Craigslist stuff safe to use?

[Rootski]

I recently picked up this lot off Craigslist for $100. It came with what you can see plus a bottle drying tree and a couple of other things. My question is about the chemicals. It's got a half used bottle of starsan, open PBW, and a full sealed bottle of IO sanitizer. Do you all feel comfortable using these if they appear to act as you'd expect?

I also now have no excuse not to convert completely to AG since I now have a big enough mash tun.

 

[mdbrewer1]

Holy smokes. What a score! You got all that for $100?

Sorry I can't answer your question with any kind of authority. Just wanted to comment on your haul.

 

[fosaisu]

My question is about the chemicals. It's got a half used bottle of starsan, open PBW, and a full sealed bottle of IO sanitizer. Do you all feel comfortable using these if they appear to act as you'd expect?

Heck of a score there!

As for the chemicals, I guess this comes down to how paranoid you are. If the seller seemed trustworthy enough for you to complete the deal, presumably you don't think it's likely that he filled up the Starsan bottle with arsenic (or water). And to my knowledge these chemicals don't really go bad over time. So I say use them! (I'd stick with the Starsan over the IO sanitizer, personal preference).

 

[Rootski]

Yup, $100 total and I was pretty stoked. There's tons of random stuff that you can't see in the pictures too like strainers, hydrometers, probably 15 airlocks and different size stoppers, etc. I got it for the mash tun though since I only had a makeshift one that I did PMs with. I did throw away all perishable items like priming sugar, DME, and yeast nutrient. I couldn't tell how old they were. Gotta love getting a good deal on just the mash tun and kettle, plus getting all that other stuff free - even a functional stir plate which I didn't have.

Any thoughts on the chemicals, and maybe even bottle caps? Any worry about those items being too old, or tampered with in any way? It all looks fine, but maybe they had sat around a year or two. I'm not sure.

 

[brewkinger]

That my friend is QUITE a haul for $100.

Nothing like a person who NEEDS some money quick.

Just a preliminary glance of what you have in the pic and I see:

Stir Plate and flask ==> definitely worth $100 (alone)

5gal Igloo mash tun with ball valve and Immersion chiller ==> pretty darn close to $100 of stuff there too!

So again... nice!!!

As far as the chemicals are concerned, I would not be too concerned at all.

The IO sanitizer is fine as is the StarSan (look to see if there is a "best by" date on either) but I would use them up. I do not think either of them can or will go bad.

THe PBW is pretty much the same. If it is not all caked together (and even if it is) it should still be fine.

If you are truly worried about it and NEED peace of mind then my advice:

Go out and spend some of the money that I GUARANTEE you saved with this purchase

 

[Rootski]

Heck of a score there!

As for the chemicals, I guess this comes down to how paranoid you are. If the seller seemed trustworthy enough for you to complete the deal, presumably you don't think it's likely that he filled up the Starsan bottle with arsenic (or water). And to my knowledge these chemicals don't really go bad over time. So I say use them! (I'd stick with the Starsan over the IO sanitizer, personal preference).

My instinct is to go ahead and use it all. After all the guy did sell me the stuff for a cheap price, and I think he knew that he was practically giving it away.

I've never used the IO sanitizer, but now that I have a full bottle of it, I should probably figure out a way to use it. No sense in wasting it. I also like starsan but didn't have anything else to compare until now.

 

[harleybug88]

IMO. the chemicals should be fine. If someone gave me an opened box of laundry detergent I would use it... kinda the same thing.

And yeah! what a nice score.

 

[Rootski]

That my friend is QUITE a haul for $100.

Nothing like a person who NEEDS some money quick.

Just a preliminary glance of what you have in the pic and I see:

Stir Plate and flask ==> definitely worth $100 (alone)

5gal Igloo mash tun with ball valve and Immersion chiller ==> pretty darn close to $100 of stuff there too!

So again... nice!!!

As far as the chemicals are concerned, I would not be too concerned at all.

The IO sanitizer is fine as is the StarSan (look to see if there is a "best by" date on either) but I would use them up. I do not think either of them can or will go bad.

THe PBW is pretty much the same. If it is not all caked together (and even if it is) it should still be fine.

If you are truly worried about it and NEED peace of mind then my advice:

Go out and spend some of the money that I GUARANTEE you saved with this purchase

Thanks for the advice. It's actually a 10gal cooler with ball valve and false bottom, and the kettle is either 10 or 12gal and thick aluminum walls, nicer than my old 8gal for sure.

 

[brewkinger]

It's actually a 10gal cooler with ball valve and false bottom.

Even better...

The iodine can be used to test for conversion of the mash.

And since you only need a couple of drops of it to test for conversion, you my friend, have a LIFETIME supply!!!

 

[jwelch1103]

You're the only one of us who met the seller, trust your instincts! If the seller seemed OK then the chemicals are probably OK.

 

[m00ps]

Nice dude,

Id recommend a THOROUGH inspection of all the plastic buckets you would use for bottling.fermenting. If there is ANY sign of wear, I'd buy new buckets and lids. Also check any siphoning rods. Oh and I would definitely get new plastic tubing. These are all the most common equipment that harbor infections. Especially considering I bet that stuff had been sitting in a dusty garage for a while...

