Cleaning fermenter

[coatse]

Hi,

I have successfully brewed my first beer, I have now cleaned my fermenter but it stills smells like beer. Will this effect my next brew? I have got rid of all the sediment and crust on the side of the fermenter.

James

 

[RM-MN]

If you are using a plastic bucket for a fermenter it will always smell like beer unless you do some extreme cleaning. That smell won't affect the next beer at all.

 

[thehaze]

I use Speidel fermenters, which are basically sturdier plastic, although high density and much more resistent to shock and temperature changes than regular plastic buckets. Even if I clean them real good, there is still a slight hint of " beer "...usually a green, hop smell. But as RM-MN pointed out, it will not affect your future brews.

Just make sure you do not have trub, hop and most important yeast residuu in your fermenter, as this will certainly pose some challenges in your next brew.

 

[balrog]

If you have washed, not scrubbed since scratches are evil landlords of microbial nasties, and use PBW or homemade PBW-like cleaner, then you are more than likely good to go. And yes, the beer smell will always be there. Keep that in mind if you ever want to bleach for full spectrum sanitizing -- that chlorine may linger for the same reason the beer smell lingers. But the beer smell, and in my case, the krausen/hop ring at the 5-5.25 gallon mark, never leaves the bucket. Smell gud.

 

[InTheBasement]

I have to say, I am on my second batch of beer using a very large turkey roasting bag as a bucket liner, and it removes any concern I have regarding contamination, or any smells, or flavors from past brews.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Don't laugh...because this works: You can get rid of most of the smell it you lay the bucket on its side without the lid on. If you stand it up the aroma is trapped and has no place to go.

All of my buckets are stored laid down.

 

[seatazzz]

I still use plastic buckets (all three are about 2 years old now) with spigots, and all I do after racking the beer out is give it a good rinse with the hottest water from my bathtub tap (a shower head on a hose works great if you're like me and don't have a laundry sink), use a soft sponge to make sure the krausen ring is gone, rinse again, and leave it to dry. The spigots get disassembled and live in a big mason jar full of starsan solution. And I don't use soap to clean my buckets, just good clean hot water. All three of them smell like beer but I don't care. If I've been lazy and let the fermenter sit a day or two after kegging I'll rinse it out then let it soak for a few hours, once again just with water. On brew day another rinse with hot water, install the spigot, let cool, then fill with fresh sanitizer. Good to go and no infections.

 

[jalc6927]

Leave them unsealed after cleaning and you’ll be ok, plastic does hold some odor but is safe, provided it’s cleaned and sanitized before using each time