sterilisation of bottles

[Tassie b€rew]

Hey guys, I was just wondering if somebody could give me an exact way of sterilising bottles. I collect them from the recycling depo. so Im pretty pedantic with it.

I have unscented bleach at home and also sodium metabisulphate.
I'm not sure how much I should use and the exact best method.

If somebody could help me out I would greatly appreciate it.

Cheers

[Paleman]

First you'd want to make sure they are spotlessly clean Tassie b€rew. By this i mean removing any buildup or scum. You just dont know where those bottles have come from. Use a good bottle scrubber with some warm water and a bottle cleaning solution that can be purchased through homebrew shops or some supermarkets.

As far as sanitising goes, this is the last step before bottling. Personally i wouldnt use bleach or sodium met, for the fear of bad tastes in your beer if not swilled and drained after sanitising.

I use a product called One Shot, which is an acid detergent, available through Grumpys http://www.grumpys.com.au They are also a mini brewery, and use it for their sanitation. They say, you dont have to rinse after using, just drain. But i rinse, and drain my bottles. Also Oneshot can be used over and over.

You can also buy good sanitising products from HB shops/some SMarkets.
Even combined washing sanitising solutions.

Its a matter of personal choice. But if you use Bleach or Sodium Met, makesure you rinse and drain thoroughly.

[r.magnay]

I would differ a bit from Paleman here, because the bottles are of an unknown origin, I would use bleach! Still adhering to the rest of his instructions though. I would use the bleach as an initial sanitizing then proceed with your normal washing sanitizing methods. I used to use bleach excusively as a sanitizer with no problems, before I got onto the commercial glass washing/sanitizing gear that they use in pubs.
If you are concerned about the chlorine in bleach, leave the bottles out in the sun for a couple of hours after washing that will get rid of the chlorine.
(If you can find a couple of hours sun down there)

[InCider]

I just got 102 crown XXXX seal tallies from old mate up the road - some are dusty spider caves and some are muddy from years in his shed. I put them in garbage bins full of water with some Brigalow Detergent. I let them soak for a week or two before scrubbing and bottling. I thought I was using sodium met when I started brewing and was 8 brews down when I realised it was only detergent! No infections yet.

InCider.

[The Carbonator]

I rinse em out as much as possible with hot, hot water. I does tend to hurt the hands.
Then, I fill em with cold water an about a cap of bleach in each.

then after about a day or 2, I get the bottle brush in there, srubbing with the bleach solution that is still in there.

Then I rinse with hot hot water. Tends to hurt.

Then they are clean. So I store them until I need to use them. I will at least wait until the are completely dry before sanitising.

Works fine for me.

Bleach is so cheap. Does anyone have a cheaper, easier way to clean them?

[zook37]

I acquired a few hundred bottles that had been left in very dusty environments for quite some time, I filled the laundry tub with hot water and soaked about 20 at a time in it for half an hour each. Got the bottle brush into any that looked really sus, then just stored them upside down in milk crates until they drained, now they just sit until ready for use at which point I sterilise and rinse just before bottling (by just before I mean literally half an hour before).

It has the added advantage of softening the glue on the labels, hence I know have all clean skins ready for labelling if I choose. Simple scrub with A scourer and the remaining glue is gone.


But yes, the hot water tends to hurt the hands after a while!

[General]

Bleach is so cheap. Does anyone have a cheaper, easier way to clean them?

Yes, a capful each is overkill, in my opinion.

For mine, I soak and brush, then rinse.

Make a spray of 4ml Bleach : 1L water, in a pressure sprayer, spray each for 1 second ensuring full coverage, and leave for 2 minutes, then rinse with hot water.

This solution gives 400 ppm (parts per million) free chlorine, and lasts for two fermenters, spoon, 60 stubbies and a 1m racking tube.

2L bottle of home brand bleach is $1, and makes 500 solutions, thats around 1/5th of a cent per solution.

You cannot store the solution though as it loses it's effectiveness, and any metal needs to be rinsed throroughly (inside the pressure sprayer), never use on a keg, I just use Sanitise for that.

I got this "recipe" as a text file of the internet searching for sanitising bleach effectiveness, it meets National Food preparation standards.

Not having a go or anything, or saying that anyone elses method is not as good, or anything, just giving my sanitising routine, if it helps anyone, I've done this for 10 of my own batches, shown three others in my Homebrew Club, they've done it for theirs, no infections yet.

[Smabb]

If you do decide to use bleach, be anal rinsing it out, otherwise you will join the list of posters complaining about a medicinal taste (chlorophenols)