 

[Rootski]

Nice dude,

Id recommend a THOROUGH inspection of all the plastic buckets you would use for bottling.fermenting. If there is ANY sign of wear, I'd buy new buckets and lids. Also check any siphoning rods. Oh and I would definitely get new plastic tubing. These are all the most common equipment that harbor infections. Especially considering I bet that stuff had been sitting in a dusty garage for a while...

Good call - I think used tubing will all get tossed, and likely the bottling wand, and at least the bottling bucket valve - I took it off and soaked it in pbw, but it looked grimy and appeared like it hadn't been removed in a while. I'll look closer at the buckets for scratches, although I won't be using them as fermenters, just bottling and mixing up cleaner/sanitizer. If I use this bottling bucket at all it'll probably be for sours only since I need separate sour only plastic.

I'm still curious about bottle caps and if they have a shelf life. There are probably 250 oxygen absorbing caps in there.

 

[Newsman]

I'm still curious about bottle caps and if they have a shelf life. There are probably 250 oxygen absorbing caps in there.

AFAIK, oxygen-absorbing caps are good unless they get wet. I'm not sure how to tell if they've been activated or not. If it were me, I'd assume they had been activated and treat 'em as such.

 

[brewkinger]

You're the only one of us who met the seller, trust your instincts! If the seller seemed OK then the chemicals are probably OK.

While this seems like sound advice, I still think it is overkill.

Let's look at this from the already agreed upon perspective.

Whomever the seller was, he/she basically gave you in excess of $300 worth of stuff for $100.

So some possibilities are:
1) They are CRAZY..... Not to be trusted. Send me all of those items and I will personally check them over... (for a small fee of course)

2) They are sane, needed money in a hurry and did not give a flying funk about the quality of the materials. Send me everything and ... you know the rest.

Either way, you have a buttload of equipment that you got an awesome deal on, but the "vibe" that the seller gave you would be the least of my worries.

Again, if you are worried then send me the stuff for a thorough appraisal.:beard:

 

[m00ps]

The caps should be perfectly fine. From what I;ve read, those caps need to get wet to start reacting whatever that material is that does the oxygen thing.

Side note: Has anyone ever noticed any difference from those caps? They arent much more expensive, but I like plain white caps since I can mark them with any color sharpie and it will show. My LHBS doesn't carry the oxygen ones in white...

EDIT: D'oh! Newsman you sneaky bastard...

 

[brewkinger]

Nice dude,

Id recommend a THOROUGH inspection of all the plastic buckets you would use for bottling.fermenting. If there is ANY sign of wear, I'd buy new buckets and lids. Also check any siphoning rods. Oh and I would definitely get new plastic tubing. These are all the most common equipment that harbor infections. Especially considering I bet that stuff had been sitting in a dusty garage for a while...

Good call - I think used tubing will all get tossed, and likely the bottling wand, and at least the bottling bucket valve - I took it off and soaked it in pbw, but it looked grimy and appeared like it hadn't been removed in a while. I'll look closer at the buckets for scratches, although I won't be using them as fermenters, just bottling and mixing up cleaner/sanitizer. If I use this bottling bucket at all it'll probably be for sours only since I need separate sour only plastic.

I'm still curious about bottle caps and if they have a shelf life. There are probably 250 oxygen absorbing caps in there.

Totally agree with all this!!
Before I would spend a penny on a single new sanitizer or cleaner, I would ditch all that plastic tubing and autosiphon (if there is one in there, i did not look well in the picture)
The only place I would use any plastic tubing would be pre-boil where the risk of infection is negligible and not an issue.

Give the buckets a good inspection, maybe even a piece of sensitive fabric or cheesecloth to see if there are any minute scratches that catch on the fabric.
If there are any imperfections in the buckets, I would not use them as fermenting vessels, only sanitizer and grain storage.
Buckets are cheap, plastic tubing is cheap.

Chemicals... not so much. Trust them.

 

[Rootski]

You guys are awesome. Thanks for the great responses. I would assume that even if the oxygen absorbing caps had gotten wet at some point, they'd still function and seal much like standard caps and it shouldn't be a problem.

As far as the seller, it did not seem like a money thing, but more of a "get this stuff out of my sight fast" sort of thing. I either took all of it, or the next guy would get it all so even though I don't need 120 more bottles, I now have extras that I can give away. He mentioned enjoying his beer a little too much and also mentioned giving up drinking, so I think that was the reason for the good deal.

 

[kornkob]

So some possibilities are:
1) They are CRAZY..... Not to be trusted. Send me all of those items and I will personally check them over... (for a small fee of course)

2) They are sane, needed money in a hurry and did not give a flying funk about the quality of the materials. Send me everything and ... you know the rest.

Third option: they stole it and have no real idea how much it is worth/wanted to get it moved pronto.

 

[brewkinger]

Third option: they stole it and have no real idea how much it is worth/wanted to get it moved pronto.

Agreed.




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[Rootski]

Well, so far everything from this purchase seems good. The PBW has been put to good use. I fired up the stir plate and have a big starter of 3711 going. I may try to use the new brew kettle and see how it works.

 

[rekoob]

Nice find.