Quick Bottling Question - Should they cool first?

I'm bottling my first brew this weekend, or think I will. Still have to check with the hydrometer, but it's been in secondary 2 weeks so I think I'll be good.

Anyway ...

I've washed the bottles and plan on running them through the dishwasher (with no detergent) and the "plate heat" setting to sterilize them. Then, bottling bucket on dishwasher and bottles in washer, sounds pretty handy and mess free.

My question though, and I've searched the forum (using the handy search feature) and could not find an answer, should I let the bottles cool prior to filling them with beer? My fear is taking them right from the washer, all nice and hot, and then adding beer will negatively affect the beer. If I do need to let the bottles cool first, will they be okay cooling in the washer for an hour or so?

Thanks in advance!

- the newb

Too hot may upset the yeast.

dont forget to sanatize the caps. You probably fine leaving them sitting in the dishwasher until they cool off although keep in mind thats going to insulate the heat. Let them sit for a few hours and then bottle and your good.

When i sanitize i fill my bottling bucket with the same amount of water+sanitizer equal to the amount im about to bottle. That way i know how many bottles its going to take.

You can put your bottles in a dishwasher without soap and set to a hot setting for sterilization, but I really don't think every bottle will get washed out well and sanitized with the small opening of the mouth that has a dishwasher racks prong in it. You are better off getting some Star San or Idophor, and filling your sink up and then dunking the bottles in the sink. They don't need to be rinsed after wards, which makes it an easy process. The caps can be dipped in it also.

As long as you're not using the dishwasher to "clean" them (i.e., just for sanitization), you should be fine. Many of us on here (that still bottle) use the dishwasher for sanitization on a high heat setting, myself included, and never had an infection.

As for cooling the bottles, as long as they're not piping hot when filling, you should be OK. I'd let them cool for a bit before filling, but they don't necessarily have to be the same temp as the beer. Personally, I do 10-12 gallon batches, so I use the dishwasher twice for sanitizing bottles for each batch. And there is usually considerable time that passes between the dishwasher finishing and bottling. I "cap" each bottle with a small piece of aluminum foil as I remove them from the dishwasher. That way I don't have to worry about cooling or maintaining sanitization before bottling.

I dont see how it would hurt much. I mean, if the bottles are cool enough for you to handle then they shouldnt hurt anything. Always better to be safe than sorry in these cases though in my opinion. I try never to increase my potential for error though, if I can help it. Personally I fill a bucket with a sanitizer solution, dunk the bottles for 2min, then hang dry them on a bottle tree.

Let them cool to the point you feel comfortable holding them and you'll be fine. Beer is pretty resilient stuff.

Now, on the other hand, if you need welding gloves to hold the bottles....

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Just to update, after washing all the bottles and running them through the dishwasher, they came out warm to the touch, but not hot. Seems all my worrying was for nothing.

Course, I then took a gravity reading and found after 2 weeks in secondary my hefe is only at 1.014, so no bottling this weekend!

If it's 1.014 tomorrow bottle.

I just measured and it was still 1.014. It was at that point I realized I had forgotten to write down the OG. Hey, it's my first batch. I'm learning from my mistakes!

I found some sites that talked about estimating the OG, and with my 8lbs Alexander Sun Country Wheat Malt Extract that I used, that means about a 1.058. Which means I'm looking at a FG of 1.014, which is where I'm at. I used a slap pack of Wyeast 3068 and the batch was in primary 1 week and then secondary 2 weeks.

I think I'm good to go for bottling, but I'm really paranoid about bottle bombs so wanted to post and see if anyone thinks bottling now would be really, really bad.

Thanks!

man bottle bombs always scare the %$#@ out of me too. but just make sure you have a consistent FG, and proper amounts of priming sugar,or DME,or honey, or what ever u prime with. Good Luck Homes !