Mold????

So I have a 2 gallon bucket that I use to ferment my 1 gal batches in and I used it to mix up a batch of easy clean a few months ago. I just got back around to using it and realized I left it in there by accident. When I opened the lid there was what looked like mold floating and sticking to the bottom. It was black and a little bit of white around it. I didn't think to take a picture of it. I washed it with dish soap and scrubbed it good then mixed up a strong dose of kmeta and left it in there to take care of any nasties that might still be left behind. Would you guys/gals still use this bucket or would you write it off as lesson learned. Or clean it/ soak it with something else?

If it's plastic or stainless steel, I would still use and not worry about it a single bit after giving it a good scrub/clean with hot water, easy clean, and K-meta. On the other hand, if it happened to an oak barrel, then I would have doubts, because bacteria and mold can nest itself in those tiny wood pores and such, making it virtually impossible to eradicate completely.

Yeah it's in my small plastic primary bucket. I figured. After the kmeta I might scrub again with some oxy clean then just let a batch fly!

If there are any scratches in the pail, I would get a new one. Bacteria can hide in the scratches.

In order to avoid scratches, I only wipe my pail with paper towels, and a dissolved non-abrasive cleaning agent, like PBW (powerdered brewery wash)

I would still use it.


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I ended up using it. I started by scrubbing it really good with dish liquid, rinsed really good in hot water, mixed up a heavy dose of kmeta and let it sit over night. Then I scrubbed it again with dish liquid. After that I rinsed sanitized and started a batch. All was good and I'm going to rack to the secondary here shortly. I was a little skeptical at first but it was a cheap batch so I wouldn't have been out much.

How much does a 2 gallon bucket cost? If you have access to a new bucket, I would toss the old one away. This is more for confidence rather than to say that the old bucket is unuseable.