Plastic Conical Fermenter Odor.

[compact007]

Hey Gang, I have a question for you all, because I seem to be second guessing myself. I have a 17 gallon conical tank that I use as a fermenter. My last batch I didn't get around to cleaning it right away(learned my lesson here) and since have but it through its stages with multiple washing's and soaks, ect ect. However the conical now looks better then ever( rebuilt it also for easier set up and breakdown) but it has a lingering smell/odor.... This Odor makes me nervous, almost mold like, but the thing is clean!

I'm brewing a 10 gallon batch of British Bitter this saturday, and keep thing its a waste of time, and that it will end up contaminated...

any thoughts? suggestions?

Should I be this worried, I am going to do a full San Star soak and then transfer the San Star to kegs so I do not waste all that solution.

 

[uncleben113]

What have you been using to clean it with? Star San may not be suitable as it is only a sanitizer. I would try using some sort of cleaner like Oxyclean free or PBW

 

[compact007]

Yeah I have been using PBW for the soak, and it looks very clean, it's just the smell that worries me.

I'm thinking of a bleach solution soak to help maybe eliminate to smell, and then do a good rinse.

 

[mjackson]

Put some baking soda inside it somehow?

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

I have a slight oder to my buckets, but its more of a "fermentation" aroma.
Not sure how else to describe it. Not sour or moldy but more of a doughy aroma.
Ive had no problems and the buckets even have a light tint to them......prob time to change em soon the more i write about it lol.

 

[uncleben113]

I'm actually really surprised that you still have this aroma after using PBW. I admit that my experience with PBW is limited but I figured that any residue would be knocked out after a good soak. I guess that speaks to the permeability of plastic

 

[SavoryChef]

You need to let it bake in the sun for a day. I have three plastic conicals and it worked great. It was mentioned in the super simple 15 gal conical thread

 

[BreezyBrew]

I've noticed that pbw seems to work more effectively at hot temps. I didn't see you post what the water temp was, so I thought I'd mention that. Bleach and a sun soak sounds like the way to go.