Grolsch bottles

When I bought my kit it came with 23 grolsch 16 oz bottles. They smell clean, but look like some of them are used. Can I just wash them with dish soap? Or should I use a one step sanitizer and cleanser? Also, after they are clean do they need to be completley dry or do you just wash em, rinse in tap water and fill?

Do you guys like the Grolsch bottles? I'm going to need I think 40 total for 5 gallons. Or would I be better off just picking up a case of longnecks?

With any used bottle, wash them hard with warm water and soap and a good bottle brush, and rinse them well. Before you bottle, use a one step no rinse sanitizer, and you should be fine. After consuming, if you give the bottles a good rinse, they should be easy to clean the next time around.

One more point-if you are going to store them after washing and before using, I would recommend storing them upside down to prevent dust or any other contaminate from drifting in. I normally ine my bottle box with paper towels sprayed with sanitizer, and slide the bottles in upside down. On bottle day, I just need to sanitize.

i love grolsch bottles! the problem is i dont like grolsh beer, so i only have one. i cant get myself to buy bottles...just clean them like you would anything, soak em in hot soapy water, then rinse really well. i dont sanitize my bottles but i think most people do. as long as they dont have any visible signs of mold or other crud, you should be fine, you can sanitize them if you want with a weak iodophore solution, and let them air dry.

and.. I think we all LOVE the flip-top bottles. No messing around with caps.

40 of them is perfect for a 5 gallon batch. I usually use a mixture of those flip-tops, some more flip-tops twice the size, and a case or so of regular old 12oz longnecks.

Observation:
Based on your other posts, I'm curious as to where you bought your kit from? You have no proper bottling bucket and 23 bottles (instead of 24.. weird). The kit doesn't seem to be very user friendly (especially for a beginner.)

-walker

Not bottling much anymore with the keg setups but I love these bottles for saved yeast as well.

I bought it used on ebay. I ended up spending $81.00 including shipping. It came with ingredients for a 5 gal. batch and the 23 16oz grolsch bottles. It also came with a bunch of accessories like a thermometer, airlock, hoses bottle caps and a nice capper.

I have a starSan mix in a spray bottle that works out great. Just spray up into the bottle and let it set upside down on a sanitized cloth right be fore bottling (couple minutes is fine). It is too easy not to do it. When I was using a bucket of sanitizer and immersing the bottles, I did skip it a little and just use hot water.

mworkman said:

I bought it used on ebay. I ended up spending $81.00 including shipping. It came with ingredients for a 5 gal. batch and the 23 16oz grolsch bottles. It also came with a bunch of accessories like a thermometer, airlock, hoses bottle caps and a nice capper.

Click to expand...

Ahh... that explains it. Don't worry, though... you didn't get ripped off, but you didn't exactly get a 'complete' starter kit.

The carboy (5 gallon glass bottle) is worth at least $20.
The bottles are worth about $40.
The 5 gallon beer kit is probaby worth about $25.
The capper is another $10.
The bucket is worth probably $10 to $15.
Another $15 or so for the rest of the misc stuff.

Definately a pretty good deal, but you are missing a few things that will make your life easier (like the bottling bucket and some kind of siphon-starting device.)

I'd read through the beginner section of www.howtobrew.com carefully to get an idea of what else you might want/need to buy.

-walker

Ok, I'll do some research. I sure am getting thirsty tho'.

Ok, I'll do some research. I sure am getting thirsty tho'. Thanks for all your help. This is a really cool site.

yes, this forum is the absolute bomb.

you won't find a more patient, knowledgable, or experimental bunch of folks anywhere on the web.

welcome to the group!

-walker

Walker said:

yes, this forum is the absolute bomb.

you won't find a more patient, knowledgable, or experimental bunch of folks anywhere on the web.

welcome to the group!

-walker

Click to expand...

Here here...This place has really helped me get going, and also given me the confidence to "Brew outside the box" so to speak....

I started out sanitizing my bottles in a big tup of sanitizer solution. Big pain the the you-know-what. I know this is an area of contention, but with my last few batches I have used the dishwasher. I run a cycle without detergent to get any soap residue out of the machine. Then I load the bottles (which have already been washed), set the dishwasher on hi-temp wash and sanitize and let 'er rip.

Then, when I get my bottling bucket set up, the bottles are all ready to go, upside down on the racks, dry and easy to get at. I have had no problems with this at all.

I've never tried Grolsch style bottles. Could be something to look into.