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MinnesnowtaBrew

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Is it ok to use the dishwasher plastic limbs to rest your bottles to drip dry after dunking them in star san? I would of course run a cycle first.

Just curious if this is a viable option w/o the bottle tree.
 
MinnesnowtaBrew said:
Is it ok to use the dishwasher plastic limbs to rest your bottles to drip dry after dunking them in star san? I would of course run a cycle first.

Just curious if this is a viable option w/o the bottle tree.

Yes. Just run it through the heat cycle to sanitize prion to use as a bottle tree.
 
This is what I did the last time I bottled and it worked great. Just emptied the clean dishes out and dunked and placed the bottles in the dishwasher. Then I closed the door until I was ready. I figure this is no worse than leaving them on a bottle tree, nothing will get in the bottles this way. Then I bottled over the door and it made cleanup really easy as well.
 
I actually have 2 extra dishwasher racks I got for free from a scrap yard that I sanitize and use as my bottle tree. Between the two of them I can easily drip dry about 75 bottles at a time.
 
AMonkey said:
This is what I did the last time I bottled and it worked great. Just emptied the clean dishes out and dunked and placed the bottles in the dishwasher. Then I closed the door until I was ready. I figure this is no worse than leaving them on a bottle tree, nothing will get in the bottles this way. Then I bottled over the door and it made cleanup really easy as well.

This sounds great and will be exactly what I'll do tonight. Thank you for your response and help.
 
After running the dishwasher on high heat and sanitize cycle, is it necessary to then dip the bottles in starsan?

I would imagine it would not be necessary, unless you want to be really, really careful...
 
After running the dishwasher on high heat and sanitize cycle, is it necessary to then dip the bottles in starsan?

I would imagine it would not be necessary, unless you want to be really, really careful...

No it is not needed. I just cannot shut off the jet dry in my dishwasher and had issues with no head. Since this can be caused by jet dry I decided not to use the dishwasher for sanitizing. So I use starsan but use the dishwasher rack as a bottle tree. After I place the bottles in there I do not run the dishwasher, just leave them there until ready to bottle.
 
You can sterilize your bottles in the oven. I think it's easier and the bottles are cleaner.
Like this:
http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/10/not-just-sanitized-but-sterilized.html


This is the way I always bottle. My oven holds about 55 bottles standing on the lower shelf so I just sanitize at 180F for 20 minutes and then as soon as they are cool enough to touch I move the bottles to the counter where they are filled and capped. Never had an infection and no matter what people say about Starsan it can increase the bitterness of your beer if you bottle into star san soaked bottles. Oven sanitizing leaves the bottles super clean and dry so they are much easier to handle than slippery starsan bottles.
 
Jayhem said:
This is the way I always bottle. My oven holds about 55 bottles standing on the lower shelf so I just sanitize at 180F for 20 minutes and then as soon as they are cool enough to touch I move the bottles to the counter where they are filled and capped. Never had an infection and no matter what people say about Starsan it can increase the bitterness of your beer if you bottle into star san soaked bottles. Oven sanitizing leaves the bottles super clean and dry so they are much easier to handle than slippery starsan bottles.

Do you rinse the bottles just before you put them in the oven or so you not worry about that? I typically starsan and throw them in the dishwasher (rinse the starsan out and sanitize twice), but this sounds easier than dunking 30+ bottles in starsan and waiting an hour and a half for the bottles to be done.
 
Do you rinse the bottles just before you put them in the oven or so you not worry about that? I typically starsan and throw them in the dishwasher (rinse the starsan out and sanitize twice), but this sounds easier than dunking 30+ bottles in starsan and waiting an hour and a half for the bottles to be done.

I wash my bottles by soaking in a vat of water and unscented dish soap. This is just in case they picked up dust, mildew or insects while sitting in storage for months in my basement. Then I rinse WELL and drip dry on my dishwasher racks on my deck, once they are mostly dry you can oven sanitize which also dries them 100%. Saves startsan and works great.
 
This may be a silly question, but the lowest setting on my oven is 200 degrees. Is this too hot for the glass?
 
Anybody tried the oven thing with Grolsch style bottles? I'm inclined to use the method but wonder if it gets hot enough to break down the rubber gaskets.
 
350 degrees for 90 minutes works great for glass's bottles. I haven't tried Grolsch bottles, but I imagine, like you said, the rubber would be significantly degraded. If you load up the oven the night before bottling the next day they are ready to go.
 
Yes. Just run it through the heat cycle to sanitize prion to use as a bottle tree.

I hadn't thought of that before. I guess you could even take it one step farther and clean the bottles, hang them in the dishwasher and use the heat cycle to clean/sanitize?
 
RagingBull said:
I hadn't thought of that before. I guess you could even take it one step farther and clean the bottles, hang them in the dishwasher and use the heat cycle to clean/sanitize?

This is exactly my process.
 
This is exactly my process.

Am I getting this right?

I can put all my bottles in the dishwasher without otherwise sanitizing them, run them through with no soap and let the heat cycle sanitize them and go ahead and use them after they cool?

That's pretty elegant, and putting the bottling bucket on the counter above the dishwasher makes it even easier.
 
That's it. I did it that way for quite a while with zero issues. If you use the bottom rack then they will get hotter because they are closer to the drying element.
 
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