If I'm using alkaline salts to wash my glass bottles, do I need to scrub with a bottle brush or should the detergents remove everything if they are thoroughly rinsed in hot water straight after they've been used?
It's taken me a while, but I've accumulated 65 Coopers tallies, so I try to look after them pretty well.
Question: washing glass bottles
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ADHD Curmudgeon
- Posts: 114
- Joined: Wednesday Jun 14, 2006 12:45 am
- Location: Northern Rivers (NSW)
I rinse mine with water and thats it... I do add a touch of sanitise when it comes to bottling, and give them a shake with that.
If the bottles are really mouldy, i use exit mould, spray and add a little water and leave for a couple of days.. rinse the bottles with water twice, and there is no residual smell...
I do store my clean bottles in boxes on their sides and seal them so no dust or insects find their way into them.
I have about 250 tallies, so i dont want to have to keep cleaning them once they are rinsed and dry.
If the bottles are really mouldy, i use exit mould, spray and add a little water and leave for a couple of days.. rinse the bottles with water twice, and there is no residual smell...
I do store my clean bottles in boxes on their sides and seal them so no dust or insects find their way into them.
I have about 250 tallies, so i dont want to have to keep cleaning them once they are rinsed and dry.
I freely admit that I was Very Very Drunk....
"They speak of my drinking, but never consider my thirst."
I rinse after drinking... or fill with a bit of water and rinse out at a later time if I have had a few and don't wanna stop the party to rinse out a bottle.
Before all brews I fill my bathtub with water, submerge all bottles and put in a bit of bleach and some Coopers sanitiser (sodium percarbonate... use napisan if you want to do it on the cheap) - I leave for 24 hours, and then rinse with water before bottling.
I pretty much do the identical for my fermenter as well.
Before all brews I fill my bathtub with water, submerge all bottles and put in a bit of bleach and some Coopers sanitiser (sodium percarbonate... use napisan if you want to do it on the cheap) - I leave for 24 hours, and then rinse with water before bottling.
I pretty much do the identical for my fermenter as well.
Wow, that's a lot of water... I pretty much rinse, after drinking (if I notice any deposits on the inside, I do my bleach trick above), then store in boxes until I'm ready to bottle a brew. Then I make up 2.5L of idophor (1/2 teaspoon (2.5mL) of idophor in 2.5L). I pour a little into each bottle, shake it up, and pour back into a pot for reuse. I use the same 2.5L for sanitising my fermenter too.
w00t!
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ADHD Curmudgeon
- Posts: 114
- Joined: Wednesday Jun 14, 2006 12:45 am
- Location: Northern Rivers (NSW)
I've been putting a heaped T-spoon of the Woolworths brand of 'Nappysan' in each, filling them with hot water (if I haven't run the system dry by then), leaving them to soak for a day or two, and then finish with a no-rinse sanitiser before bottling after washing them.MOFO wrote:I rinse after drinking...
Before all brews I fill my bathtub with water, submerge all bottles and put in a bit of bleach and some Coopers sanitiser (sodium percarbonate... use napisan if you want to do it on the cheap) - I leave for 24 hours, and then rinse with water before bottling.
I've been doing the same with my fermenter as I do with my bottles, except with more Nappysan.MOFO wrote:I pretty much do the identical for my fermenter as well.
I'm just getting sick of scrubbing bottles, and I'd like to avoid it if I can.
Thanks for the advice guys.
It'll save me a LOT of time as everything I do is painfully slow due to a VERY short attention span. (Hence the nick)
-Liam
When I got my bottles they were full of dust and spider webs etc.
Gave them all a REALLY good soak with milton tablets, then with scrubbing brush and bottle cleaner brush, really scrubbed them clean. then they went into boxes ready for bottling.
After drinking, I rinse bottles with tap hot water, and dry on bottle tree. Then they go into boxes to store until bottling. I have a bottle rinser, just need 1litre water, 1ml iodophor and rinse insides, then bottle beer.
Once they are clean, and boxed very little attention needed - just a rinse straight after drinking, and no-rinse sanitiser.
