White Mould On Kegs

[KHB]

Hey Guys,

Ive been running my keg fridge at 6.c for about 2 months now its on a fridge mate so temp varies from 6-8.c. Now ive noticed i start to get white mould growing on the top off the kegs on the black rubber. I have tried everything from cleaning with hot soapy water to spraying bleach to using no rinse sanitiser and it keep coming back. Any one else had this problem and how did you get rid of it?? I run a 4 tap font and like to flush the lines with water after a session so no beer sits in them. Am i being to paranoid doing this?? Just cant see hot beer in a line being a good thing for keeping the lines clean.

Cheers
Scotsman

 

[Fents]

have you tries some damp rid or a box of baking soda sitting in a corner of the fridge....sounds like humidity is your culprit?

 

[brettprevans]

you sure its mould?

if so, then i would say the problem isnt the keg as bleech would have kiled it. I would say the infection source (ground Zero if you will) is somewhere else and the mould spores are landing on you keg. I would clean out the whole fridge with bleech and you should be right

 

[Supra-Jim]

Not quite sure if it would help, but moisture/dampness is probably contributing to the growth of the mould. Could you throw one of those closet camels (things that suck moisture out of the air) into the fridge and see how that goes?

Cheers SJ

edit: beaten to it. I too keep a coffee mug half full of bi-carb in the fridge. I know it helps with odours, wasn't sure if it helped with moisture.

 

[KHB]

If its not mould what would it be?? I will try cleaning the whole fridge with bleach. What will the baking soda do??

Cheers

 

[Fents]

baking soda is more for smelly fridges but i have heard it can help with humidity as well.

 

[KHB]

Where can i get on of these closet camels??

Will try all these after cleaning kegs again and see if that fixes it.

Cheers

 

[Sammus]

I get a white residue on all my keg tops, but mine is sodium percarbonate solution that I didn't rinse off properly, then when it tries it leaves white shit everywhere. Any chance yours could be similar? or is it proper mould like furry and growing?

 

[raven19]

What will the baking soda do??

It will draw odours and moisture out of the air.

I really should have some in my keg fridge too... thanks for the tip!

 

[Supra-Jim]

Link to a similar product:

http://www.kendler.com.au/html/damprid.html

Also apparently a mix of vinegar and bi-carb is good for cleaning off mould. So maybe hit the fridge with that, or any other commerical cleaner that acts on mould.

Cheers SJ

 

[jayse]

I have the same problem with my chest freezer except its a darker mould, I don't have a fan in there and was wondering wether a fan may help by keeping the air flowing around rather then stagnant for weeks, any ideas?

I have done the same cleaned the freezer well and make sure the outside of the kegs are cleaned after filling etc but eventually it ends up the same.

 

[white.grant]

You can clean mould off all you like but if the conditions for its growth are good, it will always come back. You need to alter the conditions in the kegerator so they don't like it so much. I think installing a fan would be good idea, not sure about the closet camels though.

cheer

grant

 

[cdbrown]

I get it in my chest freezer as well - seem to get a fair amount of condensation building up in there as I haven't got a collar built yet. The use of damprid or something similar really helped stop or minimise the amount of mould even as the condensation pooled in the bottom.

 

[QldKev]

If it is mould then bleach does not kill it, you will clean off the surface but it will regrow fast. The other problem is you can actually bleach the mold, so it is still there but you don't see it...

Try using either

a) Tea Tree oil, 2 tea spoon to 2 cup water and spray on area. (will smell for a few days)
B) Grapefruit seed extract 20drops extract to 2 cups water (no smell)
c) White distilled vinegar. Just spray onto effected area, do not rinse (will smell for a few hours)

I normally just use white vinegar as I always have some with easy access.

Then check your door seals if you are having a lot of moisture problems.

QldKev

 

[brettprevans]

Will chlorine bleach kill mold or notyes or no? The answer is yes, but with a caveat. That answer comes from The Clorox Company, Oakland CA, manufacturer and distributor of Ultra Clorox Regular Bleach. The companys correspondence to SporeTech Mold Investigations, LLC stated that their Tech Center studies supported by independent laboratories show that 3/4 cup of Clorox liquid bleach per gallon of water will be effective on hard, non-porous surfaces against Aspergillus niger and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (Athletes Foot Fungus). Whether or not chlorine bleach kills other molds and fungi, the company did not say. The words hard, non-porous surfaces present the caveat. Mold remediation involves the need to disinfect wood and wood-based building materials, all of which are porous materials. Thus, chlorine bleach should not be used in mold remediation as confirmed by OSHAs Mold Remediation/ Clean Up Methods guidelines. The use of bleach as a mold disinfectant is best left to kitchen and bathroom countertops, tubs and shower glass, etc.

so bleach will kill mould on non-porus surfaces.

otherwise, as stated above by QldKev. teatree, grapefruit seed or vinager

 

[KHB]

I picked up a damp rid so i will try that. My chest freezer has a collar and a fan in it. Hopefully this will help sort the problem.

Cheers

 

[FarsideOfCrazy]

White vinegar will kill mould becuase what happens is the mould spore feeds on the vinegar and it actually pops it, hence the killing of the mould. All that bleach does is remove the growth that we can see and the spores stay below the surface of whatever it's growing on. If you need a more powerful mould killer you can mix white vinegar and pure alcohol 50/50 and that is more effective than just vinegar on it's own.

The problem of mould returning is a whole other beast which is hard to stop because mould spores are flying through the air all the time and will stay dormant for years in some cases until the right conditons are there and back it comes again.

Just keep up the white vinegar as it's cheap and it won't damage anything that you are using in relation to beer.

Farside.

 

[krusty_oz]

You could try spraying with a sodium metabisulfite solution. I used it last year to get rid of the cause of a smell in my fridge last year - it died of SO2 poisioning (I also got a good wiff when I opened it to make sure it was working as planned)

 

[KHB]

Well i just pulled the kegs out and gave them a good clen, now have damp rid in there so see how we go.

I have another question when pulling the kegs out i noticed more mould on the beer out post side and on the bottom of the keg. Now i dissconnect the hose from the keg after every session and run water through the lines. Leaving beer residue on the keg obviously. Apart from BYB am i the only person that does this or do other people do it too. Just wondering if im being to paranoid with it, as this is contributing to the mould growth too.

Cheers
Scotsman

 

[Murcluf]

Well i just pulled the kegs out and gave them a good clen, now have damp rid in there so see how we go.

I have another question when pulling the kegs out i noticed more mould on the beer out post side and on the bottom of the keg. Now i dissconnect the hose from the keg after every session and run water through the lines. Leaving beer residue on the keg obviously. Apart from BYB am i the only person that does this or do other people do it too. Just wondering if im being to paranoid with it, as this is contributing to the mould growth too.

Cheers
Scotsman

Hi Ben I never had an issue with white mould until I up the temp on my fridgemate up to 4 or 5 degrees prior to that it was set at 1 degree. So I clean my kegs and the interior of my freezer with starsan and dropped my fridgemate back down to 1 degree. Just went out and checked and it still hasn't returned. I remember ready and article or hearing somewhere about a bacteria/mould that only lives at above 5 degrees, I 'd have a look at your temp setting and have a go at trying it at about 1 degree to see if it returns.