Bottle Sterilising

[beerboy]

When I rinse my bottles with sterilising solution should i rinse with water after that or leave a little bit of sterilising solution in the bottles?

[Hrundi V Bakshi]

That depends entirely on what your sanitiser is being, isn't it?

[Guest]

Sodium Metabisulphite.

[beerboy]

Sorry i forgot to log in, that was my post as a guest.

[Hrundi V Bakshi]

That is a bacterial inhibitor, not a sanitiser and you should rinse it away. You would not need to rinse iodophor in the correct concentration, likewise phosphoric acid and the Hydrogen peroxide based one with silver ions - is it "Brewshield"? You can use diluted bleach but it to must be rinsed and "pink stain" should also being rinsed but it is a very hazardous chemical.

If you are serious about sanitation then you should be looking for a product better than SMBS.

[simonb]

but why would you want to leave some of the sterilizing solution in the bottle - woulnd't that affect the taste of the beer?

[Jay]

Mr Bakshi,

You wouldn't happen to know where to get iodophor from would you (not location just the types of stores that may stock it) and what its cost is compared to SMBS.

Cheers,
Jay.

[db]

jay, i get mine from http://www.esbeer.com.

apparently another alternative is buying iodine from your local chemist.

[Shaun]

Don't bother looking, neon pink and similar products do just fine. Rinse after use. You have to try very hard to get an infection in the bottle, you are more likely to get one in the fermenter if you are going to get one.

[Jeff]

I try to keep my bottles clean at all times. I'll probably come unstuck one day but as soon as a bottle is empty, I just rinse three times with clean water, drain and dry, then store the bottles in their carton until re-using.

I use the pink stuff (meta-bi-thingo) to help clean my fermenter and other equipment and any bottles that I've not been able to rinse immediately. eg. out for the day, drink beer, replace cap, get home, drink beer, go to bed, next morning wonder where those bottles might have been and for how long unwashed.....

[Hrundi V Bakshi]

Respectfully gentlemen, so many questions! it is evident you are unhappy with your current sanitisers? I will endevour to pass on the little I know about this wonderful substance:

Mr Jay My LHBS stocks iodophor. He buys it from the same place as Mr db. Most stores in NSW will deal with ESB.

Mr simonb The amount of iodine left in a bottle left to drain upside down with one part in a billion of iodine will contribute less iodine to your beer than tap water. (Bombay tap water, anyway ) The taste is undectable. Read this link here that includes an interview with the manufacturer and a taste test of deliberately overdosed beers.

Mr db iodine from yuor local chemist will be much much more expesive and will not contain 240ml/l of phosphoric acid, as undiluted iodine does.

If you are happy with your current product, that is being excellent, but one should always keep one eye on the alternatives, isn't it?

[Dogger Dan]

I use a chlorine bleach solution, we have been down this road before, I can not argue with anyones succeses

Dogger

[Hrundi V Bakshi]

I use a chlorine bleach solution, we have been down this road before, I can not argue with anyones succeses

Dogger

I use bleach on everything brewing that is not being stainless steel once in a while to head off any iodine resistent strains from evolving, but washing in tap cholorinated tap water is killing many of those bugs anyway.

It is good to change sanitisers ocassionally. Bleach is the best way to be putting brewing on the household/grocery budget instead of the brewing budget