Can I rescue an infected fermenter & siphon?

[JCasey1992]

Hi all!

So I recently kegged an Irish stout and when I got the beer off the yeast, life took over and I was unable to empty out the bucket for a couple days. When I got back to the bucket, I noticed a mold in the yeast. Assuming this is an infection that developed after I kegged the beer, do I need to throw out the fermenter or is there a way to disinfect and save it? Additionally, I left the siphon in the fermenter touching the yeast. Do I need to throw this out or can it be saved? Thanks for putting up with my ignorance and thanks for the help!

Cheers!
Casey

 

[greyghost]

I would use bleach on it. Works best for molds

 

[flars]

As @greyghost has said bleaching will take care of the problem. Don't over do it though. Read the bleach bottle for the amount of bleach to use per gallon for sanitizing and the length of contact time. Use unscented bleach. It will take some good rinsing and air drying time for the aroma to disappear but it works.

Most likely not intended but leaving an auto siphon assembled can deform the seal on the inner cane. It will suck air when that happens.

 

[RM-MN]

Fermenters can be glass or plastic. Bleach works fine on both. Hot water works fine on HDPE plastic but can cause the glass to shatter and PET to deform.. Dump a couple gallons of boiling water in the HDPE plastic fermenter and put the lid on. The inside surfaces will all get above pasteurization temperature.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Fermenters can be glass or plastic. Bleach works fine on both. Hot water works fine on plastic but can cause the glass to shatter. Dump a couple gallons of boiling water in the plastic fermenter and put the lid on. The inside surfaces will all get above pasteurization temperature.

Depends on the type of plastic! If your fermenter is made from PET the boiling water will ruin it!!

 

[RM-MN]

Depends on the type of plastic! If your fermenter is made from PET the boiling water will ruin it!!

Thanks for reminding me that not all fermenters are HDPE. I'll edit my post for that.

 

[madscientist451]

I wouldn't worry about it, just wash it out and sanitize with some Star-San. I really don't like using bleach, if I have a plastic item like a bucket that seems kind of gross, I just replace it. Old buckets get re-purposed for gardening, washing the car or holding tools.