Cleaning beer bottles

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Brew2

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Instead of buy 2 case of beer bottle. I have 2 of my own. What the best way to clean them before bottling my batch?
 
I always soak in oxyclean free or pbw then rinse and hit them with a jet bottle washer before sanitizing
 
Powdered brewers wash. Works great but is a lot more expensive than oxyclean free and they both work well
 
Rinse them well enough so they don't have any visible crap in/on them, then put em in the dishwasher (no detergent) and time the cycle so it's done right before you want to bottle. I just grab them right outta there and fill em up.

If you're talking about taking labels off, hot water and elbow grease +/- oxyclean.
 
+1 to PBW soak. Spray or dunk them in Starsan right before bottling.

I've also found that a small wire brush is helpful for those hard-to-peel labels.
 
Rinse them well enough so they don't have any visible crap in/on them, then put em in the dishwasher (no detergent) and time the cycle so it's done right before you want to bottle. I just grab them right outta there and fill em up.

If you're talking about taking labels off, hot water and elbow grease +/- oxyclean.

You run it on the sanitizing cycle is that what you mean?
 
Sanitizing cycle may or may not be enough. I would still rinse the inside with Starsan or other santizing solution just before bottling

In my small experience soaking off labels, it is easier to soak the bottles overnight to get full effect from the Oxyclean. It helps to start with warm water even if the water cools off overnight. You can soak them for a few hours and scrape or wait overnight and sometimes the labels fall off. Some glues are resistant, some slide off.
 
+ 1 on the oxyclean soak some of them are a pain though so I stick to Serria Nevada , Sam adams, and winder brothers. Shoot some times it only takes about 10 minted in hot water and the labels basically jump off the bottles

For cleaning over night soak in oxyclean then a soak in Star San until I am ready to start bottling
 
prandlesc said:
+1 here. Oxyclean free for everything that doesn't need to be washed. Soaking beer bottles to get labels off is perfect for oxyclean.

What do you mean by oxyclean for everything that doesn't need to be washed? Oxyclean seems to work as well as pbw for cleaning in my experience.

Also a cheap way to get off labels is a soak in hot water with a little soap and a good amount of ammonia. The ammonia eats the glue really well
 
While the Starsan is probably more reliable, I have always just sanitized in the DW with no detergent or jet dry. I wait for the the bottles to cool to around body temp, then I begin filling. To date, I have not had an infected bottle.
 
You run it on the sanitizing cycle is that what you mean?

Sanitizing cycle may or may not be enough. I would still rinse the inside with Starsan or other santizing solution just before bottling

Yes, the sanitize cycle, or at least "heated dry," depending on the capabilities of your dishwasher. Would I use my dishwasher to sterilize instruments for my OR? No. Do I trust that it sanitizes beer bottles that were basically clean (no gross contamination/visible junk) to begin with? I'm willing to take that chance.

Two dozen bottled batches and no infections (knock on wood)
 
Long soaks in oxyclean can leave a scale that some acid solution like vinegar or starsan must be used to remove. PBW doesn't cause this problem.
 
An overnight soak in Oxyclean gets most of the crap off. Labels, glue, nastiness in the bottom. If I have old nasty bottles (usually friends give me these) I use one of these:
http://www.brewgadgets.com/p-786-clean-bottle-express.aspx?gclid=CIOCp67P87UCFaI-MgodQzoAHQ

Chuck it in your cordless brewdriver and it will take the rest of the nastiness out. Just be sure to wet it before cramming it in the bottle.



I just cut the handle down on a bottle brush and chuck it in my drill. It works fine too.
 
Or just flatten out the loop at the end of the handle. That should keep it from striping around inside the drill chuck.:mug:
 
unionrdr said:
Long soaks in oxyclean can leave a scale that some acid solution like vinegar or starsan must be used to remove. PBW doesn't cause this problem.

If you completely submerge the bottles you don't have to worry about the scale it only happens if a part of the bottle is in air and it drys

But I use a quarter of a scoop for five gallons
 
Long soaks in oxyclean can leave a scale that some acid solution like vinegar or starsan must be used to remove. PBW doesn't cause this problem.

Long soaks in PBW also can leave a scale that some acid solution like vinegar or starsan must be used to remove. Using PBW doesn't prevent this problem.
 
Long soaks in PBW also can leave a scale that some acid solution like vinegar or starsan must be used to remove. Using PBW doesn't prevent this problem.

Huh? Seems to me Fivestar says they formulated it to work with hard water. Never a problem with the soft water we have.
 
unless your dishwasher has a sanitizer setting, i'd still santize after. I think I read something yooper posted about it only getting to 120 unless it has a sanitize setting. I clean mine in the dishwasher and then sanitze with my Vinator and seems to work great.
 

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