Mold in bucket

[OKBrew]

I have been keeping and re-using 5 gallon batches of Star-San. I mix a new solution up about every 4-5 uses. Tonight I cracked open the Star-San bucket so I could clean some stuff to bottle my Java Stout and the fricken lid was riddled with blotches of mold spores.

1) I left a rag in the water
2) I did not submerse the lid in the Star-San before I put it on the bucket.

I figured anything inside that bucket would be sanitary. Why the mold? I'm guessing number 2?

BTW - Java Stout....GOOOOOOOOOOOOD

[Mill Rat]

IIRC, Star-San is only good if the pH stays below 3. The rags may have both buffered it below that acidity and give a you both the critters and the stuff they want to feed on. Even though I normally do not advocate getting bleach near anything you want to drink, that stuff may be you best option to exorcise that crap from your bucket. Or you could get a new bucket and use the old one as a garbage can.

[OKBrew]

So just wiping it off with a new batch of Star-San won't kill it eh?

[Mill Rat]

If this were glass, stainless, or enamelware, I'd say a good wipe and some Star-San would do ya, but plastic is quite porous, and if there was enough for a visible colony, it's probably sent some tendrils back into the plastic. Weighing the cost of new bucket and lid against the cost of one (or more) lost batches of homebrew, I don't think there's too much room for debate. Again I'd at least bleach the hell out of it overnight. Take the lid and jam it vertically down into the bucket rather than setting it on top. Or buy a new bucket.

[Vienna Lager]

The quick and cheap way to get rid of mold is a bleach-water solution. The cleaning (ServMaster, Servpro etc.) industry puts some coloring in and changes the scent a little bit and voila you have their snazzed up version of a 'Cleaning Compound' that they charge an exorbitant amount of $ for.

[OKBrew]

I'm thinkin I might just start doing all my brewing with carboys.

Ya'll got me paranoid about them buckets now, LOL.

[dparsons]

The lid is a possibility. Water evaporation would provide a nice humid environment for mold growth.