Smelly Fermenter

[Clemo]

Hi guys,

I was given a fermenter and the previous owner never cleaned it out after his last batch, which was about a month before he gave it to me. As you can probably guess, what was in there was effing rancid - i swear it almost killed me when i took the lid off. Now ive cleaned it out, soaked it twice overnight with coopers sanitiser, once with a sterilizer and decided to make a cheap beer to see how it came out. The result was terrible and i have noticed that the fermenter still has an off smell to it. Reason im posting is; should I throw it out, or does anyone here believe there is some way of saving it??

 

[alfadog]

Hi guys,

I was given a fermenter and the previous owner never cleaned it out after his last batch, which was about a month before he gave it to me. As you can probably guess, what was in there was effing rancid - i swear it almost killed me when i took the lid off. Now ive cleaned it out, soaked it twice overnight with coopers sanitiser, once with a sterilizer and decided to make a cheap beer to see how it came out. The result was terrible and i have noticed that the fermenter still has an off smell to it. Reason im posting is; should I throw it out, or does anyone here believe there is some way of saving it??

Throw it out, saving a few bucks is not worth the risk IMO

 

[glenwal]

Chuck it, head to bunnings and pick up a new one.

 

[humulus]

BIN IT!!!!!!!!!!!! :icon_vomit:

 

[Rowy]

Hi guys,

I was given a fermenter and the previous owner never cleaned it out after his last batch, which was about a month before he gave it to me. As you can probably guess, what was in there was effing rancid - i swear it almost killed me when i took the lid off. Now ive cleaned it out, soaked it twice overnight with coopers sanitiser, once with a sterilizer and decided to make a cheap beer to see how it came out. The result was terrible and i have noticed that the fermenter still has an off smell to it. Reason im posting is; should I throw it out, or does anyone here believe there is some way of saving it??

Compare outlay on grain and hops and crap, time after time after time, against the cost of a new fermenter. I'm no accountant but I reckon I'd ditch it.

 

[Pennywise]

Bin

 

[troopa]

Bin!
Cubes from aussie disposals are $12 and you can fit 80L in a fridge that can only fit 2 standard fermenters

Damn i like things that make my life easier

 

[Clemo]

Yeah i think you guys are right. Just thought id check first haha

 

[pimpsqueak]

Chuck it, head to bunnings and pick up a new one.

Have you noticed the cheapo ones at bunnings have gotten much thinner lately? I have 2 of them and there is quite a difference in the thickness of the walls.
Also the 2nd one I bought has a much more pungent chemical smell than the first one did... maybe I just got a dud one.

 

[manticle]

Hi guys,

I was given a fermenter and the previous owner never cleaned it out after his last batch, which was about a month before he gave it to me. As you can probably guess, what was in there was effing rancid - i swear it almost killed me when i took the lid off. Now ive cleaned it out, soaked it twice overnight with coopers sanitiser, once with a sterilizer and decided to make a cheap beer to see how it came out. The result was terrible and i have noticed that the fermenter still has an off smell to it. Reason im posting is; should I throw it out, or does anyone here believe there is some way of saving it??

Fermenters are cheap.

If you really want to try and save it, take a half jar of napisan and fill your fermenter (to the top) with boiling water and add the napisan. Do this outside and watch it foam out the top.

Leave overnight, drain, rinse well with clean water, then dose with some kind of acid based sanitiser like starsan. Fill with clean water, pour some into a cup and smell and drink it.

If it still smells, chuck it and buy a new one. You can still use the rest of the napisan and starsan.

Or just chuck it, buy a new one and buy some starsan and napisan.

 

[Bizier]

I just got 2 x new BMW plastics 30L from big green scam, and they definitely have a markedly different smell to the previous ones. I told my partner that they smelled like shoe stores.

Last weekend I boiled all my fermenters, taps and cubes in my kettle (100L) for 20 mins each because I have not brewed in a while and some have had funky stuff in them (this should get rid of any spoilage organisms), I boiled the new ones purely in an attempt to de-smell them a little.

 

[ben_sa]

Buy a new one...

If it were me, Id buy a new one AND pour a cup of unscented bleach in, fill to top with water, then add a cup of vinegar and allow to soak for 24-48 hours.

Worst case scenario, You bin it anyway, best case, you end up with a spare fermenter

Seriously, I had a bad run with infection last year, the bleach/vinegar combo works wonders. Due to paranoia, I soak all my gear for at least 24 hours in said combination after every brew.

**do not add bleach and vinegar together, add one, then water, then the other. Creates toxic chlorine gas which you REALLY dont want to be inhaling. Use at own risk blah blah etc**

 

[barry2]

+1 for unscented bleach