Cleaned with too much bleach, bottles ruined?

So after a couple of infections I bleached all my bottles. Came to realize I used way too much bleach.

Having some off flavors in what I have recently brewed, I think due to bleach.

Can I still get the bottles properly clean at this point or are they ruined for good after using too much bleach once?

Still good, just rinse really well. Rinse with hot water until you can't smell it anymore.

If every single bottle in a 5 gallon batch was infected multiple batches I hardly believe its the bottles. More likely your bottling bucket. Star san should kill everything in your beer bottles. Do you take the spigot off and clean well after every bottling? Its not your bottles its something else in your process

No they aren't ruined, the problem wasn't too much bleach, it was not rinsing the bottles properly. If you choose to use bleach, you need to rinse them extremely well, if they smell like chlorine, keep rinsing them.

This is the reason we tend to use starsan or iodophor, because they will sanitize without the need to rinse and rinse and rinse.

I'm sure you know this already, but do not use any detergents on your bottles. I made the mistake of putting bottles in the dishwasher and I ended up losing about 65 bottles. The detergents leave a residue that will kill any heading properties

I use oxyclean on all of my gear and Iodophor on the bottles right before I fill. I used to use starsan, but I found the oxyclean to be just as good. Try soaking your bottles in oxyclean and see if that doesn't do the trick.

I use Iodophor on everything too. I make up a bucket full prior to brewing and every utensil I own goes in the bucket for a nice long soak. I also have a spray bottle with the solution in it for quick sprays on thermometers and hydrometers before dunking them.

ChaosStout said:

If every single bottle in a 5 gallon batch was infected multiple batches I hardly believe its the bottles. More likely your bottling bucket. Star san should kill everything in your beer bottles. Do you take the spigot off and clean well after every bottling? Its not your bottles its something else in your process

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I know it probably wasn't the bottles but I went overboard and cleaned the crap out of everything.

I have not had any infections recently but just got into the habit of bleaching my bottles every time.

I rinsed pretty well and couldn't smell any bleach on the bottles but my last few batches all have a similar off flavor and it is since I started bleaching so I think that is the problem.

As long as I know the bottles are reusable thats OK. I will just give them a long soak in hot water before reusing I guess. I presume that would take care of any residual bleach.

Starsan and Oxyclean are not interchangeable, starsan is a sanitizer and oxyclean is a percarbonate cleaner.

You clean with Oxy/PBW
You sanitize with Iodophor/Starsan

MrMcPeach said:

I rinsed pretty well and couldn't smell any bleach on the bottles but my last few batches all have a similar off flavor and it is since I started bleaching so I think that is the problem.

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Chlorine / chloramine in the water? That could cause a flavor similar to residual bleach.

Starsan and Oxyclean are not interchangeable, starsan is a sanitizer and oxyclean is a percarbonate cleaner.

You clean with Oxy/PBW
You sanitize with Iodophor/Starsan


I just went and looked at what I typed and saw my mistake. I meant to say that I liked the iodophor better than the starsan......but my brain and my fingers became mutually exclusive at that point.....lol.

TyTanium said:

Chlorine / chloramine in the water? That could cause a flavor similar to residual bleach.

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I used reverse ossmosis water so I don't think that was the issue.

they aren't ruined.

I use a strong bleach to sterilize sometimes, but after they go through a regular wash/sanitize cylce and it takes all the bleach residue off.

i wouldn't bleach then bottle with them though.