removing labels: uh-oh, mold

I was recently given @ 60 bottles, and decided to start the label removal/cleaning process tonight. Most of them are ideal for re-use, especially since I have quite a few clear (New Castle) and green (Rolling Rock) bottles these are ear-marked to replace.

However, I noticed in one of the 12 packs (Sam Adams Octoberfest) that a fine layer of mold has started to grow on the bottom. I'm imagining they weren’t rinsed out and saved from a party as the other 48 are in fine shape.

So I started thinking; save them and try to clean them or pitch them out. This is where you guys come in: what is the best process to remove mold or should I just put them in the recycle bin and be glad the other 48 are usable?

If you say clean, what should I use? Here is what I have on hand:
Bleach
B-Brite Cleanser
B-T-F iodophore sanitizer

This is the place where I'd go with bleach.

depends on how much free time you have and how easy you can get other bottles.

My experience is that bleach easily removes mold.

Cheers,
Ken

A good long soak in bleach, followed by a hot rinse and a vigorous scrubbing with a bottle brush works miracles.
I would think the B-Brite would work as well, but I've never tried removing mould with it.

-a.

it's neck and neck so far with the results! I'm leaning towards....

RDWHAHB

When I get my bottles they ALWAYS have mold in them . . . In fact if I dont get mold in a bottle I kind of look at it as a treat.

So far the best method I have found to get it out is just soak them in oxyclean as normal to get the labels off but make sure you fill the bottles up and they sink to the bottom of your bucket/sink/bath tub (HOT water . . . HOT HOT HOT, skin falling off ot if ya can). Once the labels come off dump about half the water out and shake the bejebus out of them with your thumb over the top then dump it out. If you get a real stuborn bugger just hit it with a bottle brush and your golden.

15 cases of bottles I may have gotten a total of 1 case worth with out mold and this method has been good to me so far

A good overnight soak in a bleach water mixture will do the trick. I've cleaned quite a few moldy bottles and it worked every time. Usually the mold is floating at the top of the bottle when I take them out. Make sure you eye ball them real well to be sure all the mold is out. Clean them, rinse and sanitize and you are good to go.

I'm new to this forum, but I've cleaned a dozen cases of bottles over the years by sinking bottles in a family sized ice chest filled with cold water and adding bleach at a rate of 1 cup to 5 gallons. Let soak several days. Labels easily scrape off and mold slips out of inside. Rinse well to remove bleach then sanitize.

cgf

I guess I agree with everyone else...bleach would pretty easily remove the mold. but then again, are you afraid you're never going to buy another twelver? I still buy many a tasty brew, and have realized that there will always be another batch of empties incoming. No use in hoarding.

Try bleach and TSP (trisodium phosphate -- sold at paint stores). One soak overnight, and EVERYTHING comes off. I got a whole whack of Grolsch bottles once, and some were pretty bad at the bottom. 24 hours in bleach and TSP, and all that crud just melted away.

The commercial version of this is Diversol (also called "that pink stuff" by most of my homebrew friends) which at my LHBS is 4 to 5 times as expensive.

This is the one time I've used bleach. A little bleach in water, soak the bottles overnight and in the morning the mold is dead and gone. Of course, you rinse and rinse, and then air dry. Then sanitize as usual before using them.

Lorena

This has probably been said in the thread, but bleach will do it. I know there was a thread for "useless equipment" where a bottle brush was listed as being "useless", but this is one time it shines. A little soap, bottle brush, rinse thoroughly, and into a light bleach soak. Actually (I have mentioned this in other threads) I just have a trash can with bleach solution where all 'first timers' go for a soak until I am ready. I just push them under until they fill up with solution and leave them sit. No need to worry about anything.

I use to have a 20 gal barrel that I would keep full of water and "liquid dishwasher soap", when I would finish a beer I would rinse and sink it in that barrel. When it got full I would pull the plug on it and rinse the bottles inside and out. The lables would always fall off and the insides were spotless.

Any of the above work. Mold is easily removed. However as to replacing the Newcastle bottles and green (I use Becks), I keep all I can get. I love pouring out of clear bottles and the green ones are classy when I have company. With the clear bottles, I can see exactly where to stop to leave the yeast behind and get the maximum amount of beer in my glass. With reasonable care, you will never have a skunked beer. I always bottle some in brown for picnics and such but mostly use clear when I have them.

I say toss em out and go buy yourself a good 12 pack to drink tonight to replace them with

The way I see it, if you've got 48 other bottles that are usable, it's not worth your time and effort to scrub mold, dude. I've been there. 48 bottles is 2 cases of beer; a whole 5g batch. Screw the 12 moldy ones, man. You'll get more I'm sure.

5gB

Agreeing with Pumbaa on Oxyclean. This past summer I kept a cooler outside and kept a rotating flow of bottles going thru an oxyclean soak. And there were some HIDEOUS bottles as well. 24 to 48 hour soak, labels fell off, took a bottle brush only once I think, then rinsed and boxed and they are ready for use.

Make sure you rinse 'em really well after using oxy tho...

Ize

I soaked the ‘original 12’ over night, only to wake to see significant accumulation of precipitation here in N Texas and be told to work from home! It’s a good thing I didn’t throw them out after all. I also found @ 12 more that needed additional cleaning after the fact.

So now I have @ 24 to deal with? Keep them or toss them out?
:rockin:

g0dolphins said:

I soaked the ‘original 12’ over night, only to wake to see significant accumulation of precipitation here in N Texas and be told to work from home! It’s a good thing I didn’t throw them out after all. I also found @ 12 more that needed additional cleaning after the fact.

So now I have @ 24 to deal with? Keep them or toss them out?
:rockin:

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Keep 'em. A little mold is nothing to worry about. Soak in bleach solution as other have suggested, or get a little fancy and use PBW cleaner. Either way, I would suggest purchasing a Bottle Jet.

Bottle brush in a cordless drill. Every bottle, every time.

If I threw out every bottle that got moldy , I'd have to drink through a straw into the carboy... no portability that way.

update: I've got 8 bottles that are as stubborn as snot to clean. I've had them soaking in a bleach solution for over a day now and will try to clean them out when I get home tonight.

I guess I've been fortunant so far in these are the only bottles that have had mold.

g0dolphins said:

update: I've got 8 bottles that are as stubborn as snot to clean. I've had them soaking in a bleach solution for over a day now and will try to clean them out when I get home tonight.

I guess I've been fortunant so far in these are the only bottles that have had mold.

Click to expand...

You can always try that old kitchen standby- hot soapy water!

Bleach helps, it's an oxidizer, but really isn't a cleaner/surfactant/dissolver/suspender of dirt, etc.

casebrew said:

Bottle brush in a cordless drill.

Click to expand...

How sweet is this advice. I trimmed off the little 3/4" end to my bottle brush, then inserted it into the cordless drill and gave it a squeeze.

SPIN!

AWESOME! no more mold. I took a pic, but need to wait until film is developed tomorrow to upload.