Mould!

[mynameisrodney]

Hi all,

I'm assuming like many of you I am over this damn weather. My house is getting smashed with mould. It is even growing on my glass pool fence and my north facing windows (on the outside)! The latest thing to bite the dust is the neoprene jacket for my guten. I'm going to try to recover it by soaking in vinegar and see how I go. But, I'm after some tips on keeping equipment mould free. the main problem being I just cannot get equipment to dry in this humidity.

I've got some thoughts that I want to try, but keen for advice on what works and what doesn't.

• Kegs are staying wet on the inside. I'm thinking wrapping heat belts around them to help evaporation.
• Tubing - I have an old aquarium air pump, I was going to rig something up with that and a spare CO2 manifold so that I can have air flowing through any transfer lines etc until they are 100% dry
• General equipment - Is it worth keeping some vinegar in a spray bottle and just spritzing stuff with it when its cleaned or will that do nothing?

Cheers,
Chris

 

[duncbrewer]

Condensation / non drying is a relation between temperature and the dew point. If you get the temperature above the dew point things will dry so hairdryer etc can be good for that ducted in and out of kegs. Then leave a drying sachet in there once it's " dry " but seal it up and remember to remove it or charge it with dry CO2 and seal it up.
The other option is reduce the humidity and really a dehumidifier your only option.

I'd try and make the environment unfriendly for the mould ie dry rather than keep wetting it with a poison / inhibitor.
Weather does look miserable over there, been very biblical the last few years in Aus fires, floods and plague.

 

[duncbrewer]

Just wondering why you wouldn't try detergent and some oxiclean / pbw first on the jacket, not sure that vinegar is my go to for cleaning a stained bit of clothing.

 

[mynameisrodney]

Thanks Dunc,

I might see if the mrs has an old hairdryer I can pinch for keg drying. I was thinking vinegar as i thought it was really good at killing mould and stopping it from coming back.

 

[Markbeer]

If you have an ac unit they often have a dehumidify function.

There is an anti mould pre paint product that is natural that I use. Citric acid based I think. This could be handy for you.

 

[Feldon]

Rather than vinegar, if you want to spritz brew gear to kill mould and other microrganisms use a 70% ethanol solution like this. Only ten bucks for a litre. Just don't squirt it around active ignition sources like BBQs, gas water heater pilot lights, candles, bongs and ciggies. Treat it like a bottle of petrol. And don't leave it around for kids to mess with. Can hurt eyes if sprayed in the face. Can also eradicate stray cats from the back yard if you manage to sneek up and get a quick ambush shot up the arse.
Super Kill Ethyl Sanitiser Spray 1000mL (Ethanol, Alcohol)

https://www.kegland.com.au/ethyl-sanitiser-spray-1000ml.html
Plenty of other sources of supply.

 

[duncbrewer]

But it does have an additive that makes it taste horrible which isn't as volatile as the alcohol so could be left on your surfaces, which could contaminate your beer.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

But it does have an additive that makes it taste horrible which isn't as volatile as the alcohol so could be left on your surfaces, which could contaminate your beer.

this doesnt have any additives that stay on the surface. I think the Ethanol spray is practically one of the best sanitisers we have and one of the main benefits of using this is that it is benign if you accidentally get some in your beer and it also evaporates off the surface of your gear with no residual taste whatsoever. We sell many cases of this product for commercial use to breweries, the medical industry, food industry and wine industry. It's a great product and I think it's also quite good value. I use it as my preferred surface spray on all my fittings.

If it was cheaper I would probably use it to clean out and sanitise my whole fermenter.

 

[duncbrewer]

I've had a look at the bottle

it " evapourates " what is this ?

30% proprietary ingredients are these details available in case of accidental consumption by a child or it gets in my beer.

Surely if you get it in your beer it will dissolve into it? so it can't evaporate off then and you'd be left with the proprietary ingredients in your beer as well.

Or is it just ethanol and water which would be quite safe in moderation?

 

[livo]

Mould is presently running rampant and recommendations of running dehumidifiers, A/C in dry mode etc are pretty well useless. Last week we had blue mould growing on the stainless steel skin of our fridge. My daughter's place is growing mould on melamine surfaces and she is wiping everything down every second day. Anything organic like timber, leather, natural fibre fabric, cane baskets etc is approaching discard. We have some 82% "mould killer" that we have used successfully in the past and the current mould is resistant to drenching. Good luck.

 

[MHB]

A 70% Ethanol 30% water solution is a widely used surface steriliser.

If you went to Bunning’s they sell 4L of Metho (~95% Ethanol) and added water to bring it down to 70% ethanol. You would have ~5.4L of surface steriliser that would set you back less than $20.
Be aware it will contain a flavouring agent, probably Pyridine so you wouldn’t want it in your beer but it’s great for surfaces, inside fridges, maybe even cane baskets...
Mould sux warm and wet and you are really in for a battle.
Mark

 

[yankinoz]

A 70% Ethanol 30% water solution is a widely used surface steriliser.

If you went to Bunning’s they sell 4L of Metho (~95% Ethanol) and added water to bring it down to 70% ethanol. You would have ~5.4L of surface steriliser that would set you back less than $20.
Be aware it will contain a flavouring agent, probably Pyridine so you wouldn’t want it in your beer but it’s great for surfaces, inside fridges, maybe even cane baskets...
Mould sux warm and wet and you are really in for a battle.
Mark

Wouldn't want it in your beer is right. Metho also contains methanol, which is highly toxic, but luckily also more volatile than ethanol.

Re pyridine, one bit of archaeological trivia is that some Ice Age peoples burned mammoth bones along with wood indoors for heat. Burning bones stink of pyridine.

 

[MHB]

Actually "Metho" doesn’t have any Methanol in it, well not in Australia. The alcohol is denatured (flavoured) so people won’t drink it, but someone decided that tax evasion shouldn’t be a capital offence so the took out the toxic Methanol.
Mark

 

[yankinoz]

Actually "Metho" doesn’t have any Methanol in it, well not in Australia. The alcohol is denatured (flavoured) so people won’t drink it, but someone decided that tax evasion shouldn’t be a capital offence so the took out the toxic Methanol.
Mark

Encouraging to know. I went by the online product description, "methylated spirits." So they kept the name and took out the methyl. Semantically flawed, but considerate.