Just cleaned Fermentation bucket, or so I think.

[formula2fast]

So tonight I racked my 3rd batch to the secondary carboy, and cleaned out the bucket with PBW (let it soak for an hour and gave it a good sponging) and even after cleaning it, I can still smell a bit of beer in it. Is this normal for a plastic bucket? Do I need to clean it more? will it affect the next beer I do in the bucket?

All my previous beers have been in a primary carboy, but I do like to have more than one going at a time, so I will use this bucket again, unless I can come across another carboy cheap.

 

[kbuzz]

dude, all my buckets smell...yeah...PBW cleans most of the grime, but I get a pretty potent hop aroma from all my buckets..get used to it.

 

[formula2fast]

Ok, as long as it is normal or won't hurt future beers, I am cool with it. It does smell great

 

[Stauffbier]

I soak my buckets in a strong solution of PBW for about a week, and they still smell like beer afterward. It's all good. Just put some starsan solution in it for a few hours on brew day, and it will be fine!

 

[JimTheHick]

Ok, as long as it is normal or won't hurt future beers, I am cool with it. It does smell great

Plastic just retains the smell- its normal and in no way means you didn't clean it well enough. The lovely scent of beer and hops penetrates deep into the plastic material allowing for weeks of odiferous enjoyment!

 

[BW210]

I brewed root beer for the kids and my bottling bucket smell like root beer from 10 feet away. I haven't noticed any off flavors in my beer after using.

 

[unionrdr]

I too soak my plastic FV's in PBW about a week. But now I hit'em with the spray wand my wife got me from Midwest for Christmas. It's good at hosing out most of the gunky stuff. Also,remove the spigot & soak in a mug of PBW while cleaning the mounting hole area. All said & done,they smell way cleaner. But the starsan before next use does seem to make them smell even cleaner yet.