sanitizing bottles

I usually use starsan to sanitize my bottles immediately before bottling, but this is a mess and time consuming and I can never get all the starsan foam out of the bottle (I know the foam is harmless, but I don't have to like it!). I was wondering if placing the bottles in the dishwasher (with nothing else) on high heat would be a safe alternative.

depends. if the bottles go in clean and there is no organic material down in the corner for bacteria to hide it then you are probably fine.

personally I use StarSan and one of of these:


I don't like the foam either but a little is fine (as you know).

A lot of people do this without issues. Your dishwasher needs to get hot enough though. I think over 150 F. Don't quote me on that though. I have heard that with certain bottles the heat cycle can damage them. It's really just up to personal preference. I did it my first one or two times, but my dishwasher takes ~1 1/2 to run, so now I just dump them in the Star San bucket, then put them in the dishwasher w/o running it to drip dry. That way the Star San comes out (again, I know it should be an issue). The Star San coming out of the bottle will also sanitize the dishwasher as it drains. This takes less than 10 minutes (I think, I don't time myself) to do a 5 gallon batch.

I run my bottles through the dishwasher (no detergent, no dishes or anything) for a full cycle on high heat. Then when it's time to bottle, I just flip them over, and any bottling messes stay in the dishwasher. As long as your dishwasher gets hot enough, this can be a very effective and easy way to sanitize bottles.

m1k3 said:

depends. if the bottles go in clean and there is no organic material down in the corner for bacteria to hide it then you are probably fine.

personally I use StarSan and one of of these:

I don't like the foam either but a little is fine (as you know).

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I too use one of these plus place the bottles on a bottle tree to drain. The tree holds 45 bottles. By the time I have 45 bottle on the tree the first ones are almost fully drained with just a very small amount Starsan foam left in the bottle. I start loading the tree from the top and work my way down so new bottles don't drip on existing bottles.

m1k3 said:

depends. if the bottles go in clean and there is no organic material down in the corner for bacteria to hide it then you are probably fine.

personally I use StarSan and one of of these:

I don't like the foam either but a little is fine (as you know).

Click to expand...

That thing is pretty cool! Any idea what it is called?

I guess my dishwasher gets hot enough. I don't really know how I would take that measurement without putting a thermometer in there and opening it mid cycle or right after it is finished. It is always steaming when I open it though and the dishes are hot

^

Vintinator

Don't know how I survived w/out one..........

What about using Saniclean? Same makers of Starsan, no foam!

nolabrew85 said:

I guess my dishwasher gets hot enough. I don't really know how I would take that measurement without putting a thermometer in there and opening it mid cycle or right after it is finished. It is always steaming when I open it though and the dishes are hot

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My dishwasher has a "sanitize" cycle. I don't know about the hot cycles causing issues with the bottles. My bottles have been through at least 4 cycles in the dishwasher now, and so far, none have broke.

An alternative to this would be your oven. I'm not an expert and I don't know exactly what bacterias are capable of infecting beer. With that said, the lactobacilus(?) and pediococcus (?) bacterias are killed at 140 degrees, others like e coli and staph are around 165 degrees. I have been putting things in the oven at 175 -180 for 10 to 15 minutes and call it good.

Decide for yourself if this is acceptable or not. I'm a rookie brewer with 10 complete batches, and knock on wood, I've never had an infection. I refuse to use iodophor and starsan anymore. I've tried them, and I drink my beer young. You can ALWAYS taste sanitizer in my beer.

Interesting about the oven. I have never tasted starsan in my beer and generally haven't heard of anyone else tasting it either. Maybe you have a super refined palate or you had a lot of starsan left in the there.

ScrewedBrew said:

You can ALWAYS taste sanitizer in my beer.

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If you can taste the sanitizer you are using way too much. Have you considered the possibility that your off flavors came from something else?

m1k3 said:

depends. if the bottles go in clean and there is no organic material down in the corner for bacteria to hide it then you are probably fine.

personally I use StarSan and one of of these:

I don't like the foam either but a little is fine (as you know).

