Apparently i forgot to thoroughly clean out my mash tun after my last brew session.
I went to bring it up from the basement the other day to brew again and found that its covered in moldy on the inside
If i give it a good scrubbing and some sanitizer can i still mash in this?
im worried it might do something funky to my beer, i know ill be boiling it after mashing obviously but i figured id put the question out there
I think it will be fine after a thorough cleaning.
Should be fine as long as you get all traces of the mold removed. Remember that the wort still gets boiled after mashing anyway, so it’s not really a high risk issue.
Clorox the beejabbers out of it.
That’ll learn ya to put your mashtun away dirty. 
For the record, my mashtun is clean on the surface but has been stained horriby by the number of batches I have mashed in it. If I took a green pad and scrubbed it, I’m sure it would be a little better but the fact that the wort is boiled afterwards makes it all good. Bluenotebrewery… are you married? If so I would think your wife would have found it and said Honey, there’s something REALLY stinky in the basement!
+1 on wash it out real well with some bleach. I put mine away once when it was still a little wet. My gear gets stored in the basement and there was some spots on it next time I used it. Live and learn.
put 1oz of bleach in 5 gallons of water. then add 1oz white vinegar. This lowers the ph of the bleach to make it a super sanitizer. Like StarSan, it’s even a no rinse.
See the March 29, 2007 pod cast with Charlie Tally from 5Star Chemicals for verification.
http://www.midlifebachelor.com/articles ... -work.htmlBleach it’s self may just “whiten” the mold and not kill it.
DO NOT mix the bleach and vinegar and then add the water. You will gas yourself.
[quote=“Nighthawk”]Bleach it’s self may just “whiten” the mold and not kill it.
[/quote]
Bleach, sodium hypochlorite, is VERY effective as a sanitizer. It’s one of the better choices for the standard molds from most basements. Like any sanitizer though, concentration and contact time are key.
There are two downsides though, First, while sodium hypochlorite itself is not generally considered poisonous, some of the chlorinated compounds produced as the bleach corrodes the mash tun and dead micro organisms can be poisonous. Second, it can lead to off-flavors in the beer, just like using over-chlorinated tap water.
So just don’t go overboard with the concentration, and be sure to rinse very well.
[quote=“Nighthawk”]put 1oz of bleach in 5 gallons of water. then add 1oz white vinegar. This lowers the ph of the bleach to make it a super sanitizer. Like StarSan, it’s even a no rinse.
See the March 29, 2007 pod cast with Charlie Tally from 5Star Chemicals for verification.
http://www.midlifebachelor.com/articles ... -work.htmlBleach it’s self may just “whiten” the mold and not kill it.
DO NOT mix the bleach and vinegar and then add the water. You will gas yourself.[/quote]
I don’t think he needs sanitizer.
If I were you, I’d just scrub the mold out with some light cleaner - then rinse with hot water.
Then leave your mashtun open, and upside down over night to dry out. If there’s no moisture or grain sugars, then mold won’t grow.
[quote=“S.Scoggin”]If I were you, I’d just scrub the mold out with some light cleaner - then rinse with hot water.
Then leave your mashtun open, and upside down over night to dry out. If there’s no moisture or grain sugars, then mold won’t grow.[/quote]
The problem is that scrubbing by itself won’t get rid of all traces. Most of the large, visible colonies will still be there, but ther are still plenty of spores still alive and kicking, and ready to regrow the second they can. He needs to kill it all, and bleach, sanitizer or the like will be needed. Once the mold is dead, then scrubbing it out will be needed.
Therefore, my recommendation is to use the water / bleach /vinegar routine, then dump, rinse well, and then scrub well and rinse again and again.
Finally store open for now to let fully dry out.
By the way, I hope the strainer, be it bazooka tube or manifold wasn’t in there, that would now be contaminated as well. And the same with the spigot. I would be very careful and make sure that’s sparking clean as well.
correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t a cleaner remove/kill the mold spores? I’m sure the bleach vinegar would work, no doubt. It just seems like overkill to me for a preboil step. I could be wrong here.
edited…
I’ve twice accidentally let my cooler-tun get moldy…and bleach definitely took care of the problem. It’s really all you need to use. It doesn’t even need to be a high concentration.
A thorough rinse afterwards, let it drain and air dry, and you’re good to go.
I think the issue is that you probably want to kill mold so that it does not come back if given the chance. That said, adding a sanitizer or bleach would do that. If I were to see mold growing in my shower (a different situation, I understand), I would hit it with a bleach-based cleaner because I don’t just want to “stop seeing it”, I want to “kill it”. I don’t think I have had mold in my mashtun but if I did I would either clean & sanitize or clean and add near-boiling water so it didn’t come back. Just thinking out loud.
[quote=“Ken Lenard”]
For the record, my mashtun is clean on the surface but has been stained horriby by the number of batches I have mashed in it. [/i][/quote]
Figure out how to remove those stains? I have the same issue with mine; I miss that the inside of my tun is no longer undeniably white. It used to be a nice “warm fuzzy” to know it was clean.
[quote=“Silentknyght”][quote=“Ken Lenard”]
For the record, my mashtun is clean on the surface but has been stained horriby by the number of batches I have mashed in it. [/i][/quote]
Figure out how to remove those stains? I have the same issue with mine; I miss that the inside of my tun is no longer undeniably white. It used to be a nice “warm fuzzy” to know it was clean.[/quote]
Occasionally I get a bit of grain that doesn’t want to come off with the hose or whatever so I grab a green pad and scrub a little bit and get the grain off and also some of the stain. Then I think, Hey, if I scrubbed the bejesus out of this thing with a green pad, I’d get it REALLY clean! And then I say, Nah! and move on. This is not something that would have an impact on the finished beer and this particular mashtun has been used for 10 years and I brew A LOT. I think I could get it clean but I don’t really lose sleep over it. If I wanted it clean I would put some Oxi in there and then pour a good amount of near-boiling water in it and put the lid on it for an hour or so. Then take a green pad and see how well the stains came off. Maybe a job for later but I just don’t have the drive to do it at the moment. Cheers.
[quote=“Ken Lenard”]That’ll learn ya to put your mashtun away dirty. [quote]
I always clean all my gear after AND before use. Is that anal? (doesn’t matter, I’m gonna keep doing it).
[quote=“Rookie L A”][quote=“Ken Lenard”]That’ll learn ya to put your mashtun away dirty. [quote]
I always clean all my gear after AND before use. Is that anal? (doesn’t matter, I’m gonna keep doing it).[/quote][/quote][/quote]
Cleanliness is next to beerliness.
Bleach doesnt work on porous surfaces.
Do you consider the inside of a cooler porous?
