Questions on cleaning bottles

[SimonH]

Hey all,

I bottled my first brew in the supplied PET bottles. My second brew is fermenting. I've colllected almost 30 long knecks and i'm thinking about how i'm going to clean them before bottling (an Irish Ale).

I'm thinking about filling the bath with hot water and letting all of them soak in there for a bit. Then rinsing with cold water. Then optionally sterilising each one with cold water for an hour. Then rinsing.

Is this overkill? Also do people use the tree rack things i've seen to hange the bottles off while they dry. If so does this need to be sterilised too? I am already dreading the day when i chuck an entire brew away due to laziness.

Cheers.

[StuTee]

i use a tree - mrs bought it for me - most wicked thing ever.
They have the cleaning pump on top as well so no need to wash bottles using a sink - i used to give em a pump with sterilizer solution, then another with sanitizer, then leave them to dry.
I bought some iodophor last week tho and I think that will do the job instead of doing two washes, which is wicked.
If you're worried about cleaning the tree, just chuck some sanitizer in a spray bottle and give the whole tree a good misting, I expect that would do the job. Come to think of it, that's probably a really good idea..

[Clean Brewer]

I think the key is to clean your bottles inside and out(with whatever method you choose) then hold them up to the light and look into the bottom of the bottle towards the base and if you see any bit of film, put it aside and give another soak or scrub. I now use a spray bottle with idophor and give the inside of the bottle a good spray and then give them all a good shake to get the whole bottle coated with the idophor. I also spray the bottle tree and after 20 minutes drain the bottles on the tree.

I had a beer the other day and the outside of the tallie, the glass was pitted and while the beer was fine, it had a metallic taste to it, after I finished the bottle, I realised it was pitted at the top of the bottle and towards the inside, not sure what inside the bottle was fully like but it went straight in the bin.

I think some of the beers ive had, while some of the batch has tasted quite good, some have tasted quite ordinary, I think this is due to only being a new brewer and not being so particular about the finer points and inspecting the bottles thoroughly.

These forums have instilled finesse about brewing more than anything.

Cheers

[Bizier]

+ 1 on the bottle tree being an invaluable investment. I wish I had a pump thing, I just use a spray bottle.

I do a garbage rinse first to get any particles, then wash with alkaline salts in hot water, leave them to soak, and give them a rinse with as hot water as I can manage. I change the rinse water reasonably regularly for both temp loss and detergent buildup. Then I give a quick last burst from the hot tap inside to make sure that there is nothing from the rinse water, then sanitise with iodphor and dry on tree. If the bottles are from a dubious source, such as a recycle bin, then I give a long soak with bleach first. If you can rinse bottles reasonably quickly after you pour the beer, it takes heaps of work out of the washing stage. I can notice a huge difference in the feeling on the surface of the glass when you rinse with boiling water, it gets super squeaky clean almost immediately.

I have come to the conclusion that this is the most efficient means of getting them truly clean, and quickly. I kind of enjoy it, it is like some kind of meditation zone where I just go though the action and switch my brain off. I don't think that your method is overkill at all. If you can get an efficient way to clean (not just sanitise) it is going to have to improve your beer. I imagine that the long-term storage could be affected by residue in bottles, but I could just be tripping.

I recently turfed a beer (first one!) because I bottled it in a plastic screwtop, and I must have trapped lots of iodphor under the little seal in the lid... bleagh!

Get some good simple recipes going for early drinking, the beer you have in a few weeks should keep you going
I have only been brewing for 2 months or so, but I am really enjoying the rewards now.

[sponge]

all i do with bottles that need cleaning is....

grab a fermenter, fill it with bottles, put sum no name napisan in there, fill with hot water, and leave for a day or two

any labels come off easily, and all cleans deliciously

then i rinse with hot water, put them in a box or something, cover with cling wrap until needed

sall good


Sponge

[Boonie]

I'll put my hand up and say that I have become very lazy when it comes to bottling......

I used to soak in a large garbage bin filled with sterilizer then rinse 3 times.

These days I keg but this is what I do with longies now.

1. Drink beer, tip out slurry on bottom when ready to rinse.
2. Add approx 300ml of water and shakes vigorously, tip out.
3. Repeat step 2 and check bottom of bottle by looking through top and side to check for any residual slurry/nasties, bits unknown. If you do it straight after each 2 beers, no probs at all, just do not leave for days.
4. Leave in sink overnight upside down to drain out and dry.
5. Store in Cupboard
6. Bottling day add 300ml hot tap water (not luke warm) to bottle....ie When your tap has the really hot water coming through. (Edit, use a cloth for the bottles as the cap and bottle get very hot...thanks Capt. Obvious)
7. Put Uncapped Crown Seal on top of Bottle and shake vigorously then pour out
8. Continue adding hot water to all 30 Longies, then add beer from fermenter bottling sugar etc...bulk prime whatever.

Never had an infection in a Bottle yet........no off tastes, no bottle bombs......Actually in 3 Years, Six Months and 14 Days I have not had a bomb nor an infection in the bottle.

With my kegs I use steriliser though

Cheers

Boonie

[warra48]

My regime is much like Boonie's, particularly after consuming my beers. I do the rinsing straight away.

At bottling time, I mix up about 2 litres of no rinse sanitiser, and pour that from bottle to bottle.

I've never had a bottle bomb.

I did have some infection issues earlier this year with some batches and bottles, but that's been absent for my last 5 or so batches.
I narrowed the cause of it down to these possibilities:
1. Opportunistic wild yeast at bottling time. (now bottle in garage with all doors/windows closed)
2. Accumulated crud on the bottom of the little bottler (now cleaned and sanitised each brew).
3. Under strength sanitising solution (now brought up to proper strength).
4. Use of ginger beer bottles not cleaned / sanitised properly (now put through dishwasher heat cycle).
This seems to have solved the problems.

[Tipsy]

1. Drink beer, tip out slurry on bottom when ready to rinse.
2. Add approx 300ml of water and shakes vigorously, tip out.
3. Repeat step 2 and check bottom of bottle by looking through top and side to check for any residual slurry/nasties, bits unknown. If you do it straight after each 2 beers, no probs at all, just do not leave for days.
4. Leave in sink overnight upside down to drain out and dry.
5. Store in Cupboard

thats what I do as well, except No. 6 is look into bottle on bottling day and if no dust is visible spray the inside of bottle with no rinse sanitiser

[drsmurto]

Same as Boonie and co.

I make up ~10L of no rinse sanitiser at a time (from conc orthophosphoric acid and a few drops of liquid soap). I fill each bottle 1/4 full and then shake and leave sit for a few mins. Drain and add priming sugar etc etc.

The no rinse sanitiser can be reused several times until it takes on a colour or floaties are visible. I usually get 1-2 months each batch. 1L of conc acid will last me a lifetime.