Click to expand...

Same for me but I make sure I bottle before all the foam is gone. I use the Vinator and hang the bottles on the bottle tree. I like to see a nice plug of bubbles in the neck of the bottles.

ScrewedBrew said:

My dishwasher has a "sanitize" cycle. I don't know about the hot cycles causing issues with the bottles. My bottles have been through at least 4 cycles in the dishwasher now, and so far, none have broke.

An alternative to this would be your oven. I'm not an expert and I don't know exactly what bacterias are capable of infecting beer. With that said, the lactobacilus(?) and pediococcus (?) bacterias are killed at 140 degrees, others like e coli and staph are around 165 degrees. I have been putting things in the oven at 175 -180 for 10 to 15 minutes and call it good.

Decide for yourself if this is acceptable or not. I'm a rookie brewer with 10 complete batches, and knock on wood, I've never had an infection. I refuse to use iodophor and starsan anymore. I've tried them, and I drink my beer young. You can ALWAYS taste sanitizer in my beer.

Click to expand...

Maybe you are tasting the green beer. Keep a sixer out and let it fully carb and condition and then plop it in a fridge for a couple of weeks and try it.

I use the heck out of starsan and have never tasted it.

For hard brutal cleaning and first use bottles, I use a chlorinated alkaline detergent used for cleaning and sanitizing milking systems. This is used to absolutely destroy anything and everything that doesn't belong in bottles. It will also remove the most stubborn of labels given a couple of days to soak in a relatively mild solution. The remaining solution is used to clean floors, etc before disposal. This must be rinsed off and out. No big deal considering the job done.

For sanitizing I usually use iodine for everything including meat prep for smoking and cleanup. It isn't a big deal rinsing this out either using a bottle washer. It is extremely effective and that is what I want. No question anywhere.

These items can be purchased at a farm supply.

I have been using the dishwasher, since it has a sanitise feature. It just takes a little timeing. I rinse the empties very well in hot water and crate them, then on bottling day get them in the washer.

CAUTION CAUTION: The new dishwasher gel packs shouldn't be used on re-sealable bottles. It turned the aluminum wire all white. This white washes off and the seals and rubbers were fine, but still. I use a tiny amount of plain oild fashioned dishwasher detergent. No problems.

I rinse my bottles out as I empty them so there is no dried up crud in the bottom. I run them through the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle with no soap before bottling.

I bottle using the dishwasher door for a table. When I am done, I close the door and any spillage goes into the d/w. No muss, no mess.

Brewham said:

I rinse my bottles out as I empty them so there is no dried up crud in the bottom. I run them through the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle with no soap before bottling.

I bottle using the dishwasher door for a table. When I am done, I close the door and any spillage goes into the d/w. No muss, no mess.

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Brewham, you apparently are a gentleman and a scholar. I deem that a great method, and I shall follow suit!

I like star san on brew day but prefer iodophor for bottling day. Brew day is mostly plastic and mesh that needs sanitizing and I don't like the way iodophor stains it. Don't really have any issues with foam either.

On bottling day though, star san in the vinator makes a lot of foam. I also prefer iodophor for kegs as I just don't trust the star san around metal and I do like to shake them which would make lots of foam. I have seen some of my metal tools get discolored from star san contact just like iodophor can discolor plastic. So for me I like having both around. Star san for plastic, iodophor for metal and bottles.

I use the dishwasher to sanitize too. I work the night shift so when I get home I load and start the dishwasher. By the time I wake up the bottles have been sanitized and have had enough time to cool. I leave the bottles in the dishwasher, open the door and put the bottling bucket right above the dishwasher as seen here in post #2

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

Has anyone sanitized (already cleaned) 5L minikegs in the dishwasher on sanitize mode? Seems like althou not much water would get in the keg, plenty of hot steam would work its way in there to do the trick. Thoughts?