how long are they okay? (baked and foiled bottles)

About 14 months ago I baked all my bottles, one batch at a time, after cleaning them well and covering with foil. I think I did it based on Palmer's recommendations, but of course baked them way longer because I'm a nut. :cross:

Anyway, I ended up not bottling since then. Right now they are in my garage, dusty, but still all capped with foil. I'd like to bottle a batch this weekend and was wondering if I should soak all of them in starsan and dry them upside down in a starsan'd container or if they will be fine like they are.

If it makes a difference I am planning on aging the beer I put in them.

I'm sure they're fine but if you have a dishwasher, you might just run 'em through on your hottest cycle with no soap just for redundancy's sake of redundancy.

After 14 months, I'd spend the time to sanitize again.

Don't use the dishwasher to sanitize unless it has a sanitation cycle. Don't use Jet Dry if you do use the dishwasher.

Also rather than soaking them in StarSan you might consider just spritzing them with it. They're clean inside -- you just want to make sure no ugly bugs migrate into the tops from the dust and gunk on the outside, right?

They should be just fine. Bugs need water to grow, and your bottles should be too dry for anything to grow. The foil should keep everything out.

However, it sounds like peace of mind is more important to you than the thrill of gambling. I imagine you will be much happier if you go ahead and sanitize them again.


TL