Bottle washing: by hand or dishwasher?

Working on 4th brew and have always washed beer bottles by hand then sanitized them. I now have access to a really good dishwasher and my bottles are pretty dirty.
Would a pre-wash with a dishwasher be wise? I have heard that they are usually filled with bacteria. This one gets very hot at the end to dry things out.
Thanks!
Jeremy

If the bottles are dirty inside I would recommend washing them internally by hand. This is mostly due to the fact that it's hard for water to act as an abrasive within a dishwasher when the bottle holes are so small. Plus, the dirty residue wont just fly out with some hot water and high temperatures. My suggestion would be to hand wash them with a bottle-cleaning brush + sanitization solution and THEN - if your dishwasher's sanitation cycle is hot enough - place them in the dishwasher.

Hope you find the answer you're looking for! Good luck!

Something else to try - When I pour a beer, I immediately rinse the bottle out with tap water and let it dry. That way, I never ever have to wash them. I just sanitize 'em right as I sit down to bottle.

saintdog327 said:

If the bottles are dirty inside I would recommend washing them internally by hand. This is mostly due to the fact that it's hard for water to act as an abrasive within a dishwasher when the bottle holes are so small. Plus, the dirty residue wont just fly out with some hot water and high temperatures. My suggestion would be to hand wash them with a bottle-cleaning brush + sanitization solution and THEN - if your dishwasher's sanitation cycle is hot enough - place them in the dishwasher.

Hope you find the answer you're looking for! Good luck!

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+1
If there's gunk in the bottom of the bottles, that probably won't come out in the dishwasher. Give em a good rinse/scrub with hot water, then once the insides are clean, use the dishwasher to sanitize. I've done it many times, though now I've got a vinator, which I find faster than a dishwasher.

If you've got mold in the bottles, I've found that filling them part way with boiling water, letting them sit for a few minutes, then putting my thumb over the opening and shaking does a pretty good job at dislodging it.

Thanks Guys. That is kind of what I thought.
No short cuts

JonM said:

Something else to try - When I pour a beer, I immediately rinse the bottle out with tap water and let it dry. That way, I never ever have to wash them. I just sanitize 'em right as I sit down to bottle.

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+1

Also, if there is any gunk stuck in the bottle after a cycle in the dishwasher the drying heat will tend to "bake it on" if you will. You will end up scrubbing them anyways.

JonM said:

Something else to try - When I pour a beer, I immediately rinse the bottle out with tap water and let it dry. That way, I never ever have to wash them. I just sanitize 'em right as I sit down to bottle.

Click to expand...

+1 I rinse well right after pouring, then straight into storage to dry. Bottling day we just rinse again, StarSan and fill.

I only use the Sanitize setting for my dishwasher just before bottling. I never put them through a complete cycle.

I also subscribe to the practice of thoroughly rinsing my bottles before storing between bottling sessions. Another quick rinse and run through the dishwasher and I am good to go.

Like Jon and others have said, just get into the habit of rinsing them with water really good. I like to do mine before I go to bed. Never any worries that way. Couple of hot water swishes to make sure all the sediment and yeast is removed and you're good to go. Much easier than trying to clean them after the fact (and very little future contamination worrries).

I finally got a vinator for Christmas, so when I bottle tomorrow sanitizing will be a snap. Just invert the bottle, push down to spary the inside with star san. Put on the bottling tree and done.

Pour and rinse...already clean for next time. I sanitize by hand though. I have heard the dishwasher can make bottles brittle. Anyone else have opinions on that theory?

Although I don't bottle much anymore, I found the easiest way to clean the bottles was to cut the bottle brush a few inches above the brush head so I could attach it to my battery drill. Put a small dog leg bend near the tip of the brush really helps also, then rinse and set on the bottle tree and then right before filling use the vinator to sanitize. Super fast and super easy.

EDIT: I only used the dishwasher once to sanitize, didn't trust it, sanitized by hand. Also, you don't want t wash your bottles in there as the detergent will scratch the glass and give the nasties a place to grow.

Agree those faucet mounted jet bottle washers dramatically speed up cleaning/rinsing of bottles. Along with the Bottle Rinser (Sulfiter) thing for cleaning solutions/sanitizer. Both of these gadgets make bottling much faster.

Note we have single handle pullout sprayer so could not use the regular adapter for a kitchen faucet to garden hose. Had an extra outdoor tap so just attached the jet bottle washer. Then after everything else is cleaned/rinsed I take some pliers and remove the pullout sprayer handle from the hose. The pullout sprayer hose connector fits perfectly into the outdoor tap. Just set the jet bottle washer on the bottom of the sink and bottle spray away one handed.

Here's what I do. It's probably overkill and it takes a long time, but it's easy. And it works.

1. Rinse your bottles immediately after every use (both commercial and homebrew).
2. Soak the bottles in warm PBW or Oxyclean solution for an hour or two.
(labels will fall off at this point if you have any labeled bottles)
3. Rinse the bottles well with warm tap water and put them upside down in the dishwasher.
4. Run the dishwasher's drying cycle 3 times. (This takes 45 min to an hour.)
I actually put a thermometer in the dishwasher with the bottles and let the temperature get around 150 or 160F for at least 10 or 15 minutes.

Previously tapwater rinsed bottles (no gunk in the bottom) and dishwasher with no soap and HIGH HEAT.

Never had an issue and the high heat pastuerizes the bottles so no need for sanitizer.

I have to admit I take the lazy approach. + 1 on the hot rinse after you finish it. We recycle so it's habit, if you don't it stinks to high heaven. Before I bottle I run the dishwasher with no detergent or a little sanitizer. I use flip tops, guiness big boppers, and corona familiar, bottles, sometimes 40 oz if I am bottling wine and run out of wine bottles or corks. The flip tops on are there 8th or 9th round with no issues. The others are to go bottles so I don't really see them again.

Then I bottle right there with the dishwasher down, put in some dishes when I'm done so Swmbo is happy, and let it go again. K.I.S.S

I rinse all bottles post pour. New botttles get a oxy soak for labels. Bottles get well rinsed and dried upside down. I store them covered. when bottling I submerge and fill them in a bucket f star san. I have 6 ready to fill while 6 soak in the bucket. I like the ful fill and dump of starsan on bottling day to wash out any crap that got in there while in storage,