Mold in varboy

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TikiWine

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I found a couple mold spots at the bottom of my carboy when I went to clean it. Is it ruined or can I rense with bleach?
 
I found a couple mold spots at the bottom of my carboy when I went to clean it. Is it ruined or can I rense with bleach?

I (and most folks in winemaking) do not use bleach on anything that will come in contact with wine or winemaking equipment. Bleach is known to play a part in TCA infection, AKA: cork taint, which will ruin wine completely.

Instead, use some cleaner meant for winemaking, or even some dishwashing detergent, just as long as it doesn't contain bleach. Clean the carboy out well with a carboy brush / drill attached carboy cleaner, rinse well with clean, clear water, and sanitize it. I store my carboys with about 1/2 cup of sulfite solution and a solid / vented bung to keep the vapors in. It'll be ready to go when you need it next time.
 
DO NOT use bleach.

Glass carboy? Use a carboy brush to remove the spots. While some warn against it, I use scent-free Oxiclean, splash it around the inside of the carboy and let it set for an hour, agitating it every 10 minutes. Then use the brush again to ensure all spots are gone. Then rinse with K-meta.

When storing carboys, I turn them upside down in the sink to drain. When dry, I insert a stopper to keep "stuff" out. I visually inspect before use and rinse with K-meta.
 
While some warn against it, I use scent-free Oxiclean, splash it around the inside of the carboy and let it set for an hour, agitating it every 10 minutes. Then use the brush again to ensure all spots are gone. Then rinse with K-meta.

I'd suggest rinsing with a tartaric (or citric) acid solution instead of K-meta: it will neutralize any high pH residue from the oxiclean (sodium percarbonate) cleaning solution
 
Mold: that white or blue or gray mycelia mat is an aerobic organism, that means you could find it in the damp residue on the bottom of the carboy. On a full carboy you could find it at the air/ wine interface. The oxygen requirement keeps it from growing while the wine is out gassing and while properly topped off.

In the scheme of things all grapes will have some mold spores on them which means all must will have some spores in it. Wine is a preservative system, a synergy between pH, alcohol, anaerobic environment and additives common in the last two centuries as meta.

Mechanically removing it with cold water should be enough to prevent an issue when the carboy is next used. We have neat chemicals as soap and meta and Oxiclean and even bleach that add additional protection, go ahead if you feel a need to sanitize,,, but won’t remove mold spores from the grapes in the field, the preservative traits of wine keep mold from being expressed. If you use natural cork bleach can be an issue and in lots of 100,000 guaranteed a few will be found. If you use synthetic corks the bleach issue doesn’t occur.
 

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