Vintage Bottle Sanitation

So my wife and I picked up some old Vintage British beer bottles a few months ago. When I brough them home I washed them out with some bleach followed by a nice rinsing with the last of my 1-step.

Trouble is there is still a lot of hazing and calcium buildup on the bottle, mostly around the head and rim. I'm not inclined to use them let alone serve someone with the condition they're in.

I've searched the forums and have read a lot of good posts on using Powdered Brewery Wash (PBW). Has anyone tried using it in this type of application? I was planning on soaking them for a few days in some white vinegar but wondering if this would be a better option.

just cause i'm cheap and old fashioned, i would suggest a 50/50 vinegar and water bath for 12 hours like what you'd use for water deposits. could be a cheap solution and would be gentler on the bottlies than the big burley PBW.

I myself would go with a good solution of PBW. It's never let me down though I use it sparingly, it's a bit expensive and I dont agree with the amounts to use in the instructions. It really doesn't take a lot. Soak for a few hours in hot tap water and a tbs of PBW for 5 gallons of water and they should wash clean.

you could also try oxyclean.

mrduna01 said:

I myself would go with a good solution of PBW. It's never let me down though I use it sparingly, it's a bit expensive and I dont agree with the amounts to use in the instructions. It really doesn't take a lot. Soak for a few hours in hot tap water and a tbs of PBW for 5 gallons of water and they should wash clean.

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agreed... you don't need as much as they call for, I use about half, just make sure you are using warm/ hot water.

Thanks for the suggestions. Just ran up to my local homebrew store and picked up some PBW. I've got 3 cases of bottles to clean so I'm going to make multiple soak stations. One containing a mixture of PBW and the other 50/50 vinegar bath. I'll let each sit overnight and check on it in the morning.

Some other advice I received was to use pollydent or lime-a-way. Not sure I like the sound of either of those....

I'll post an update in the morning. Thanks guys.

Let us know how it went.