I cleaned out my Primary Fermenter with Washing up liquid, then diluted bleach (3mL per Litre) which I left for about 30-40 minutes, then soaked in Sodium Met. for 20 mins, then rinsed.
Everything is dry and it's about 7 days ao now, but there is a strong smell of plasticy-sulphur. The Rubber Bung was the worst (I know from my Chemistry PhD days that Rubber Bungs and Bleach create an awful smell), but the same smell is present in the Primary Fermenter.
Is it possible, that the Bleach has attacked the plastic in the Fermenter?
If so, I'm thinking of soaking in water overnight, then rinse in Sodium Met again, else it's throw it away and buy another one (it's only been used once!)
Any help appreciated!!!!!
Leaving the bleach in too long
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PieOPah
I am sorry but I can't help you out with your current predicament however I can help you for future cleansing.
There are a number of products that you can use for sanitizing. When I first started Homebrewing, I used Miltons. I had a bottle which was supposed to be used for the babies bottles, but eventually steamed everything instead. Once I had finished that, I started to buy VWP which is a powder (normally) available in your LHBS.
The problem I had with bot methods was the amount of water I used. If I was cleaning my fermenter then I would have to fill the whole thing. After that I would then need to rinse everything. As you can imagine, this is a lot of water.... On top of this, I found that using VWP was fairly expensive.
Now I use Iodophor. With this I use 12.5ppm (can't remember if this is 1/2 or 1/4 teaspoon per 2 litres) which as you can imagine is quite a small amount. This alone makes it a fairly cheap method of sanitizing.
What is even better is that I only use 2 litres of water to sanitize everything. First I empty the solution into my fermenter and swirl this around ensuring everything is coated (BTW I have previously cleaned everything with hot water and soap). I then transfer this solution to my bottles (grolsch so they can be sealed easily) or my keg.
Basically all you need to do is have the solution coat a surface, you do not need it submerged. 2 minutes of contact and you are done. You don't even need to rinse. Personally I do tend to rinse since there is so much froth. I guess though that this would eventually break down to a liquid that could easily be poured out.
In the mean time, you may want to try filling your bucket with regular water and leaving it over-night. I don't know whether this will help but hopfeully it will draw the chlorine out and allow it to evaporate...
Edit: Started this reply a while ago but got distracted by work... DaaB is really worth listening to.
There are a number of products that you can use for sanitizing. When I first started Homebrewing, I used Miltons. I had a bottle which was supposed to be used for the babies bottles, but eventually steamed everything instead. Once I had finished that, I started to buy VWP which is a powder (normally) available in your LHBS.
The problem I had with bot methods was the amount of water I used. If I was cleaning my fermenter then I would have to fill the whole thing. After that I would then need to rinse everything. As you can imagine, this is a lot of water.... On top of this, I found that using VWP was fairly expensive.
Now I use Iodophor. With this I use 12.5ppm (can't remember if this is 1/2 or 1/4 teaspoon per 2 litres) which as you can imagine is quite a small amount. This alone makes it a fairly cheap method of sanitizing.
What is even better is that I only use 2 litres of water to sanitize everything. First I empty the solution into my fermenter and swirl this around ensuring everything is coated (BTW I have previously cleaned everything with hot water and soap). I then transfer this solution to my bottles (grolsch so they can be sealed easily) or my keg.
Basically all you need to do is have the solution coat a surface, you do not need it submerged. 2 minutes of contact and you are done. You don't even need to rinse. Personally I do tend to rinse since there is so much froth. I guess though that this would eventually break down to a liquid that could easily be poured out.
In the mean time, you may want to try filling your bucket with regular water and leaving it over-night. I don't know whether this will help but hopfeully it will draw the chlorine out and allow it to evaporate...
Edit: Started this reply a while ago but got distracted by work... DaaB is really worth listening to.
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shaunmarrison
Okay, I'll not worry about it and just carry on then. The smell with the rubber bung is definitely a reaction with the bleach, as I noticed it before using the Sodium Met.
I recognised the smell immediately from my PhD, when I used bleach on a daily basis ( to get rid of Sodium cyanide residues, if you're interested)
The experiments I was doing where amazingly sensitive to any contaminants (including moisture and oxygen - all the glassware was assembled at 120 Degrees Celcius with Argon gas (Nitrogen was too wet!) Anyway, back to the beer - I know that although the rubber bungs smelt, there was never a noticable difference between using a fresh one and a smelly old one with my experiments, so I 'm sure it will be okay with the brewing at you've said.
I did consider smearing a little petroleum jelly on the underside of the bung (the part that sits in the fermenter) just in case.
Thanks for the advice
P.S. As far the Iodophor is concerned, I read that if made up in the proper concetrations the Iodine Sublimates from a solid (dissolved in water) to a gas, so it will not leave any residues. (google search for iodophor and read the first link)
I recognised the smell immediately from my PhD, when I used bleach on a daily basis ( to get rid of Sodium cyanide residues, if you're interested)
The experiments I was doing where amazingly sensitive to any contaminants (including moisture and oxygen - all the glassware was assembled at 120 Degrees Celcius with Argon gas (Nitrogen was too wet!) Anyway, back to the beer - I know that although the rubber bungs smelt, there was never a noticable difference between using a fresh one and a smelly old one with my experiments, so I 'm sure it will be okay with the brewing at you've said.
I did consider smearing a little petroleum jelly on the underside of the bung (the part that sits in the fermenter) just in case.
Thanks for the advice
P.S. As far the Iodophor is concerned, I read that if made up in the proper concetrations the Iodine Sublimates from a solid (dissolved in water) to a gas, so it will not leave any residues. (google search for iodophor and read the first link)
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PieOPah
QUOTE (mysterio @ Jul 19 2006, 11:05 PM) I keep asking this but... where do you get Iodophor??
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/item957.htm
If you have problems getting it from your chemist for any reason, then as a last resort you can order it from here. I would assume that there are other places that sell it but you would need to shop around...
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/item957.htm
If you have problems getting it from your chemist for any reason, then as a last resort you can order it from here. I would assume that there are other places that sell it but you would need to shop around...