Mouldy Barrel

[BlightyBrewer]

One of my neighbours left a plastic pressure barrel outside my flat (to be thrown out), which I naturally swiped before it ended up in a landfill. On inspection, it's gone a little yellow in colour, and had a fair amount of mould inside. I cleaned it up (soaked in VWP overnight), which got rid of the mould.

Anybody got any thoughts on whether it is good to use?

[tribs]

The cooler I use as my mash tun was in much the same condition. Anything that comes into contact with it is boiled afterwards though.

I would leave it to soak for 24 hours in a hot and fairly strong concentration of bleach (stronger than if you were using it as a sanitiser) followed by a good rinse and it should be contamination free

[Reg]

Yup bleach should do it, if there are any caked on deposits anything with a good surficant in it will help break them up. Best to get rid of anything that could act as a trap for airborne wild yeats and bacteria. (Cheap, own-brand washing up liquid is packed with surficants).

[Reg]

Blighty

Looking at this one, I think it may sit better in the Cleaning and Sterilising section, I'll leave it here for a little while longer, but if you have no major objections, I'll move it over the next few days to that section of the forum to maintain lookupability... Hey I invented a new word!

[deadlydes]

just give it a good wash and soak in bleach and it will be fine.
lots of my equipment came from tips/friends sheds and it was in the same state but its all good now!

[Andy]

Reg - the great archiver!

Historians of the future will be forever in your debt. B)

[Reg]

QUOTE (andy @ May 23 2006, 08:20 AM) Reg - the great archiver!

Historians of the future will be forever in your debt. B)
Personally, I usually sit on my posterity...

[tribs]

QUOTE (Daft as a Brush @ May 22 2006, 01:24 PM)As far as i'm aware, bleach works best as a cleaner in cold water, heavily soiled items should be cleaned in a 20% bleach solution so by my reckoning thats around 5 bottles (of 12p value) bleach for a keg.
It kills germs better with cold water. However using with hot water dissolves and removes the gunk better. Bleach struggles to kill germs harboured in organic matter.

[BlightyBrewer]

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I was a bit concerned about its yellow colour aswell, not sure whether this is age, or staining?

Reg, I spent hours deliberating whether to put this thread in cleaning and sanitising or equipment... :rolleyes: you're right, cleaning and sanitising would be a better home.

[Reg]

QUOTE (BlightyBrewer @ May 23 2006, 11:28 AM) Thanks for all of the advice guys. I was a bit concerned about its yellow colour aswell, not sure whether this is age, or staining?

Reg, I spent hours deliberating whether to put this thread in cleaning and sanitising or equipment... :rolleyes: you're right, cleaning and sanitising would be a better home.
...and as if by magic...

[mysterio]

I bought a king keg off ebay last month and it was filthy. The guy had made no attempt to clean it and there was even a couple of dead spiders in it. I soaked it overnight in powder steriliser which cleaned it, mostly (the siphon for the float is still yellow), but it still smells very musty and I'm afraid to use it.

[eskimobob]

You can buy a replacement float and tube from Hop and Grape for a reasonable price. Saves any worries about that. The rest of the keg should clean up ok.

[mysterio]

Thanks for the tip. I might give that a try but the musty smell is ingrained in the plastic I think...

Anyone know of any way to get rid of the smell?

[fizzypop boy]

could try vinegar it has good odour removing propeties.

[mysterio]

What is oxyclean? Is that not just Soda Crystals i.e. bicarb?

Anyway I decided to try a tub of bicarbonate of soda disolved in water overnight. I'll try the vinegar idea if this doesnt work. Maybe even the caustic soda, but then it might be more hassle than it's worth. Thanks for the tips, guys.