Carboy won't come clean

[mattmcl]

Someone gave me a 7 gallon carboy, and it's got some dried stains in it, like liquid dripped down the inside and dried there. For the life of me I can't get it clean. Here is what I tried:

Soak for four days with bleach at .25 cup per gallon- no change.

Soak for four days with Star San at 1 oz. per 5 gallons- slight improvement, and the Star San got really cloudy.

Soak for two days with Oxiclean at 1 scoop per gallon- slight improvement.

(I rinsed very well between steps too).

Any ideas? The cloudy Star San leads me to think it's mineral deposits of some kind, but I'm not sure. The carboy has definitely been used to brew as it has gallon markings and a fermometer, but I have no idea what was in it previously.

 

[NewBrew75]

Unless you are certain that the bucket was properly taken care of and cleaned by the previous owner, then I would be hesitant to use it. Small scratches from cleaning it will harbor nasties, thus making bad beer. If you're sure you have a good bucket, I'd say you're good to go after you rinse it a few more times to get ALL the bleach out. Stain or not.

You could use a sponge with hot water and dish detergent.(the handwashing kind)

 

[jspence1]

I had the same thing with some I got used. I used an acid rinse I had and it removed it. your starsan is an acid too. If your in no hurry I'd just keep letting the starsan sit in it until it comes clean.

 

[GreenwoodRover]

You could always up the starsan dosage to make it more acidic. maybe 2oz/5gal then after the soak, add another 5 gallons so its back to norman no rinse sanitizer concentration.

 

[mattmcl]

Unless you are certain that the bucket was properly taken care of and cleaned by the previous owner, then I would be hesitant to use it.

I should have mentioned it's glass.

 

[runhard]

Caustic soda !

 

[Evan!]

PBW will take care of just about any stains or buildup. Bleach and starsan aren't cleaners, so they shouldn't really do much of anything. Yeah, the acid blend will take a little bit off, but you really need something like PBW. A 2 or 3-day soak with some scrubbing via a carboy brush and it'll be like new. I mean, damn, it's glass...you've gotta try really hard to actually "stain" glass.

 

[mattmcl]

you've gotta try really hard to actually "stain" glass

Yeah, that's what I thought! I've scrubbed too, and I just can't get enough leverage. Isn't PBW an oxygen cleaner, like Oxiclean?

 

[Got Trub?]

Yeah, that's what I thought! I've scrubbed too, and I just can't get enough leverage. Isn't PBW an oxygen cleaner, like Oxiclean?

Yes it is. It works best on organic soilage. You are probably correct in thinking it is mineral deposits as that is what Star San will "clean" and that is what makes it cloudy. I'd try using more of it as suggested earlier.

GT

 

[Evan!]

PBW is an alkali cleaner, not the same as oxyclean. I don't know where this information came from, but it seems like a lot of people think that they're the same thing. I've had some nasty stuff that oxyclean wasn't doing much to, but PBW took care of it.

 

[mattmcl]

OK, two days soaking with a 2oz/gallon Star San solution has done nothing. I'm going to try sodium hydroxide next.

 

[Hegh]

If it's mineral deposits, try white vinegar. You can get a gallon for like $3 at the store, I'd say dump two of those in there and top off with water.

If it's organic, up your oxyclean ratio (two or three full scoops), but make sure you mix it up outside first, oxyclean has a tendency to cake (shake a bottle of half a scoop and 1-2 quarts of water, dump it in, repeat, top off with water).

That's my two cents. Good luck!

 

[mattmcl]

Sodium hydroxide hasn't worked. I took a quart of liquid Drano, poured it in and added water to fill (7 gal). I'm wondering if that dilution is too weak though.

I'm about ready to go nuclear on this thing.

 

[keelanfish]

Man, this is getting exciting! I want to see photos!

 

[mattmcl]

You can see the streaking in these pretty well.

 

[Jumbo82]

Hot PBW for a day. Until you do that, you're just playing around. Which is fine, since its always good to experiment. But when you finally get tired of the stain, hot PBW should do it. I have yet to see anything that can survive a hot soak in it. Good luck.

 

[conpewter]

Unless it has etched the glass you should be able to get it off. I'm all for getting more acid and start going for caustic cleaners as well. Maybe hydrochloric (Muriatic) acid would work? I think you can get that from hardware stores.

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

Muriatic acid is what is used in the fish tanking trade to get rid of hard water deposits. Wear gloves. And Rinse! rinse! rinse! when you are done.

 

[mattmcl]

That's what I was thinking of trying. I want to give PBW a shot too.

 

[EdWort]

Hot PBW, Three Tablespoons to a gallon. By hot, I mean hot tap water. Be careful not to shock the carboy if it is cold. Let it warm to room temp first. Fill it to the neck, cover with saran wrap, let sit for a couple days.

 

[Jim Karr]

You may also want to try warm water with lots of ammonia....Caustic works great on organic material.

 

[mattmcl]

So, what do you mean by caustic? I read that it's the same stuff in Drano, so I tried that. Is there something better?

 

[Hegh]

Draino, although mainly consisting of caustic soda (lye), is formulated to sink and sit in the drain trap. It's not going to dissolve in a big jug of water and eat at stuff it's not directly touching.

You could probably get lye from a chemical supplier if you wanted to go that direction, but BE CAREFUL if you do.

You should probably post some pictures, maybe you've got something that someone else has seen before.

 

[keelanfish]

From the photos, the stains look like mineral deposits similar to what you see on shower heads in areas that have extremely hard water. Maybe try something like CLR? Information from their website below...

C Instantly removes Calcium deposits from glassware, decanters, tea & coffee pots.
L Instantly removes Lime scales from coffee makers, humidifiers, tubs, toilets & sinks.
R Instantly removes Rust stains from stucco, brick, porcelain, chrome & metals

CLR is the most powerful formula available for dissolving tough calcium and lime deposits and surface rust stains from tubs, toilet bowls, sinks, glass, chrome, fiberglass and stainless steel. CLR is septic safe and contains no phosphates.

 

[mattmcl]

Well, an overnight soak in 1 lb. of PBW:7 gallons hot tap water did nothing.

 

[jspence1]

This may sound stupid but....are you positive its on the inside? with the chemicals you've put in there it should be gone. it may just be on the outside.

John

 

[mattmcl]

Yeah, the first thing I did was scrub the outside thoroughly. The outside is super smooth.

 

[conpewter]

It doesn't look etched on... but I suppose it may be, you've definitely done a lot of work on it.

 

[Jumbo82]

This may sound stupid but....are you positive its on the inside? with the chemicals you've put in there it should be gone. it may just be on the outside.

John

If it is on the outside, then it can't hurt your beer. But even if it IS on the inside, at this point its fairly safe to say it can't hurt your beer. What are the chances that none of these chemicals can remove the stain, but somehow it gets dissolved into your next batch of brew? I say relax, don't worry, have a homebrew.

 

[BarleyWater]

If you put too much more work into that carboy, you will have probably spent enough money to buy a new one. That said, it looks like calcium deposits from hard water perhaps, I say try the muriatic acid. Also, the Star San is getting cloudy likely because of minerals in your tap water making it ineffective, if you filled the carboy with distilled water you likely wouldn't have this problem, and it may work.