best way to sanitize bottles

Brewing Master » Brewing Beer » best way to sanitize bottles

Categories: Brewing Beer

Question:

I rinse my bottles three times with small amounts of tap water as I empty them of beer. Put them in a cardboard box and cover with the flaps or a towel. On bottling day, I rinse my bottling bucket and fill it with iodophor solution. I then dunk my bottles into the iodophor solution, drain back into the bucket, and let the bottles sit until I’m ready to fill them. I then put the caps in a zip lock bag and fill that from the bottling bucket, shake a few times and dump the solution back into the bucket. I dunk my hose, bottling cane, and that plastic thing (that shuts off the flow between bottles) in the solution. I dunk my hand capper into the solution. Cork the sink and dump the iodophor solution into it. When I bottle, I keep a towel next to me and dump the teaspoon of iodophor solution left in the bottle onto the towel. I’ve never had a complaint, and I rarely have anything left after friends come over. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Rinse immediately after use, store dry, on bottling day: an hour+ soak in bleach water, a run through the dishwasher (no detergent and all the heat options enabled). Good luck, Dan Cole

Response:

‘lo all. I’ve been pondering the fastest-but-still-safe way to sanitize my bottles. Up to now I’ve been soaking and scrubbing with a bottle brush. It’s by far more work than any other aspect of my batch and certainly the least enjoyable. I was wondering what the experts (and everybody else) generally use (short of kegs) to lessen the brunt of the task. I’ve thought about using the dishwasher, but one look at the leavings in the bottles made me wonder if that would do the trick. I’ve had a pretty good track record with sanitation so far, and would like to keep my streak unbroken. Thanks for any ideas you can give me. Mat Krohn

I rinse each bottle 3X after emptying. The two 10 gallon Gott coolers I use for all grain comfortably holds the two cases of bottles. I use 1/4 cup of bleach per 5 gallons of water to clean and sanitize. I soak the bottles in the Cl solution for 20-30 minutes, then I rinse the bottles with hot water. Bottle. — Robin – The Poconos —-Robin’s Wood Page – http://powlus.hypermart.net/wood.htm —-Robin’s BBQ Books Page – http://powlus.hypermart.net/bbqbooks.htm

Response:

One poured, the bottle gets about 1cm of water from the tap, and a quick shake. I dump the crud out and repeat, then it sits on the counter. Once I have 6, they go in a small (2 gal) bucket with a snap lid, filled with bleach solution. I wait ’til I have six (660mls, or 12 330s) because that’s what the bucket holds. The clean ones go down the basement and sit in cases until the next bottling day. On bottling day or the night before, all bottles get soaked in a bleach solution again(remember: cold water) then rinsed in hot. I use a small rubber hose that slips over the tap and do it right in the kitchen sink. If I had laundry tubs, I’d do it there. I end up using about 3 gallons to clean enough bottles for 5 gallons. The dishwasher makes them too damned hot. Oh, and the rubber hose thingy is a $1 "shampoo hose" with the styrene shower-head end discarded. Before you buy.

Response:

I keep it simple as well. I keep a spray bottle of bleach solution by the sink where I usually pour my beer. After filling I give a 1 quick rinse, a couple of quick sprays in the bottle another quick rinse and leave em. The night before I bottle I run them through the diswasher and let them sit over night (typical no soap heat cycle, don’t open the door until your ready etc…) The main reason for this is that I bottle by putting the bucket on top of the dishwasher and bottle on the door. Clean up is done by closing the door. as a bonus I put my racking canes/tubes/fillers in the wash too. * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!

Response:

I guess I’m the first to mention the oven… I rinse as soon as I can after use, then the day or evening before bottling I rinse again as I stack them all in the oven. I turn the oven on to 200 for 20 min, 250 for 15 min, then to 300 to 350 for another 1.5 ~ 2 hours. Turn the oven off and let them cool naturally with the door closed. Next day they are ready to go. No soaking, no sanitizer… they are clean and sterilized.

When the bottle are really caked with crud on the inside I fill my brewpot (or a plastic trash can) with caustic (lye, NaOH) and let the bottles sit in that overnight. In the morning I clean them out with HOT water from my jet washer. It also does a great job removing even the most stubborn labels. After air drying I put an aluminum foil cap over the neck and place them in a 250F oven for 1 hour. After cooling in the oven they are placed back in their case boxes for storage. As long as the foil caps remain intact, they DO NOT have to be re-sanitized before filling. — Michael Bennett Heart of the Valley Homebrewers Professional Brewer for Hire Recognized BJCP Beer Judge

Response:

another point to remember is after a few years your bottles may get a thin allmost invisable layer of beerstone in them . i also just rinse immediatly then dishwasher sanitize, i started getting a situation of excessive foaming after a month or so in bottles that i finally tracked down to this. it was leaving areas for tiny amts of bacteria to hide in. agfter a good scrubing with pbw and a bottle brush i’m back to the usual routine with no further infections

Response:

A dozen different people will give a dozen different answers, so I might as well chime in. For cleaning, I rinse immediately after emptying. (I tried rinsing before emptying but the results were less than satisfactory). At wash time, I simply submerge them in a prepared solution of hot water and PBW and let them soak for awhile. Yes, I know that’s not very scientific. Then into a clean water rinse and a final spritzing from a jet washer. I haven’t used a brush in years. Even caked on Krausen in my carboys comes off without scrubbing with this stuff. Let them dry, then store until ready to use. Sanitizing is done at bottling time by soaking in Star San for a couple of minutes and draining. No rinsing, no air drying. Great stuff. Brian

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – ‘lo all. I’ve been pondering the fastest-but-still-safe way to sanitize my bottles. Up to now I’ve been soaking and scrubbing with a bottle brush.

