Algae, 10 years, and a dead mouse

[Thakog]

My wife and I just got three 5 gallon glass carboys for free from family friends this weekend. The thing is, they've been sitting in a dusty basement for the last ten years, and have green algae growing over the sides. We also found a dead and mummified mouse in one of them.

Normally, I'd soak them in PBW and then sanitize before using them, but this amount of grime has me worried. Anything extra I should do to clean them?

 

[SouthernYankee]

I would clean them up really well with household Bleach. Once cleaned up, I would "soak" them with a fresh batch of bleach overnight. The next day, I would rinse them out with fresh water several times.
Once you think you have gotten it to the point where its clean. Clean it again! Then you can go on with your normal routine.

As stated in WIKI:

Bleach
Chlorine bleach is another accepted liquid sterilizing agent. Household bleach consists of 5.25% sodium hypochlorite. It is usually diluted to 1/10 immediately before use; however to kill Mycobacterium tuberculosis it should be diluted only 1/5, and 1/2.5 (1 part bleach and 1.5 parts water) to inactivate prions. The dilution factor must take into account the volume of any liquid waste that it is being used to sterilize.[17] Bleach will kill many organisms immediately, but for full sterilization it should be allowed to react for 20 minutes. Bleach will kill many, but not all spores. It is highly corrosive and may corrode even stainless steel surgical instruments.

Bleach decomposes over time when exposed to air, so fresh solutions should be made daily.[18]

 

[Nurmey]

The nice thing about glass is that it can be cleaned and sanitized to perfection no matter what started out inside. Clean the carboys like you have a Howard Hughes phobia and use them in good health.

 

[fineexampl]

Glass is non-porous. If it's not cracked, you should be fine with the good old fashioned elbow grease and a bottle of bleach. hell, use every cleaner you have if you have cause for concern. No such thing as too clean.

 

[SouthernYankee]

Glass is non-porous. If it's not cracked, you should be fine with the good old fashioned elbow grease and a bottle of bleach. hell, use every cleaner you have if you have cause for concern. No such thing as too clean.

Some glass is porous. In the dental field. However for a carboy. I would'nt worry about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porous_glass

 

[trailblazer]

i would use full strength bleach and let it sit for a day. or you could siphon your beer over the top of that mouse and see what happens?

 

[fineexampl]

Some glass is porous. In the dental field. However for a carboy. I would'nt worry about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porous_glass

durrr lol we were talking carboys here.

 

[SouthernYankee]

durrr lol we were talking carboys here.

Its all good!

 

[tlarham]

I took a 5 year hiatus from brewing before starting up again this fall -- when I gathered my stuff from the dusty corner of the dirt cellar, I found a similar mummified mouse.

I soaked the little bugger in bleach over night, then bottle-washed the residue out before soaking in oxyclean for a day and sanitizer for a day.

The Steam Beer came out great -- I called it, "Le Morte d'Mouse."

Glass is amazing stuff when it isn't slicing you open.