Napisan to freshen my fermentation bucket

[Tinlife]

Hi All
First proper post from a new brewer.

I recently had some seriously rotten smells coming from my “clean” fermentation bucket after brewing a couple of bad batches. Had a look at recommended fixes and saw a few recommending unscented Napisan. We had some in from a few years back so I boshed a decent amount in, added hot water and left overnight. Came back today and I’m pleased to say there’s no smell. Gave it a very good and lengthy rinse this morning.
Recommended. Just hope i haven’t done something others will find abhorrent!!

 

[RoomWithABrew]

You'll be very nappy I'm sure.

 

[Tinlife]

WEHEY!

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Did you soak nappies at the same time?
I use oxi stain remover which I guess is the same thing.

 

[Tinlife]

I'm happy to take nappy cleaning commissions

 

[Clint]

Why were your previous batches "bad"?
Infections will need more than an oxi type product to deal with them...cheap bleach is good for this.
Otherwise a feint beery, hoppy aroma isn't anything to bother about from well used plastic bins.

 

[Tinlife]

Well, the bad batches were all due to my cleaning mistakes. I changed from a cleaner/steriliser combo to just a steriliser without realising it. So, each time I put a brew on I sterilised everything but realise now things weren’t clean enough. Since then I’ve gone back to cleaning and sanitising properly and had success again.

The smells from two of the beers were pretty horrendous and seemed to be held in the fermentation bucket. I’d read that doesn’t matter much but thought I’d try to get it out. Hence the Napisan. Now there’s no smell I’ll do a full proper brew clean and sanitise.

 

[Tinlife]

@Clint - when using cheap bleach what kind of volume do you put in to mix with 23ltrs of water?

 

[Clint]

About 2 to 3 ml per litre...but rinse like hell after!

 

[RoomWithABrew]

or you can go caustic using Sodium Hydroxide crystals or liquid. This is a more dangerous method. Some bleaches also have the NaOH in them as well.
I've found following a good rinse the homemade pbw does a good job of getting rid of the bleach smell.

 

[sifty]

Interesting. There's an odour in one of my plastic buckets. Not bad, just beery. Sounds like it's nothing to worry about, but I'm going to rub the inside with baking soda and leave for a day before rinsing, cleaning and sterilising.

Was wondering if this was a common problem...

 

[DavidDetroit]

Was wondering if this was a common problem...

When it's all said and done, the plastic, food-grade buckets are still porous, thus the slight smell of beer seeping into and staying around. It doesn't amount to anything to worry about.
With the plastic buckets, it is very important not to scratch the inside which is what I thought might have happened to the OP.

 

[sifty]

Yes I only use a microfibre cloth to clean plastic to avoid scratches...

 

[An Ankoù]

Beer that is not infected can stink, depending on which yeast you're using and whether that yeast gets stressed. I'm not talking about a bit of a whiff, but full on horrors! More often than not the yeast will clean up any off flavours at the end of fermentation or in the bottle, but not always completely. I had a spate of this and found that adding a teaspoon of yeast nutrient to a five gallon batch prevented it.
Bad smells from infections tend to develop late on or after fermentation rather than when the beer is really rocking and rolling.
Some lager yeasts will always pong. In an sulphur or eggy sort of way and this is quite normal.

 

[bobukbrewer]

Buy concentrated unscented bleach from any supermarket, and dilute - when needed - to 5% - eg 100 ml in 2 litres. As others have said, rinse very well afterwards.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@sifty
Could use baking soda ( bicarbonate of soda) but I wouldn't rub it on dry as it is mildly abrasive hence used in some toothpastes. My gran used to once in a blue moon soak her teapot in this. Others regard this as sacrilege.
Bicarb soda probably much less effective than bleach, or caustic soda or sodium percarbonate.

 

[sifty]

Was a nice day today so I tried the bicarb thing. Made a thin paste, swirled it round inside the fermenter and left it open facing the sun for an hr or so. Rinsed out with hot water and all I can detect now is a faint plastic smell...

I read somewhere that baking soda neutralises acidic beery compounds. No idea if that is correct but seems to have worked. (Was careful not to rub/abrade the walls too after reading the above)...

 

[Tinlife]

Awesome! Good to know.
Does anyone have any advice on how often I should change my fermentation bucket? Is there a general guide - e.g 20 brews?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

If you clean and sanitise before and after each brew it will last for many years.