Cleaning Bottles

I know, the best way to clean bottles is to start kegging my beer. But seriously folks, I was wondering if hand cleaning the bottles and then running them through my dishwasher with a sanitize cycle is enough or should I still rinse them with Star San after they go through the dishwasher? I would like to eliminate the Star San step is possible.

FYI, using the sanitize cycle in my dishwasher raises the temperature of the water to 155°F(68°C) for the final rinse cycle.

Forgot to mention that I hand wash with OxyClean and the dishwasher is only used for the rinsing. No detergent used in the Dishwasher at all.

A lot of homebrewers sanitize in the dishwasher. I use StarSan personally, but a good number of folks use the dishwasher exclusively with good results.

Edit: As for rinsing in the dishwasher, you might have trouble getting the insides of the bottles rinsed thoroughly as it's hard for the jets of water to get inside the bottles due to the narrow neck.

If I use OxyClean on my bottles (to soak off labels, for example), I rinse by hand for this reason.

When it comes to just washing bottles, though, frankly, I personally don't. As soon as I've poured, I head over to the sink with the bottle, and give it a good thorough rinse with warm water right away. That's all the washing I ever do, though I sanitize at bottling time, of course.

I think this was one of my best purchases for bottling...

http://morebeer.com/products/sanitizer-injector-red-bottle-tree.html

For what it's worth... I rinse bottle as soon as used with hot water and let dry upside down. Then simply use the below device to sanitize with star san before bottling. Simple.....

I run my bottles twice through the rinse cycle part of the dishwasher. No problems yet. I do make sure to rinse them out well after emptying them though and store them upside down to minimize any standing water.

I'm also in an apartment with a crappy dishwasher and have had no problems.

Personally I hand wash my bottles (no dishwasher, hard water) with PBW before storing them... I then use a vinator to sanitize at bottling time with Star San, as it only take a minimal amount to do so when using the rinser...

Also run my bottles through the dishwasher when not kegging. I do make sure to rinse all the bottles immediately after drinking to get any yeast hanging on the bottom out before I store them. This and a hot rinse and 2x hot dry cycles may be overkill but better safe than sorry.

Sounds like I may be doing a little more cleaning then I need to as I also rinse my bottles with hot water right after use. Thanks for the tips.

This has been my process for the past 10 years or so. Not one infection.

After emptying a bottle - drinking the beer - I rince 3 times and hang on my bottle tree. Continue that process until the tree is full and all of the bottles have dried. Then store the bottles until I'm ready to bottle more beer.

A day or two before bottling, I put as many bottles in the dishwasher as can fit, then run them through. I don't sanitize the dishwasher... use dry dishwashing detergent as I would with dished. After the heat cycle finishes, I unload the bottles. I repeat this process until all of the bottles I'll need for bottling have been run through.

Bottling day.... I sanitize the bottles using the bottling tree. I think I used the bottle brush the first time I bottled. That was a big waste of time I thought. I'm a keep it simple kind of guy. As long as the bottles are rinsed well as soon as I empty beer out of them, and I clean them in the dish washer, I figured that would work just fine.

I've never had a problem with this process.... knock on wood. I'm sure I'll see an infection at some point, but haven't had one yet.

smccarter said:

This has been my process for the past 10 years or so. Not one infection.

After emptying a bottle - drinking the beer - I rince 3 times and hang on my bottle tree. Continue that process until the tree is full and all of the bottles have dried. Then store the bottles until I'm ready to bottle more beer.

A day or two before bottling, I put as many bottles in the dishwasher as can fit, then run them through. I don't sanitize the dishwasher... use dry dishwashing detergent as I would with dished. After the heat cycle finishes, I unload the bottles. I repeat this process until all of the bottles I'll need for bottling have been run through.

Bottling day.... I sanitize the bottles using the bottling tree. I think I used the bottle brush the first time I bottled. That was a big waste of time I thought. I'm a keep it simple kind of guy. As long as the bottles are rinsed well as soon as I empty beer out of them, and I clean them in the dish washer, I figured that would work just fine.

I've never had a problem with this process.... knock on wood. I'm sure I'll see an infection at some point, but haven't had one yet.

Click to expand...

Do you have any issues with the head on the beer? I've seen using detergent can affect that.

Here's my process:

After drinking a bottle of beer, I rinse it with water and set it aside until I have enough to make it worth washing some. I take a Home Depot bucket, fill it with hot water and a half a scoop of Oxyclean Free. I drop in as many bottles as will fit (8-10, depending on the size) and hold them under until they fill with water.

If they have labels, I'll leave them like this for a day, for the labels to float off. If they've already been delabeled, then I'll immediately finish cleaning them. I run some cool water into my basement sink (laundry sink) until it's a couple of inches deep. I then attach the bottle jet to the faucet head. One by one, I take the bottles (full of the hot soapy water) and hold them upside down, shaking them vigorously to "scrub" the inside of each bottle, then place them into the sink of clean water.

I use a sponge and wipe off the outside of each bottle (the Oxyclean leaves a slippery residue), then press each bottle onto the bottle jet to shoot water up inside and rinse out the inside of each bottle. I then put it on the bottling tree to dry.

The bottles stay there until I'm ready to bottle some. Since I bottle from a keg, I need the bottles to be cold, so when it's time to bottle, I load up some 6-pack cases with clean bottles and stick them in the freezer, with the tops covered in aluminum foil to keep stuff out. While they're chilling, I set up my bottling area, clean the bottling cane, pour some StarSan in the vinator and drop in a bunch of bottle caps. I then fill each bottle using the "we no need no stinking beer gun" method, squirting StarSan up inside each bottle immediately prior to filling, then cap them and dunk each bottle in clean water to rinse off any errant beer, and label each cap with a sharpie.

I run mine through the dishwasher, full cycle with no soap. Then rinse with Starsan just before bottling.

Works for me.

twistr25 said:

Do you have any issues with the head on the beer? I've seen using detergent can affect that.

Click to expand...

I haven't. I prime at the rate of 1 oz per gallon - never more than 5 oz. 1 week in the bottle and it's usually good to go. I have had a couple of beers become over-carbonated, but that's been very rare.

And I agree with an earlier post... the bottle tree was a great purchase. I've been using mine since I started brewing... about 10 years. Makes drying and sanitizing very easy.