chalky bottles from ammonia

so i was doinh a little bottle de-labeling and read that a little ammonia in the bath tub with the water would help the labels come off. no doubt that it helped a little but after i pulled them out i noticed them drying chalky... so i three them i the dishwasher in the hi-temp wash (no soap) as i always do but when they were done still chalky so i dunked in star-san..... still chalky was too nervous to bottle i sealed bottling bucket and popped in a airlock until i find resolution...

Any thoughts

I wonder if what you're looking at is dissolved label adhesive coating the bottles...

Cheers!

I use oxyclean to delabel my bottles. Most labels come completely off without even having to touch them. I fill a homedepot bucket up with water add oxyclean and completely submerge my bottles. I'm usually not in a rush so i let them soak for 24 hours. I would make sure all your bottles are cleaned and sanitized before transferring to the bottling bucket next time. But thats just me.

If the stuff is on the inside, my resolution would be to buy some new bottles at the LHBS OR drink 50 more beers quick?

Did you already add priming sugar? If so I would find some bottles ASAP(less than a day) or wait until it ferments out and re-prime.

My secret is...wait for it...warm water. If they soak for even a couple hours they usually peel right off. To do them faster, I use warm water and one of those cheapo razor blade window scrapers. The blade gets right under there and peels them right off. If it starts to get slightly difficult I change the blade and its back to easy street.

But do you have the determination to drink 5 gallons of commercial beer one bottle at a time to get this batch bottled? I would hope so. You can do it.

+1 to star Oxyclean and hot water. I put hot tap water mixed with Oxyclean in my cooler and let it soda 2 hrs or so. Half of them are floating around in the cooler when I open it back up. The rest wipe off with my hand ora light wipe with a green pad.

i have used just warm water but most labels were still pretty stuburn and wont come off. i never primed with sugar so i just left it in the bottling bucket until i can get some new bottles or get these all cleaned up, mb an alkaline based cleanser will work but who knows

What kind of bottles? I have had problems with a couple kinds, especially the ones with the plastic type label. Most craft beers use glue that is water soluble.
I exclusively use PBW for cleaning and starsan for sanitizing. I know lots of people use other products, but m

What kind of bottles? I have had problems with a couple kinds, especially the ones with the plastic type label. Most craft beers use glue that is water soluble.
I exclusively use PBW for cleaning and starsan for sanitizing. I know lots of people use other products, but my feeling is that my goal is to use the best possible ingredients and put in hours of labor and effort, why try to save $2 a batch by using chemicals not DESIGNED for brewing beer?

yeah effingbeer i hear you thats what i was rhinking was PBW thats what i use for my keg couplers the only thing is my Local supply shop is not exactly down the street but it is what it is...

anyonr ever try PBW in the dishwasher ???? just a thought ....

Dishwasher use is another thing that makes me chuckle a bit. Probably hundreds of threads on here..."I don't know why my beers taste like crap. Is it an infection? Well I sanitized my bottles with the dishwasher and they keep blowing up!"
I know... I know... There's a guy/gal out there that has "never had a problem" ...YET.

OH MY GOD. I solved my problem i went to my brothers house and took all his bottles ( he brews too) got about 40 or so , we started to bottle and slam some brew off the last batch ( we were several bottles short ) and we did it without a problem , just a nice buzz

SCORE! I knew drinking more was part of the solution!

PBW works great! Had labels from bottles that sat for years just fall off after a good 24 hour soak.

Effingbeer said:

SCORE! I knew drinking more was part of the solution!

Click to expand...

When is it not?

[Posted at 1:06 AM PST, definitely not after a brew day]