Gave them all a REALLY good soak with milton tablets, then with scrubbing brush and bottle cleaner brush, really scrubbed them clean. then they went into boxes ready for bottling.
After drinking, I rinse bottles with tap hot water, and dry on bottle tree. Then they go into boxes to store until bottling. I have a bottle rinser, just need 1litre water, 1ml iodophor and rinse insides, then bottle beer.
Once they are clean, and boxed very little attention needed - just a rinse straight after drinking, and no-rinse sanitiser.
"Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer." - Dave Barry.
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sonictruth
- Posts: 107
- Joined: Wednesday Feb 28, 2007 1:22 pm
i've been using the coopers sodium percarbonate for my fermenter and find it to be way better than sodium met. i have noticed that people talk about using nappy san because its active ingredient is sodium percarbonate but does anyone know if its the same strength as the coopers SP? the nappy san ive looked at from memory says 35% SP but the coopers SP doesnt say percentages, Im thinking that might mean that its 100% in which case you would have to use alot more nappy san to have the same effect.
got any ideas?
got any ideas?
If I need new bottles I collect them at my golf club. I rinse them first, then soak them in hot water to remove the labels. I spray them with a brewing detergent, let them stand for a while, then clean them with a bottle brush.
My own bottles just get a quick 3 to 4 rinses after use before draining. Before bottling I use a no rinse sanitiser, which I pour from bottle to bottle. The solution is then used in the fermenter after bottling.
My own bottles just get a quick 3 to 4 rinses after use before draining. Before bottling I use a no rinse sanitiser, which I pour from bottle to bottle. The solution is then used in the fermenter after bottling.
i have a 60 litre plastic bin with a lid, and 2 open tub containers. i keep the 60 litre bin full of a fairly strong bleach/water mix (eg 2/3 of a bottle of cheap home brand bleach, about 1/3 of a bottle of the good expensive higher concentration stuff). i rinse bottles once after using them, then drown them in the bin.
when the bin gets full (which takes a while), i drain the water out onto my lawn (and it hasn't killed it so far - i think that even with the lid on the bleach evaporates out over time; it just prevents it from going septic). i then fill one tub with fresh warm water, and one tub with water and sodium metabisulphate (no-rinse sanitiser).
the bottles get a water rinse to remove any label/floaties/bleach, and a sodium met rinse to sanitise. then they're left to dry in my dish rack, and used straight away. all i need is a bottle tree.
long post, but simple, easy setup
when the bin gets full (which takes a while), i drain the water out onto my lawn (and it hasn't killed it so far - i think that even with the lid on the bleach evaporates out over time; it just prevents it from going septic). i then fill one tub with fresh warm water, and one tub with water and sodium metabisulphate (no-rinse sanitiser).
the bottles get a water rinse to remove any label/floaties/bleach, and a sodium met rinse to sanitise. then they're left to dry in my dish rack, and used straight away. all i need is a bottle tree.
long post, but simple, easy setup
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ADHD Curmudgeon
- Posts: 114
- Joined: Wednesday Jun 14, 2006 12:45 am
- Location: Northern Rivers (NSW)
Because it's not as strong, I just use more of it, and I think it works out a little cheaper still.sonictruth wrote:i've been using the coopers sodium percarbonate for my fermenter and find it to be way better than sodium met. i have noticed that people talk about using nappy san because its active ingredient is sodium percarbonate but does anyone know if its the same strength as the coopers SP? the nappy san ive looked at from memory says 35% SP but the coopers SP doesnt say percentages, Im thinking that might mean that its 100% in which case you would have to use alot more nappy san to have the same effect.
got any ideas?
I've been using the 'Oxygenated' Woolies brand one for a while and it seems to work great, and rinses out easily enough.
-Liam
If you really want to knwo what is in the product, check on the internet.... The companies have to put the MSDS of their products somewhere where they can be readily viewed. In the MSDS, they usually have the active ingredients.
I was thinking about using the baby napisan stuff as it didnt have the harsh detergents/additives, but when i checked the MSDS, it was about 35% precarbonate, 50% carbonate, and the rest was some sort of silicate... No knowing what the silicate did, i decided to jsut stick with sodium met and no rinse sterilisers...
