beerisuber
Active Member
I've tried pbw and bleach. I can't get the smell of the last batch to go away. Aside from taking a 2 hour round trip to the nearest brew store, any suggestions?
Rubber carboy stopper smells like last batch
- Thread starter beerisuber
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SD-SLIM
Well-Known Member
The only thing I can think of is to soak it in a vinegar/water solution...similar to what is used to clean a coffee pot, but leave it in this solution over night.
mgortel
Well-Known Member
This is not a problem.....as long as you have cleaned it and sanitize it.
My primary fermenters (ale pales) always smell like last batch......
My primary fermenters (ale pales) always smell like last batch......
cyclonite
Well-Known Member
+1
Mine smell like the last batch as well, but the beer always comes out great! Don't worry about it, just make sure it's cleaned and sanitized as mgortel said!
Cheers!
DakotaRules
Well-Known Member
You can also boil with pbw, oxy, and that may help but as long as there sanitized your good to go.
DubbelDach
Well-Known Member
What's the problem with a smelly stopper? Your beer doesn't touch it.
My lil airlock grommets get soaked in PBW & then the sanitizer when cleaning/sanitizing. But my problem with ale pales,cooper's micro brew fv's is the spigot & hole it goes in. I soak the fermenter with PBW to loosen the gunk. Then fold one of those blue paper towels to scrub it gently. But it still smelled of stale beer. I had to unscrew the tap,clean it as best I could,then soak it in PBW for a couple hours. Then use the blue towel to clean the threads for the tap in the fv hole. No more smell after some star-san.
If it bothers you, next time you are at the Not-So-Local HBS, just buy a dozen stoppers or something. They're dirt cheap.
I have almost twice as many stopper/airlock pairs as I need, because they are so freakin' cheap and I figure that way I'll always have a clean one handy no matter what.
I have almost twice as many stopper/airlock pairs as I need, because they are so freakin' cheap and I figure that way I'll always have a clean one handy no matter what.
kyle6286
Well-Known Member
Good to know. My first batch didn't leave a smell in my ale pale, but my last batch, a belgian wheat beer, definitely left a small trace, even after soaking in oxiclean free for a night.
SD-SLIM
Well-Known Member
I thought rubber stoppers were not porous...so wouldn't his be a cause for concern if they did have a smell to them?
That's what I was thinking. If I can smell stale beer in there,then the nasties can find it as well. I'd try soaking it in enough PBW to cover for a day. I've had PBW soak moldy yeast gunk out of a bottle in minutes. Cleaned the smell out of my FV's with a folded paper towel. So this shouldn't be too much of a problem for good ol' PBW to handle. Is there anything that PBW won't clean?!
HerotBrewer
Well-Known Member
I'd try soaking it in some ethanol, like Devil Springs 160 proof vodka. Should kill anything.
That'd cost 3-4 times as much as 8oz of PBW. It's cleaned everything I put it against so far. But fermenters have to be taken completely apart & soak,scrub everything with the brewer's wash. you can't sanitize dirt. You have to clean it off,then sanitize.