Response:

‘lo all.

Greetings. I’ve been pondering the fastest-but-still-safe way to sanitize my bottles.

Bleach was what I used to use. I’d use no-rinse stuff these days were I not already kegging (for which I already use no-rinse stuff). Up to now I’ve been soaking and scrubbing with a bottle brush. It’s by far more work than any other aspect of my batch and certainly the least enjoyable. I was wondering what the experts (and everybody else) generally use

Well, the experts should tell you that you’re talking about two different things: cleaning vs. sanitizing. For cleaning, the old elbow grease method that you use is the only way to go unless you rinse out the sediment while it’s still "fresh". (short of kegs) to lessen the brunt of the task. I’ve thought about using the dishwasher, but one look at the leavings in the bottles made me wonder if that would do the trick. [...]

Actually, dishwasher sanitation is a well-known trick (for bottles that have already been cleaned). The main caveat here is that you’ve got to make sure that your dishwasher doesn’t have any sort of antispotting chemicals in it at the time. HTH, — Toby http://strangebrew.home.mindspring.com "To me it suffices to wonder at these secrets and to attempt humbly to grasp with my mind a mere image of the lofty structure of all that there is." – Albert Einstein

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – ‘lo all. I’ve been pondering the fastest-but-still-safe way to sanitize my bottles. Up to now I’ve been soaking and scrubbing with a bottle brush. It’s by far more work than any other aspect of my batch and certainly the least enjoyable. I was wondering what the experts (and everybody else) generally use (short of kegs) to lessen the brunt of the task. I’ve thought about using the dishwasher, but one look at the leavings in the bottles made me wonder if that would do the trick. I’ve had a pretty good track record with sanitation so far, and would like to keep my streak unbroken. Thanks for any ideas you can give me. Mat Krohn

I rinse them right after use to get the yeast & crud out of the bottom, then I run them through the dishwasher once with detergent, and again without detergent as more of a rinse. I use the "pot scrub" option and all the heat I can get. Haven’t had any infected bottles yet! Mark Before you buy.

Response:

Mat, This way involves extra equipment aquisition, but if you’ve got the extra money it might be something to consider. It involves almost no work, no scrubbing, and no headaches. First, buy a Jet Bottle Washer (ca. $8), a bottle tree with one of the sanitizer pumps on top (ca. $24), and a no-rinse sanitizer. After you drink a beer, put the bottle on the kitchen counter. Don’t rinse it, just put it there and walk away. Drink about 11 more beers and simply place the bottles on the counter. When you’ve got a collection of 12 or more bottles, put the Jet Bottle Washer on your kitchen faucet and blast all that crud right out of there. Works perfectly and saves water. Store the bottles on the tree to dry. On bottling day of your next batch, simply fill the sanitizer pump thingy with about 1/4 gal. of sanitizer and an hour before bottling take each bottle of the tree, pump some sanitizer into it, and replace it on the tree to drip dry. When bottling time comes, simply grab a bottle off the tree, fill it, and cap it. That’s it. I started out hand-washing all my bottles (no Jet), storing them wet (no tree), and baking the bottles to sanitize (no pump thingy). But like you, I found myself spending more time dealing with bottles than enjoying my beer. This extra equipment has really made dealing with bottles a pleasure, and IMO it’s the most convenient method. Glenn — Delete "krausen" from email address to reply.

Response:

I was wondering what the experts (and everybody else) generally use (short of kegs) to lessen the brunt of the task.

I rinse thoroughly with hot tap-water after pouring, then just run them through the dishwasher (no detergent, heat-cycle on) when I start a bottling session. They’re clean and cool when it’s time to start bottling.

Response:

Rinse immediately after use, store dry, on bottling day: an hour+ soak in bleach water, a run through the dishwasher (no detergent and all the heat options enabled). Good luck, Dan Cole

Response:

I use the 16 oz swingtop. I put them in the dishwasher after being emptied and then again the day I bottle. This seems to work well and saves on scrubbing them individually.

Response:

The simple way is to rinse the empty bottles after you pour the beer. Keeps the crud formation to a minimum. Then go to Kmart and buy a new plastic garbage can.( I suppose if you want the added flavor you could use an old one <grin). Fill with water and bleach, add your bottles, soak a while, rinse and go. I drilled a piece of plywood with 60 1.5" holes so that I could put the rinsed bottles neck down to drain and dry. Worked fine. When the time comes, try kegging. I wouldn’t think of bottling a whole batch anymore. I sometimes brew 6 gallon batches so that I can keg 5 gals and bottle 1 gal (to save, give to freinds, etc). SB Red Barn Brewing http://home1.gte.net/sbelt – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – ‘lo all. I’ve been pondering the fastest-but-still-safe way to sanitize my bottles. Up to now I’ve been soaking and scrubbing with a bottle brush. It’s by far more work than any other aspect of my batch and certainly the least enjoyable. I was wondering what the experts (and everybody else) generally use (short of kegs) to lessen the brunt of the task. I’ve thought about using the dishwasher, but one look at the leavings in the bottles made me wonder if that would do the trick. I’ve had a pretty good track record with sanitation so far, and would like to keep my streak unbroken. Thanks for any ideas you can give me. Mat Krohn

Brewing Master