If you want a cheap no rinse steriliser... you cant beat the Iodophor.. Dilute 1ml per L, and you can effectively get 250L of sterilier for 7 bucks.
I was thinking about using the baby napisan stuff as it didnt have the harsh detergents/additives, but when i checked the MSDS, it was about 35% precarbonate, 50% carbonate, and the rest was some sort of silicate... No knowing what the silicate did, i decided to jsut stick with sodium met and no rinse sterilisers...
If you want a cheap no rinse steriliser... you cant beat the Iodophor.. Dilute 1ml per L, and you can effectively get 250L of sterilier for 7 bucks.
I freely admit that I was Very Very Drunk....
"They speak of my drinking, but never consider my thirst."
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ADHD Curmudgeon
- Posts: 114
- Joined: Wednesday Jun 14, 2006 12:45 am
- Location: Northern Rivers (NSW)
According to Wiki it kills bacteria, and further down the page it says that sodium silicate is used to purify water because it bonds to heavier molecules and drags them out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_silicate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_silicate
-Liam
I've got a heap of long necks as well.
What I do is similar to a few others.
Rinse with hot water after use and use a bottle brush for a quick scrub.
Leave them upside down to drain and dry, then put them in a box, upside down.
When it comes to bottling, I rinse with boiling water and use a no rinse sanitiser which I spray in, shake around, let sit for a while (say 5 - 10 minutes depending on how bottling is progressing) and then pour into the next set of bottles. I progressively work through the bottles as I'm bottling.
Haven't had a problem yet. Fingers crossed, touch wood.
Catchya
Osc
What I do is similar to a few others.
Rinse with hot water after use and use a bottle brush for a quick scrub.
Leave them upside down to drain and dry, then put them in a box, upside down.
When it comes to bottling, I rinse with boiling water and use a no rinse sanitiser which I spray in, shake around, let sit for a while (say 5 - 10 minutes depending on how bottling is progressing) and then pour into the next set of bottles. I progressively work through the bottles as I'm bottling.
Haven't had a problem yet. Fingers crossed, touch wood.
Catchya
Osc
Without going into too much detail as to why, I have found that one can usually improve bottle hygiene.
In recent times, together with a buddy, I have been bottling triple filtered carbonated beer. His bottles have been suspect, whilst mine have been passable.
The bottles in question are sanitised and rinsed on a commercial tree immediately prior to bottling. But, and this surprised me, the tiniest remaining speck of anything that remains inside a bottle results in foaming whilst bottling.
Discussed this with SWMBO and, annoying though this can be, she came up with the solution. Got me a 2L bottle of bleach from Aldi.
TOLD me, that after rinsing each bottle as I was already doing, to fill it to the top with the unadulterated bleach, and allow it to stand overnight. Then empty each bottle into another rinsed bottle, and so on.
She was proved absolutely correct last Saturday. My first batch of bleached bottles was commended by the operator of the bottling plant with the exclamation "Geez! These bottles are incredibly clean! What did you do?".
Credited SWMBO! What else could I do? In company with me, she visits his operation every now and then.
In recent times, together with a buddy, I have been bottling triple filtered carbonated beer. His bottles have been suspect, whilst mine have been passable.
The bottles in question are sanitised and rinsed on a commercial tree immediately prior to bottling. But, and this surprised me, the tiniest remaining speck of anything that remains inside a bottle results in foaming whilst bottling.
Discussed this with SWMBO and, annoying though this can be, she came up with the solution. Got me a 2L bottle of bleach from Aldi.
TOLD me, that after rinsing each bottle as I was already doing, to fill it to the top with the unadulterated bleach, and allow it to stand overnight. Then empty each bottle into another rinsed bottle, and so on.
She was proved absolutely correct last Saturday. My first batch of bleached bottles was commended by the operator of the bottling plant with the exclamation "Geez! These bottles are incredibly clean! What did you do?".
Credited SWMBO! What else could I do? In company with me, she visits his operation every now and then.
Cheers,
Pacman
Pacman