Bottles drying

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Eladaos

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Hi,

First, great forum here! I found many tips here for my first batch. Thank you.

My beer was 2 weeks in the fermenter and tomorrow I will transfer it to the bottles. But I am not sure about cleaning/sanitizing, so I need to ask you for help - I am not sure about drying bottles. Do they need to be completly dry, or can I fill them with a few drops of water left (after rinsing sanitizer)?

I know that I have to buy StarSan. But it is not available in my country. I am planning to buy it from UK for a little big price due to shipping, but I believe it's worth it. I also don't have dishwasher, so not too many options of sanitizing for now.

So, today, I cleaned all bottles in hot water with detergent and let them dry. Tomorrow, I am planning to soak them for 5 mins into the solution with the WWP cleaner, which I used during the brewing with a good results. But this is "rinse" sanitizer, so I need to rinse the bottles with water after that. And here is a point where I am not sure - can I fill the bottles right after rinsing (or after a few minutes of letting them upside down on towel)? Or do I need to wait until they are completely dry (but it takes a lot of time, which may cause contamination)?

Thanks for your help.
 
Liquid bleach works well. When the bottles dry, the chlorine in the liquid bleach has gone away.

http://ucfoodsafety.ucdavis.edu/files/26437.pdf
  • one tablespoon per gallon of water.
  • Or 4 ml per liter.
  • Contact time is one to five minutes
  • 5% bleach is the "standard" solution on market shelves. Adjust for the actual concentration.

Hey, how do you toast in Czech?
 
Thanks all for help. Finally, I left them upside down on a towel. It took me a lot of time to sanitize all of them, so when I started filling, the first ones was almost dry, with only few drops of water inside. I think it will be OK, because when I was brewing, I washed my tools by water all the time (sanitized first of course).

Well, I am happy, I finished my first batch and now I can't wait to taste it! In two weeks time, I will celebrate my birthday and I invited a few friends for degustation. I hope they won't be dissapointed :)

And how do we toast? Usually "Na zdraví!" :) Also if you are interrested for another language (as I see in your signture), Greeks says "Για μας!"
 
Hi elados, I also had this same issue last week when I did my first bottling session. I sanitized with vwp cleaner and rinsed with water. Used the box that my brew kit came in to allow the bottles to drip dry for an hour then bottled. Another two weeks to wait till I try it, I can't wait!
Second batch is already a week in too :)

ForumRunner_20130210_202120.png
 
Hi nickybhoy, great, glad to hear that someone is using same steps. And great idea with the box. But clean towel worked for me nicely (except for the fear, that someone will touch the table and all bottles will ... :)

piv01.jpg
 
I just want to mention my satisfaction with new setup - bottle tree, vinator and starsan. Because I wash my bottles right after use, I have all of them already cleaned at the bottling day. So, I just only put a few splashes of starsan with vinator to each of them and let them sit on the bottle tree for a while. I am doing this during racking to bottling bucket. Then I am filling them when they are still wet. Easy and fast. Bottling is no more painful. This setup doesn't cost too much for the comfort it offers. Just some storage space for huuuuge bottle tree base :) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
 
That's what I've been using for a long time. Sanitize 45 bottles with the vinator on top of my 45 bottle tree. I do this while or right after racking onto priming solution.
 
if stansan isn't available get iodophor, its just iodine and available anywhere there is agriculture, medical supplies.

its also no rinse, no drying needed. With starsan available, I still use iodophor at least as often, maybe more.
It doesn't have the shelf life of starsan. It off-gasses with light and heat, but 48hours is easy to achieve.
 
It my take longer but after cleaning them couldn't you steam the bottles for a few minutes in a steamer (colander suspended in a pot of boiling water) to sanitize the bottles if you don't have access to StarSan?
 
The hot steam would have to get up inside the bottles long enough for the heat to work. I'd just order the small bottle of starsan online. I bought the small bottle a couple years ago,& still have 3/4'thsd of it easy. Stuff lasts a long time.
 
I was just wondering if i could use my Sanitize setting on my Dishwasher and use my rack to dry the bottles.
also this will be my 1st batch
 
I was just wondering if i could use my Sanitize setting on my Dishwasher and use my rack to dry the bottles.
also this will be my 1st batch

I read on another thread stating that you can do this but you have to make sure NOT to use any detergent and to also make sure there is no rinse aid in the dishwasher.
 
Ive been using my dishwasher to sanitize since I got started. Ive done it both with and without detergent. In fact, my whole bottling process revolves around the dishwasher. I sanitize them and then fill them on the top of the open door to catch spills. When Im done, close the door and no mess. Theres a great thread on bottling by Revvy somewhere around here that I made my own.

Re the detergent -from what I understand, the detergent/rinse additive may kill your head and or harm head retention.

Anecdotally, I havent noticed any difference and still use detergent.

ETA - found the revvy thread here...https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/
 
This may be a dumb question... but doesn't rinsing after sanitizing defeat the purpose? I've used Starsan with the vinator since the beginning with great success, I use PBW to clean my bottles prior to sanitizing. On another note, don't confuse cleaning and sanitizing, they're two different beasts.
 
Ive been using my dishwasher to sanitize since I got started. Ive done it both with and without detergent. In fact, my whole bottling process revolves around the dishwasher. I sanitize them and then fill them on the top of the open door to catch spills. When Im done, close the door and no mess. Theres a great thread on bottling by Revvy somewhere around here that I made my own.

Re the detergent -from what I understand, the detergent/rinse additive may kill your head and or harm head retention.

Anecdotally, I havent noticed any difference and still use detergent.

ETA - found the revvy thread here...https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/


Also, some detergents will leave a detergent "taste" behind.
 
Eshorebrewer said:
This may be a dumb question... but doesn't rinsing after sanitizing defeat the purpose?

Only if you have bacteria living in your water that can also survive in beer. It's a risk, but not a very big one.
 

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