Cleaning/Sanitizing Grolsch type bottles?

Hey, I'm wondering how people wash/sanitize their grolsch-style bottles?

Do you remove the whole cage/top, or leave it on during washing?

Are you careful about not using bleach/chlorine based sanitizers b/c of the metal wire/corrosion factor?

How about the rubber seals on the tops? Are they removed for cleaning and then put back on before sanitizing?

Any thoughts?

I just scored 9 boxes of them for free on craigslist and I want to protect my beer AND my bottles!!

Thanks!

If the rubber washer look worn or dried, you can buy new ones at the LHBS. I use Idophor so I don't worry about corosion.

Definitely replace the rubber seals. I usually take the rubber seals off when cleaning and just soak them in sanitizer

Yes, me too. I take off the rubber seals, and dunk the ceramic tops in sanitizer along with the bottles.

On the Grolsch and ez-cap bottles I have, the wire piece appears to be stainless. I clean them with Diversol, and then rinse thoroughly and sanitize with iodophor. Maybe overkill but the diversol really cleans out any haze/crud, since I haven't been able to find a bottle brush that will fit and still reach the sides of the bottle adequately, for cheap. Mostly I keg, and fill the bottles from the keg.

No problems with rust/corrosion, but then again I don't soak the whole bottle in solution. I usually scrub the outside with a dish brush before I do the rest of the cleaning.

thanks to everyone, that definitely helps! I already got some new seals from the LHS and since I have diversol, I think I'll go with tentacles' advice since some of the bottles are definitely growing things! Iodophor seems like the sanitizer of choice...the no rinsing is definitely attractive....

I had a big plastic tub that I use and fill it with water and bleach for the initial cleaning and submerge all the bottles in this overnight. It gets the nasty stuff growing in the bottles out and does a good job getting the labels off. I use a bottle brush on all the bottles, stick them back in the solution to rinse out the inside and then throw them back in a case so I can rinse them with clean water. It's a one time operation for new bottles.

Hi there,
I bottled a case of a trappist ale using a Grolsch type bottles and a case using regular air-tight caps. The air-tight bottles carbonated wonderfully and the ale is darn near as good as what comes across the pond. Meanwhile, I popped open a Grolsch-type bottle and found almost NO carbonation. Opened another bottle, same thing. Any tips that point me in the direction of a solution would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Pablo

What did you use to carbonate? I notice a difference when I use carb drops. It is because the drops are made for 12 oz. I do not bottle much anymore.

When I can get a case of Grolsch bottles, I let them sit overnight in a solution of bleach to loosen up the labels and get the gunk out. I haven't noticed any problems with the bails being adversely affected by the bleach.

I just remove the rubber gaskets and sanitize the bottles like any other bottle...drop the gaskets in some starsan for a minutes and replace after the bottles are sanitized.

I find it easiest to remove the wire part that holds the ceramic top and rubber seals off, while leaving the wire part the actually touches the bottle on the bottle. I throw all the removed parts in a bowl of iodophor solution in a paint strainer/hop bag a few minutes before brewing. Works great for me.

hey people, what about washing/sanitizing these bottles in dishwasher?

can I leave the ceramic tops and rubber thing on inside the dishwasher?

For my bottles, I don't bother removing the rubber seals BUT I am getting a bunch of bottles used by someone else, so i will likely remove the seals and replaces any that seem dried out.

Up until recently i have rinsed with diversol and made sure to pour it all over the seals as I empty the bottle. However now, I use Idophor and plan on soaking the bottles, I will also be kegging by beer and therefore will only bottle about a gallon per batch.

As a Canadian, we brew 6 US gallons and the kegs are 5, so the bottles are great for indicating when the beer is ready to tap. I think I will also start bottling 1 per batch in a clear bottle so I can see how clear my brew is.

If I get some of these from someone else, I remove the wire holders and soak the bottles in oxyclean to remove the labels and gunk, rinse well and replace any seals that need it then sanitize in iodophore for bottling. If the caps need cleaning, old toothbrush in the sink with dish washing soap.

billc68 said:

As a Canadian, we brew 6 US gallons and the kegs are 5...

Click to expand...

Sigh...silly Canadians!