Smelly kettle

[Runt135]

I have two mega pots. I clean them with a metal scrubby and soap after brew day, but for some reason after its done drying it smells funny. Plus there is some kind of white film(lack of a better word) on the bottom.

I find this as weird since its stainless steel and a metal scrubby was used on it.

 

[QuercusMax]

The white film is probably either beerstone (calcium oxalate) or limescale.

What kind of "funny" does it smell? Have you tried disassembling your ball valves?

 

[ram5ey]

No idea, but I wouldn't use a metal scrubby on it. Stick with the scrubbies made for stainless.

 

[Runt135]

My wife describes the smell as "funky metal smell". Which is probably the best way to describe it.

If anyone has any ideas how to get rid of either of the problems it would be much appreciated.

 

[QuercusMax]

Are they causing any problems to your finished beer? If not, then I wouldn't even worry about it. If you really don't want that white film on there, I would suggest using barkeepers friend and a green scrubby.

 

[flars]

The funky metal smell could be the steel of kettle. More aroma when it is warm. Clean the kettle with Barkeepers Friend and a soft sponge, let it air dry to passivate the stainless steel. Using a metal scrubby will remove the oxide layer and make your kettle prone to rusting.

 

[patthebrewer]

The funky metal smell could be the steel of kettle. More aroma when it is warm. Clean the kettle with Barkeepers Friend and a soft sponge, let it air dry to passivate the stainless steel. Using a metal scrubby will remove the oxide layer and make your kettle prone to rusting.

What he said, barkeeper friend is great stuff!!

 

[Shuasha]

I've scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed with other soaps and gotten nowhere. Then I tried barkeepers friend and the stuff just FALLS off when I use a paper towel to scrub. It's amazing.

 

[day_trippr]

Almost certainly, the post-metal-scrubby smell is being caused by that scrubby removing enough of the passivated layer to expose iron. And wet iron definitely has a smell.

As already advised, ditch the metal scrubby and use BKF with a much less aggressive pad...

Cheers!

 

[The_Bishop]

A paste of BKF on a damp paper towel is almost magical in it's ability to remove stuff.

 

[augiedoggy]

No idea, but I wouldn't use a metal scrubby on it. Stick with the scrubbies made for stainless.

Ditto only blue scrubbies are recommended... metal ones will scratch up the surface pretty bad and cause the stainless to rust if they are steel wool.

 

[Rcbandl]

Its most likely the metal scrubber causing the problem by removing the oxidized layer on the pot. As posted above, only use non metal scrubbers on stainless.