# OK I really screwed up... **URL:** \ **Category:** Systems, Gear, & DIY\ **Created:** [March 22, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/ok-i-really-screwed-up/9810 "2012-03-22T02:21:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tonyp](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brewersassociation/user_avatar/forum.homebrewersassociation.org/tonyp/32/12198_2.png) [@tonyp](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/u/tonyp)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/ok-i-really-screwed-up/9810/41 "2012-03-30T22:52:08Z")
> [@gmac](#): > > Anyone wanna pitch in a buck to buy Tonyp a new cooler?  I’d have thrown in the towel about 30 secs after I opened it. ahahaha! I was so mad at myself for screwing up that i didn’t want to give up until i knew i was beat! ---
**Author:** ![jody](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brewersassociation/user_avatar/forum.homebrewersassociation.org/jody/32/7254_2.png) [@jody](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/u/jody)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/ok-i-really-screwed-up/9810/42 "2012-04-21T17:04:57Z")
> [@tonyp](#): > > So in a colossal bout stupidity I left spent grain in my mash tun (coleman cooler) over the winter when i thought i cleaned it out. Opening it for the first time was the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed in my entire 42 years on this planet. The smell of death and decay and the sight of bugs and maggots was overwhelming to every one of my senses. I just can’t describe it in words. > > I cleaned it out and scrubbed it over and over and over again inbetween puking, then i scrubbed it some more with oxyclean, then soap, then again with oxyclean, then sanitized it with star-san and did the whole thing over again atleast 5 times over the course of a few days but the smell of death remains. > > Is this a hopeless cause? Will anything get rid of that smell? I don’t want any grain or wort to come close to touching this thing if I can’t even get rid of the smell. I know i can boil the stainless steel parts (weldless valve, bulkhead and bazooka screen) but i can’t seem to get rid of that smell in the cooler. It goes away after cleaning it then returns overnight. > > Think i should just cut my losses, toss it and spend the $40 on a new cooler or do you think its salvagable somehow? > > I feel like such a friggin idiot!@!#$ Spend the money which you have wasted in time and Buy a new Cooler [Igloo 100 qt. Quick & Cool Hardsided Chest Cooler, White - Walmart.com](http://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-Quick-and-Cool-Cooler-White-100-Quart-Cooler/14550421?findingMethod=rr)  they are cheap ---
**Author:** ![veldy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brewersassociation/user_avatar/forum.homebrewersassociation.org/veldy/32/326_2.png) [@veldy](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/u/veldy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/ok-i-really-screwed-up/9810/43 "2012-04-22T02:00:44Z")
I think your cleaning will be just fine (I probably would have purchased a new cooler 😉 ).  After heating water and crushing grains, I grabbed my coolers and was just about to mash and I find two dead mice in the bottom of the mash tun; puddles of liquid around them.  It took lots of boiling water, bleach and wretching to clear the smell, always with a lingering aroma after hot water hit the cooler.  Perhaps the mind plays some tricks on you though.  I did brew my house pale ale that day and it turned out to be one of my best.  Forever called, “Dead Mouse Ale”. Don’t sweat it 🙂 Veldy ---
**Author:** ![tonyp](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brewersassociation/user_avatar/forum.homebrewersassociation.org/tonyp/32/12198_2.png) [@tonyp](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/u/tonyp)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/ok-i-really-screwed-up/9810/44 "2012-04-22T02:44:41Z")
Just brewed with the cooler last week and it was perfectly fine, no lingering smell at all, guess i fixed it! ---
**Author:** ![dannyjed](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brewersassociation/user_avatar/forum.homebrewersassociation.org/dannyjed/32/1883_2.png) [@dannyjed](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/u/dannyjed)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/ok-i-really-screwed-up/9810/45 "2012-04-22T14:39:34Z")
I’m impressed with your perserverance! [Previous page](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/ok-i-really-screwed-up/9810.md?page=2)