infected beer, should I throw out the fermenting bucket?

[Eddiebosox]

I recently got my first infection. A big old pellicle on my holiday ale that I dumped. My question is,. Can I reuse that plastic fermentor that the beer was in, or should I throw it out? I only ask as I honestly don’t even remember which one it was. I do a long soak in both oxyclean and PBW and a dose of star san for all my buckets, and I dont keep them more than a year each, but is that enough?

 

[unionrdr]

Maybe hose it out real good first,then bleach bomb it. rinse well with warm water before soaking in PBW & rinsing again. I didn't bother with the BB ale pail that got infected,as it didn't have a lid seal anyway & leaked under pressure. Replaced it with the shorter,7.9 gallon fermenter with lid seal,red rubber grommet. Got an Italian spigot for it already (the red & white ones).

 

[Newsman]

I dunno. I'm subscribing to this because I want to know the consensus of opinion. Fortunately, I've never had an infection (yet) but if I ever do, I want to know the proper thing to do.

 

[Transamguy77]

You will get answers from both sides of this question so do some research and do what makes you comfortable. I hade some mold infection issues a few months ago and I did not throw anything out, I cleaned EVERYTHING with a strong bleach solution and rinsed with very hot water and brewed a few low cost beers (in case I was gonna still have a problem I did not want to waste a lot of cash) and have not had any issues.

Can I ask why you replace your buckets every year? I've been brewing for a few years now and still have the same used buckets I started with, earlier this year I bought a few 8 gallon buckets not because I was replacing anything I just wanted them.

 

[unionrdr]

Same here. I still use the Cooper's Microbrew fermenter I started with. Just really anal about cleaning them before each use. I tossed the lacto infected BB ale pail mostly because it had no lid seal. The new 7.9G from Midwest does. I have another shorty for a bottling bucket & the seal is good. Bleach-rinse-PBW-rinse-Starsan should do it though.

 

[Eddiebosox]

Can I ask why you replace your buckets every year? I've been brewing for a few years now and still have the same used buckets I started with, earlier this year I bought a few 8 gallon buckets not because I was replacing anything I just wanted them.

unlike my glass fermenter, tiny scratches and dings after a while build up and are easy places for bacteria to grow.

 

[POAS]

I recently dumped a batch because of an infection. I suspected the bucket, cleaned it and sanitized it the best I could (didn't use Chlorine, only Star San) and brewed with it again. Dumped the next batch due to the same infection (very strong band-aid taste). Brewed again, but used a glass carboy and no problems. I'll be getting rid of that bucket! Probably not buy any more either. Not worth the time put into a batch of beer to have it get spoiled when the bucket gets scratched and infected. I'll be going with glass from now on.

 

[unionrdr]

Band aid flavors usually come from anything with chlorine &/or chloromine in them. Rinsing better after cleaning with such things would help. And use different water like distilled,RO,or spring water.

 

[Newsman]

I recently dumped a batch because of an infection. I suspected the bucket, cleaned it and sanitized it the best I could (didn't use Chlorine, only Star San) and brewed with it again. Dumped the next batch due to the same infection (very strong band-aid taste). Brewed again, but used a glass carboy and no problems. I'll be getting rid of that bucket! Probably not buy any more either. Not worth the time put into a batch of beer to have it get spoiled when the bucket gets scratched and infected. I'll be going with glass from now on.

Yeah, but then you have to worry about the glass carboys breaking. There's a couple different threads on this here.

 

[Braufessor]

I would get rid of it. . . . . just not worth $10-$15 to even worry about it in my opinion. I rotate through about 6-8 bottling buckets that I use as fermenters. I keep the lids/buckets/spigots all together. I mark date of purchase on each and I tend to replace them here and there over time as they get old (2 years or so) or if I have an "off batch" or two in a bucket. I thought about getting SS conical...... but then I did the math and figured I could also buy 2-3 new buckets a year, for the rest of my brewing career and still spend less money - so that is my philosophy as far as buying new buckets.
Plus, can always use the buckets for yard work and other stuff.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Just out of curiosity, how do you get dings and scratches in your plastic fermenters?
I ask because I usually don't scrub the inside, just make sure every square inch of the inside gets hit with sanitizer at the end. Any hard gunk that needs removing I usually do with my hand.

 

[ArcLight]

>>I ask because I usually don't scrub the inside, just make sure every square inch of the inside gets hit with sanitizer at the end. Any hard gunk that needs removing I usually do with my hand.

I don't think thats good enough.
I have a sponge that I only use for cleaning inside fermentors. I clean them with dish soap and water. I scrub a few times with the soap and water. I sanitize both before and after using (with the same sanitizing solution).

If you leave any dirt, no matter how small, the Star San can't get at whats in it (if anything is there or settles in there). I think many home brewers don't clean adequately. That doesn't guarantee an infection, but it can leave one more vulnerable.

If you have an infection, it's possible you can kill it off with multiple treatments of sanitizer after a hard cleaning.
(something like an ounce of bleach + an ounce of vinegar in 1 gallon of water, also using Star San and Iodophor later on)

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/charlie-talley-five-star-chemicals-notes-brewcasts-58928/

But you still run the risk that you did not eliminate the infection. Bacteria can form biofilms that are resistant to sanitizers and hard to clean. Hospitals have infections because the bacteria/spores are resilient.

If you have a 75% chance of eliminating the infection, and a 25% chance you get it again, is it worth it?

.75 * $16 (bucket cost) = $12 savings
vs
.25 * 40 (kit cost + S&H) = $10 loss of materials PLUS several hours of your time.

Several hours of my time are worth more to me than a few bucks.

It's a harder choice if you have to toss a bottling bucket, 2 fermenting buckets, auto siphon, filler, tubing. If you aren't sure where the infection is.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

I get that, and you're probably right in saying I could be more aggressive with cleaning...but even with using a sponge, how would the plastic get scratched?

 

[ArcLight]

I get that, and you're probably right in saying I could be more aggressive with cleaning...but even with using a sponge, how would the plastic get scratched?

The point of using a dedicated sponge is the bucket would not get scratched.
The only things that go in my buckets are plastic:
- a sponge
- a plastic stirring spoon
- an Auto-siphon
- plastic tubing
- plastic spigot
- plastic bottle filler

Probably the plastic can cause some scratching, but hopefully not that much as it's generally not pointed.