Can a bad brew ruin a fermenter?

[valhalla076]

Hi everyone! I have been brewing with some friends for a few months now and have both success and failure. Back in October I brewed a "Christmas Ale" and the instructions said to aerate the beer into the fermenter, but not to specifically strain out all of the stuff I put into it during the brew (cinnamon sticks, cloves, orange peel). Needless to say that when it was done, something very bad had happened. The beer had this awful bitter chive/garlic taste and smelled twice as bad.

Now my question is that I have brewed a another batch and put it in this same fermenter (ale pail). What I brewed was a Belgian Blonde. Now while not as strong, the garlic/chive taste/smell is still faintly present. Is the pail done? Or do I need to do something else to banish the ghost of beers past?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[aprichman]

I would hit it hard with a strong bleach solution for 24 hours then wash it with unscented soap and hot water.

 

[Samuelouellette]

Since its a plastic bucket, make shure there is no scratch inside as these can harbor bacteria/unwanted critters even when sanitized with starsan/Iodophor. Same thing goes for all your equipment that touches the wort/beer. As aprichman suggested use bleach and make shure to rise well as you dont want chlorine in your wort.
Make shure to always clean your equipment then sanitize. I personally use Oxyclean Free (the green one) but some use PBW.

Happy brewing

 

[Puddlethumper]

The oils from cinnamon and some other spices can penetrate some plastics and then linger for quite a while. I had to throw out some beer line because the cinnamon in a cider I had kegged made it unusable for beer.

Since you already have a batch in it there is nothing to be done but wait and see if the flavor(s) show up again. If they do, then by all means try the solutions recommended above. I would suggest, however, that you prepare yourself for the purchase of another bucket. But don't throw that one away if you do. Mark it and save it back to use for ciders and other spiced brews.

Cheers!

 

[Homercidal]

Pail fermentors are cheap. If it were me, I'd buy a second fermentor and lid and start using that.

But, you could probably save that one by soaking in bleach for a few hours, and then airing it out for as long as it takes to get rid of the smell. If you can, place it in the sun and let the sunlight drive the odor from it.

Even a good scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad might not get the smells out, as plastic can leach that stuff. Probably the biggest downside to plastic, but not a lot of people put funky stuff like that in their beers. It's hard to notice if you've got a little bit of hops smell from one batch to the next...

 

[valhalla076]

Thanks to everyone for the replies! The only remaining question I have is how you define a "strong" bleach solution?

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Standard bleach sanitizer solution is 1 tablespoon per gallon with a 20 minute soak. You could double it if you are really trying to kill of whatever is in there but I'd give it a REALLY good rinse before it's next use

 

[MaxStout]

As Homercidal mentioned, pails are cheap. Cheaper than the ingredients you can ruin by continuing to use the "flavored" bucket. Get a new one and use the old one for cleanup, mixing Starsan, etc.

 

[rorypayne]

If it burns the nose when smelled its strong enough.

Idk y you don't use it as say a star San pale. My old fermenters turn into buckets I keep Starr San in so I always have a sanitizer on hand when I need it. I think my lhbs sells ale pales for like $7 plus the spout for $5. A lot cheaper than 2 ruined batches.

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Agreed. I was mostly answering the question at hand but +1 on the new pail and star san

 

[aprichman]

I agree with everyone else - hit it with a hard bleach solution for 24 hours. The dilution is going to depend on the concentration of chlorine which vary by brand. Just follow the directions on the bottle and you should be fine.

After that wash it with warm soapy water and leave it in the sun for a few days.

After that designate it as your starsan bucket. If you use DI/RO water to make the SanStar you can use it for a month or two before remaking the batch. Reusing sanstar for a 3-4 sessions has saved me a ton of money.