• Welcome to the new forum! We upgraded our forum software with a host of new boards, capabilities and features. It is also more secure.
    Jump in and join the conversation! You can learn more about the upgrade and new features here.

bottle cleanning

all grain

Grandmaster Brewer
Joined
Nov 8, 2013
Messages
207
Reaction score
0
Location
mn
for those of you that bottle and reuse your bottles what regiment do you use to insure the bottles are sanitary? thanks. 
 
I wash them out with dish soap and water, then rinse really well.  I use a bottle brush.  I then only rinse out and then use my bottle pump thingy ( have no idea what it's actually called) to squirt starsan solution up into them before I bottle.  It's a little cup like device with a nozzle on it.  You fill it with starsan solution, invert the bottle onto the nozzle and pump it up and down 4 or 5 times.  I then put it into my Fast Rack to drain.  I do the rinsing and starsan treatment while the beer is racking into my bottling bucket.
 
ya that's what I do but most of the time I soak the bottles in bleach water for 24 hrs then rinse with tap water, then star san and dry on tree. when I fill b bucket I will run some star san though the bottles one last time , then bottle right away. I also use bottle brush on a drill to do the first cleaning before the bleach.
  the reason I'm asking is that some of my beer from the same batch will give me gas one day but not the next. there seams to be no telling when it hits. my diet seams to not be the cause so I was thinking maybe its in the bottles?? Now I know I'm leaving myself open for some flack here but oh well.   
 
I used to use bleach.  Everybody that I trust said get away from the bleach, because it isn't necessary and it can leave stuff in the bottle.  It doesn't rinse off as easily as you'd think.  You might be drinking a little touch of bleach.
 
awww I just bottled 3 cases... Thank scott I would of never expected the bleach. I guess I will go shopping for a new bottle brush or maybe a corny.
 
I've done it two ways.
Process 1.  When I have a lot of empties, more than for one batch, I'll mix a little Oxiclean Free and hot water in the sink and soak for a little while.
    I've never needed a bottle brush as I make sure I rinse bottles as soon as they are empty.
    I cover and with the bottle half full, shake well , empty then rinse and suspend on the prongs in the dishwasher rack until dry, then cover with a small square of tin foil and store in beer cases for brew day.

Process 2.  Rinse all bottles well as soon as empty, drain upside down and store in six packs until needed.  Bottles returned by friends are checked and washed first if necessary.

Regardless Process 1 or 2, on brew day fill half full with water, shake well, empty and place bottles on counter.  Using a funnel put a little Starsan into each bottle, cover top with palm and turn bottle to cover all inside surfaces.  I make a second pass through bottles to insure I didn't miss a spot then empty starsan back into dispensing jug, dip bottle neck into bowl with a little starsan to sanitize the lip and place on bottling rack to dry. 

All bottles are then ready for bottling from my bottling bucket.  Hope this wasn't too verbose.  I have been doing it this way, on the cheap, for almost two years and have not had one bottle infection yet.

   
 
I use a jet bottle washer that has been very effective in blasting all the gunk out. Then hang upside down in a fast rack system. On bottling day I use a vintinator that Scott described. Shoots star San into the bottle, then hang on the bottling tree.
 
Scott Ickes said:
......  I do the rinsing and starsan treatment while the beer is racking into my bottling bucket.

Scott, may be a noob question, but how exactly do you do other stuff while your beer is racking? I need to be very careful and hold the auto syphon to prevent dropping too far into the trub. Maybe there's some trick I'm missing. I do have a clip but it I don't trust it as it sometimes slips.
 
I've got one of the jet bottle things, but I only consider it effective for rinsing. Nothing beats good ol' abrasive action to actually clean a bottle. Fortunately, this can be made easier by taking a standard cheapo bottle brush, cutting the ring "handle" off of it, slipping a piece of vinyl tubing over the wire handle, and powering it with a drill. After a little soak in PBW, I'll hit the bottles with the drill brush to loosen up any debris, and then rinse them with the jet rinser.

Overkill? Have a close look at a dry, "clean" bottle. Most of the time, you'll see hundreds/thousands of little specks peppering the glass inside. Then, hit it with the drill brush; that'll take care of them. I've never had a single bottle gusher following this cleaning practice—I've lost a whole batch once or twice, but that was due to an infection farther up the line. I don't do this cleaning process every time; mostly with newly-claimed bottles or any that have been sitting empty for a long time.

When it comes to bottling time, I just dunk and swirl the bottles in StarSan and place on a bottle tree I spritzed with StarSan. SS is supposed to be one minute contact, but I figure that the liquid coating the inside is more than sufficient to sanitize the interior of the bottle. I had one of those pump things but it finally broke and I never replaced it; bucket dunking serves the same purpose. Again, not a single bad bottle by doing this.

Bleach is a safe and effective sanitizer, when used in the proper concentrations and methods. The problem is that most people don't do that, even when it will come in contact with food surfaces. With the ready availability of sanitizing chemicals to the general consumer, like StarSan, I don't think there is much reason to use bleach. It's not bad to use bleach, but it's not bullet- and/or foolproof. Get a foodgrade sanitizer, mix and store it correctly, and you'll never go back to bleach.
 
Baron Von MunchKrausen said:
Scott, may be a noob question, but how exactly do you do other stuff while your beer is racking? I need to be very careful and hold the auto syphon to prevent dropping too far into the trub. Maybe there's some trick I'm missing. I do have a clip but it I don't trust it as it sometimes slips.

My autosiphon has a bottom that keeps the opening up about 1 inch from the bottom.  I do get a little yeast off the bottom, but it isn't much and maybe that little bit extra will help the yeast be slightly less stressed during conditioning.  The first little bit is cloudy going into my bottling bucket, but it doesn't bother me at all. 

In addition, I've learned to be very patient and usually don't crack the first bottle open until it's been conditioning for about a month.  Anything I siphoned off the bottom ends up settling to the bottom of the bottle anyhow.  I always leave the last 1/4" of beer in the bottle, instead of pouring it into my glass, therefore it isn't a problem.
 
Thanks.
I'll go shopping today for an auto syphon with a bigger bottom end. Sounds MUCH easier.
 
Back
Top