already taken place. If it had happened pre-fermentation the situation would have been a whole lot stickier.
Sorry for your loss, though.
That's some silver lining there!
OP, definitely get that pad replaced. I'm sorry for your loss. That's horrible.
Yeah the hydrometer sample was down to 1.008, so not much residual sugars left. I borrowed my neighbors steam cleaner so I'm going to attempt to at least ensure there is no smell until I can get time to replace the padding. The good part is that there is no stain.
I'm really sorry about your mishap, both for the beer and the mess you're left with.
You can't really "clean" your carpet until that pad has been removed. You're now just mopping with a huge sponge underneath. You won't believe how much BarleyWine is still in there, and it keep slowly spreading if it stays wet enough.
Now some of these "steam" cleaners (always wonder where the steam part come in) have really good suction, so that helps in removing most liquid from the carpet and pad.
You can't really "clean" your carpet until that pad has been removed. You're now just mopping with a huge sponge underneath. You won't believe how much BarleyWine is still in there, and it keep slowly spreading if it stays wet enough.
Now some of these "steam" cleaners (always wonder where the steam part come in) have really good suction, so that helps in removing most liquid from the carpet and pad.
normonster
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Rent a rug doctor machine. They're amazing.
So sorry for ur loss- i had a similar incident in my livingroom, cept that it was a the day i pitched he yeast into a fresh batch during the winter. It was chilly in the house so i moved the fv closer to the woodstove . Glass carboy with stopper no blow off tube. Big pop at about 3am that morning followed by the sound of gushing fluid. My third or so batch ever, an unhappy wife and a mess. I used a wet vac for most of the mess. ( the wife no longer resides here with me lol ) a carpet shampoo machine cleaned the rest.
Spunxter here is the recipe
12 lbs 2 row
3 lbs Vienna
2 lbs victory
8 oz Crystal 40
8 oz Crystal 120
8 oz chocolate malt
4oz Chinook at 60
1 oz centennial at 15
2 oz cascade at 15
Mash at 150-153
Ferment with us - 05
I collected like 12 gallons then boiled down to 6 or so, yeah really long boil. It was my first high gravity. Anyway, I would mash an extra couple pounds of 2 row so the boil isn't ridiculous. OG is targeted at 1.092 if I remember right. My final was supposed to be 1.020 but came in at 1.008.
12 lbs 2 row
3 lbs Vienna
2 lbs victory
8 oz Crystal 40
8 oz Crystal 120
8 oz chocolate malt
4oz Chinook at 60
1 oz centennial at 15
2 oz cascade at 15
Mash at 150-153
Ferment with us - 05
I collected like 12 gallons then boiled down to 6 or so, yeah really long boil. It was my first high gravity. Anyway, I would mash an extra couple pounds of 2 row so the boil isn't ridiculous. OG is targeted at 1.092 if I remember right. My final was supposed to be 1.020 but came in at 1.008.
Thx i may give that a go here soon as my pipeline normalizes. What is an average aging timeline? Do u take occassional samples then bottle it ? Bulk age it or could u just let it bottle age? i dont have much experience with anything other then apa s or ipa s
I had it in primary for about 6 weeks or so. I was going to bulk age for 3 months, then keg it and let it sit for 2-3 months, or for as long as I could stand it. Honestly it was really really good, and very smooth after just the primary time. It was also very clear. I would say if you bottle it you would have to add some yeast. The original yeast would probably be in bad shape in a high alcohol environment for that long. Usually barley wine aged for 6-12 months before drinking.
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