Sanitation question

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Question:

Please tell me that you are using a jet bottle rinser to do this!! Is this sufficient to sanitize the bottles? I do not think that this sanitizes them. They soud really clean, though!!! Is it necessary (as I have done in the past) to also rinse the bottles with iodophor solution?

I’d keep doing just that. Also- If you rinse the bottles just after you empty them, they are much easier to keep clean. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Peter G. Aitken

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Problem with detergents is rinsing them off. Takes a lot of water. Mild bleach solution will kill most anything and remove even the worst crud.

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Before bottling, I mix up a solution of dishwasher (machine) detergent and hot water and soak my bottles for a while. Then I brush the inside thorughly and rinse 4-5 times with hot tap water, and let them drain top-down. Is this sufficient to sanitize the bottles? Is it necessary (as I have done in the past) to also rinse the bottles with iodophor solution?

Most detergents won’t kill bacteria; they’re just wetting agents to help the washing process (which you don’t need anyway if the bottles are visibly clean). I would just make sure the bottles are clean, then use a chlorine or iodophor solution followed by a single rinse and drain. — Andy McKellar Dallas, TX NOTE: Lately SWBell has been losing posts in its newsgroups. If you are replying to one of my posts and really want me to see it, please copy me at my e-mail address.

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As for dishwashers – yes, the detergent can kill the head on your beer quite quickly. However, it’s the rinsing agent that can really wipe it out. Jet Dry (and others like it) are used to make the water run off the dishes and eliminate spots when they dry. It will just as quickly eliminate any chance of your beer forming or retaining a head. Cheers! Kevin Sinn, Brewing in the Canadian Banana Belt

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – hi Peter, Before bottling, I mix up a solution of dishwasher (machine) detergent and hot water and soak my bottles for a while. Then I brush the inside thorughly and rinse 4-5 times with hot tap water, and let them drain top-down. Is this sufficient to sanitize the bottles? Is it necessary (as I have done in the past) to also rinse the bottles with iodophor solution? i have to say using dishwasher detg is probably not a good idea. most automatic washer detgs contain surfactants that will adversely affect, if not eliminate, the head on your beer. if your bottles are already clean (free of yeast bits), all you need to do is spray the inside with an iodophor solution and let it evaporate. although i only bottle irregularly, i always rinse them right after pouring into a glass to avoid any yeast sticking to the bottom of the bottle. this really makes life easier in the long run. slainte, -p — "There is only one aim in life and that is to live it." Karl Shapiro,(1959) from an essay on Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer http://finerty.net/pjf

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hi Peter, Before bottling, I mix up a solution of dishwasher (machine) detergent and hot water and soak my bottles for a while. Then I brush the inside thorughly and rinse 4-5 times with hot tap water, and let them drain top-down. Is this sufficient to sanitize the bottles? Is it necessary (as I have done in the past) to also rinse the bottles with iodophor solution?

i have to say using dishwasher detg is probably not a good idea. most automatic washer detgs contain surfactants that will adversely affect, if not eliminate, the head on your beer. if your bottles are already clean (free of yeast bits), all you need to do is spray the inside with an iodophor solution and let it evaporate. although i only bottle irregularly, i always rinse them right after pouring into a glass to avoid any yeast sticking to the bottom of the bottle. this really makes life easier in the long run. slainte, -p — "There is only one aim in life and that is to live it." Karl Shapiro,(1959) from an essay on Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer http://finerty.net/pjf

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I rinse the bottles with tap water after using them and store them up side down. When I what to use them, I rinse them again with tap water and let them drip dry (if I have the patience). Never had a single infected bottle. Sometimes when I brew something that I really don’t want to risk loosing to an infection, or if I make a weak beer of some sort, I put them in the oven at about 100 (celsius) degrees for an hour. /peter

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What are you doing to your bottles that they have to be cleaned with caustic detergent? I rinse the bottle when it’s emptied, and when I have six or seven, they go into the 2.5 Gal bucket of bleach solution for at least overnight (and the one that were already in the bucket get drained and go downstairs.) On bottling day, sufficient bottles (32×660ml) are brough up, given 20 minutes each in a new bleach solution, then rinsed in hot water. I find I can do the rinse with about 1L of water for every 6-7 bottles, funnelling it from one to the other, before it gets too cool. Then they go, inverted, into plastic cases to drain and await the beer. No brushing required. [If a bottle stays at a friend's house until it's got a ring or mould, it gets 15ml of straight bleach overnight.]

