Sanitizing Bottles

Hi I just wanted to make sure my process for sanitizing is good...

1. I soaked first batch of bottles overnight in oxiclean
2. Next day rinsed out with hot water then transferred to bucket with starsan
3. Then I emptied out the liquid and placed in 6 pack carriers, sprayed openings with starsan, placed paper towel over openings, then sprayed them so they stayed in place.
4. I'm not sure if I'll be able to bottle tonight or tomorrow so I'll just keep wetting the towels to keep them in place.
5. Tomorrow I'll just soak the caps and start the process...

If your talking used beer bottles. i always rinse mine with hot water a few times and shake after drinking them,that way it doesnt have any solid stuff then when i soak them to take labels off . I stick a little baking soda in and use a bottle brush rinse/ dry store. then on botteling day i use a sanitizer soak with a no rinse but i still rinse with a little distilled water.
Sounds like your overcleaning but some may say so am i because some people just rinse them really good then just soak on botteling day. But i use a bottle brush. You dont need to do all that pre sanitizing if you rinse them good and maybe use a bottle brush with hot water, then just sanitize them on botteling day.

There is a great plastic accessory that most homebrew stores carry. Its a "sanitizer" bowl that has shaft with a spring used to pump sanitizer up and into your bottle. Works great! It's about $20 and worth every penny. I have been using one-step santizer and works great.

Have fun.

Chris

Yeah my Lhbs didn't have that accessory so I'll have to order it.

i rinse the used bottles when i drink them and to sanitize them i just put them in the dishwasher without soap. (some one please tell me to stop if this way is wrong) but its super easy and i dont have to scrub or mix anything. also one of those bottle/carboy washers for the sink makes rinsing them real easy.

The first time I've received a bottle I soak it in Oxyclean for a few days to remove the label (not critical) and any debris it might have gathered (very critical - I've seen a number of disgusting things emerge from bottles after this).

After this, I just rinse with water and store upside down until bottling day. I have a number of beer boxes in the garage.

Bottling day is best for me with a helper (usually a kid). The kid grabs the bottle and immerses it in Star San, dumps it out and sets it on the counter. I grab and fill from the bottling bucket, place a wet cap on it, and repeat. They know not to have more than one or two out at a time.

Afterward, kid holds bottles and I cap. Very fast.

This has proven to be the most efficient method for me. No infections yet (knock on oak chips).

I boil lots o water, and funnel it into the bottles with no rinse cleaner added to the boil/pour out water, then upside down into the dishwasher on high heat/sanitizer mode with no soap. Seems pretty clean after??

Your process is sound but may be more labor intensive than it needs to be. I either load them in a dishwasher at night and run the cycle without soap. That way in the morning they are sanitized and cool. My other approach is to bake them in the oven until sterilized. Both approaches assume they have been soaked in oxyclean and rinsed out.

eljefe said:

Your process is sound but may be more labor intensive than it needs to be. I either load them in a dishwasher at night and run the cycle without soap. That way in the morning they are sanitized and cool.

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My process is:

1) Pour homebrew into glass
2) Immediately rinse. I fill and shake out 2-3 times
3) Hang upside-down to dry
4) Store in cardboard boxes until bottling day
5) On bottlign day (or the night before), put 55 bottles in the dishwasher and run on sanitize cycle
6) Bottle

I've done 4 batches with this process, not one infection. The first batch I didn't knwo what the hell I was doing and that batch was infected.

I wash bottles out with soap and then sanitize with Easy Clean right before I bottle. Has turned out good so far!

I follow a 3-step process:

1. Rinse bottle thoroughly immediately after pouring beer.

2. Sanitize bottles with vinator (the pump mentioned earlier) squirting Star San up into the bottle, then place bottles in dishwasher. (This takes maybe 15 min / 50 bottles)

3. Run dishwasher the following morning before bottling, mainly for insurance.

I have had no problems after doing many batches this way; no fuss, quick & easy.