Flavour left over in FV

[ilikemysocks]

Hi guys,
I've been away from brewing for while mostly out of laziness. But stock is running low and the wife has gone to bed so I've decided to have a crack at a bitter kit I've been meaning to do for a couple of weeks.
My penultimate brew was a rather strong ginger beer (7.5%) thst wasn't particularly pleasant at all. After that I brewed a mild kit. When this was done and ready to drink I noticed that the ginger flavour was present in the beer... I figured I hadn't cleaned the FV very well and carried on.
I've just started to get my kit cleaned up for this brew and that ginger smell is rising over the sanitiser. I'm afraid the taste might leach into beer again.
Any ideas about drawing flavour out of plastic FV's? I had thought about getting a load of bicarb or something in there and shaking it all about.

 

[Halfacrem]

I think you'll need to buy a new FV. I doubt you'll get rid of it unless you really have a go with something astringent, and that will just cause more problems with scratching the plastic and making it impossible to clean properly.

 

[GHW]

Thin unperfumed bleach is a good bet, I reckon. Perhaps oxy what not but I've never used that. I inherited a pressure barrel off my dad that hadn't been opened for about 15 years. It didn't smell good. A couple of soaks in diluted bleach and it was a lot better, and I used it with no ill effects on the beer. Not beyond those my brewing skills imparted anyway. Obviously your fv will need a good rinse but should clear most of the smell.

Failing that just get a new one, they're pretty cheap.

 

[ilikemysocks]

Thanks guys. I wasn't expecting such a fast reply so I went ahead and made the kit I had. I've had it a few months so it needed using anyway.
I'll see how this ends up and make a decision after. It's a pain as I made 80 pints of the ginger beer at the same time so I used 2 FVs. The ginger and everything was so cheap and someone had posted a recipe on here I wanted to try.
I might have a go bleaching the other one before trying the next kit although I wouldn't mind something milder if anyone has any suggestions?

 

[MyQul]

I agree with halfacrem. Plastic absorbs flavours, smells, and colours so I'd be buying a new FV

 

[ilikemysocks]

I agree with halfacrem. Plastic absorbs flavours, smells, and colours so I'd be buying a new FV

So why the prevalence in plastic FVs? Apart from being cheap to make, fairly robust and lightweight (answering my own question). You wouldn't think they would be so easy to ruin!

For future reference, has anyone else come across beer types that have a tendency to leave flavour in the FV?

 

[Halfacrem]

So why the prevalence in plastic FVs? Apart from being cheap to make, fairly robust and lightweight (answering my own question). You wouldn't think they would be so easy to ruin!

For future reference, has anyone else come across beer types that have a tendency to leave flavour in the FV?

The reasons are pretty much as you say. You can go down the glass carboy route, but they are heavy and unforgiving to hard surfaces and many, including myself, would go down the shiny shiny stainless steel fermenter route if funds allowed :whistle:

Hopefully you'll be fine with the beer you put in the fv last night. If not, the good thing about old FV's is that they can be used for storage or other things.

I would imagine anything with a strong flavour could potentially taint a plastic fermenter, but most 'normal' malt and hop beers will be fine.

Certainly anything using a wild yeast strain, such as a Belgian Lambic, should have it's own dedicated fv as wild yeasts could populate your other brews.

 

[MyQul]

So why the prevalence in plastic FVs? Apart from being cheap to make, fairly robust and lightweight (answering my own question). You wouldn't think they would be so easy to ruin!

For future reference, has anyone else come across beer types that have a tendency to leave flavour in the FV?

Like you say, you've answered your own Q. Halfacrem says it all really, and like halfacrem would like to, I will be going down the shiny SS FV route once malt miller gets them back in stock (couldn't afford to when MM had them on pre order in jan but hopefully I should be able to the next time)

 

[Halfacrem]

Like you say, you've answered your own Q. Halfacrem says it all really, and like halfacrem would like to, I will be going down the shiny SS FV route once malt miller gets them back in stock (couldn't afford to when MM had them on pre order in jan but hopefully I should be able to the next time)

Which one are you going for? I called Malt Miller the other day and I think the lady I spoke with mentioned a delivery from SS early next month.

 

[MyQul]

Which one are you going for? I called Malt Miller the other day and I think the lady I spoke with mentioned a delivery from SS early next month.

Oh good oh! I was going to email them to see when the next pre order was coming in. I'm going for the brew master bucket (think that's what its called). The one with the thermowell.

 

[bochgoch]

Oh good oh! I was going to email them to see when the next pre order was coming in. I'm going for the brew master bucket (think that's what its called). The one with the thermowell.

Definitely go for the brew master bucket with the thermowell rather than the simple brew bucket, it's worth the extra £20 for the well and the thermometer.

 

[MyQul]

Definitely go for the brew master bucket with the thermowell rather than the simple brew bucket, it's worth the extra ��£20 for the well and the thermometer.

As a no chiller the brewmaster bucket will be doubly useful for me as I can use the thermowell/temp probe to check on the wort temp to see if it's got down to pitching temp.
The bucket itself will be used as a no chill cube. Using a new plastic FV risks leaching chemicals into the beer which wont happen with SS (although I may be worrying too much as I'm sure this isn't supposed to happen with HDPE plastic). I've been using my old coopers FV as I'm concerned this might happen if I buy a new FV to dedicate as a cube. You should see the colour of it though, it looks as though is spends part of it's time being a witches cauldron :lol:


(Also it's shiny )

 

[Godsdog]

When I purchased my new plastic conicle the first 4 brews had a definite plastic taste about them so I let it soak in oxyclean for a few days then a weak bleach solution for a few days,the off taste has now gone but which one cured it I know not

 

[MyQul]

When I purchased my new plastic conicle the first 4 brews had a definite plastic taste about them so I let it soak in oxyclean for a few days then a weak bleach solution for a few days,the off taste has now gone but which one cured it I know not

I bought a couple of youngs FV's in one of the tescum sales a few months back and used one as my no chill cube for a ESB. I had to chuck the whole brew as it had a chemical taste which I can't think where it might have come from other than the new FV. This is why Im still using my relatively ancient coopers FV as a no chill cube until I get my mitts on a brewmaster bucket

 

[ilikemysocks]

I'm going to see how this once turns out. The othe FV though, I'm going to try and clean up with a weak bleach solution.
I asked a friend who works as a microbiologist about it as I figured he'd be used to cleaning this kind of kit and he'd know if the bleach would hurt me (I grew up with scary labels on bleach!). Anyway he was more worried about yeast health than mine.! He advised leaving to soak a day in the bleach solution then rinsing, and leaving fresh water in the FV for a day to allow any bleach in the plastic to leach back out. This apparently would minimise the risk of killing the yeast
I'll let you know how I get on... I'm not sure the wife will approve any other expenses for brewing atm. I'm lucky enough to have the kit I do!

 

[ilikemysocks]

After cleaning the second fv there was no obvious ginger smell so I figure that's a good sign. I've got an IPA in there now so itll be a while before I can see if that ginger flavour makes it through.