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My method is to drink the beer in a bottle, then fill it with boiling water, let soak and pour out. Then I cache it in the closet. Over months I can maintain a supply of what I need and even select bottles by beer type, e.g., belgian for belgian, standard for american or british beer, small bottles for strong beers. When it is time for bottling, I rinse each bottle briefly, cover lip with foil, and place in oven at 300-350F for an hour or three. Let cool overnight or so, then remove foil wrappers when bottling. Easiest method I’ve come across. Phil

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Back in my extract days, after the cooled wort was in the carboy, I would set the carboy on a chair beside the sink, take the sprayer off of its hose and let the city water, running through a good under-the-sink water filter and fill the carboy to the required amount. I use to aim the water jet into the wort so a good churnning action was created, talk about aeration. Never had a problem with infection. Mike

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I agree. I’ve always used straight tap water, both from a private well and from a couple of different city supplies. If you’re in doubt about your water or if the chlorine is extremely high, I’d say boil. Otherwise, if it’s fit to drink, it’s fit to brew. I think the bottled waater should be fine as-is. John Bechcomber Brew Supply – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – While all logic says yes, I never had an infection as an extract brewer and I just topped off with water straight from the tap. I did sanitize the pitcher I used to pour into the carboy. -Joel I would think that good quality bottled water that has gone through a reverse osmosis or distillation process would be bug free and boiling isn’t necessary. I think the boiling would be suggested if you are using tap water. Layne Rossi Campbell River, BC

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was wondering if I need to boil the 2 gallons or so of water that dilutes the wort. The water would be coming straight from the bottle, so shouldn’t it be clean? Thanks again for the help, Daniel

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I never boil the bottled water I use. I have had just 1 infection, and I can trace that to the starter, not the water…. Dan – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was wondering if I need to boil the 2 gallons or so of water that dilutes the wort. The water would be coming straight from the bottle, so shouldn’t it be clean? Thanks again for the help, Daniel

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I never boil the bottled water I use. I have had just 1 infection, and I can trace that to the starter, not the water…. Dan

I *always* boil the water I use, but not to keep infections at bay. I do it to boil off the chlorine/flourides or whatever that the water company put in to keep infections at bay. — Cyclops

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I was wondering if I need to boil the 2 gallons or so of water that dilutes the wort. The water would be coming straight from the bottle, so shouldn’t it be clean? Thanks again for the help, Daniel

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I would think that good quality bottled water that has gone through a reverse osmosis or distillation process would be bug free and boiling isn’t necessary. I think the boiling would be suggested if you are using tap water. Layne Rossi Campbell River, BC – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was wondering if I need to boil the 2 gallons or so of water that dilutes the wort. The water would be coming straight from the bottle, so shouldn’t it be clean? Thanks again for the help, Daniel

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While all logic says yes, I never had an infection as an extract brewer and I just topped off with water straight from the tap. I did sanitize the pitcher I used to pour into the carboy. -Joel – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I would think that good quality bottled water that has gone through a reverse osmosis or distillation process would be bug free and boiling isn’t necessary. I think the boiling would be suggested if you are using tap water. Layne Rossi Campbell River, BC I was wondering if I need to boil the 2 gallons or so of water that dilutes the wort. The water would be coming straight from the bottle, so shouldn’t it be clean? Thanks again for the help, Daniel

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yeah, I’ve been getting that, too, if I soak the bottles for an extended period. So I’ve moved to burning bottles in the oven instead. Phil

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I suspect that the white residue is some sort of mineral precipitate, caused by minerals in your tap water. Others have commented on getting a similar sort of deposit in carboys that have been left soaking for a while, and some have mistaken it for "etching" of the glass. —

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Recently I have noticed something strange after letting my bottles soak in a bleach solution. (2 1/2 oz. bleach to about 8 gallons of water over night) I let them soak in a igloo cooler over night. After draining the cooler I have noticed a depoisit of white crystiline powder on all of the bottles. I went ahead and rinsed the best that I could and it does come off with some rubbing. I noticed that the stuff seems to settle out in the beer after bottling. I can’t detect any flavor changes. I even tasted the residue after it dried on the side of a bottle, there is no taste. In the past I used 1 oz of bleach per gallon of water but began to think maybe the solution was too strong and might be etching the plastic in the cooler, thus the reduction of bleach to water. If I only allow the bottles to soak for a few hours this does not happen. Have any of you guys seen this problem?

I would almost suspect lime from the water. Are you using hard tap water to soak? Try a mini-experiment with bottled water…a gallon or two and scale the bleach. If the problem goes away it is minerals from your water. We have EXTREMELY hard water where I live, and if you let the water, bleach or no, sit around very long, it starts to produce sediment. Dan

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I’ve never had that problem. Do you clean your bottles before you sanitize them? I think you only need to soak them for 30-60 minutes in a soultion in which you put a tablespoon of bleach into each gallon of water you have. Try using your bathtub. I’m surprised you have enough room to do it in a cooler. Eric Nastav

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