Bottling (1st time) monday -- sanitizing questions

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breakfast

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Wasn't sure if this was more appropriate here or in the sanitizing or bottling sections... please move if necessary.

When we bought supplies we bought sodium metabisulfate for sterilizing (the guy at the store recommended highly) and it seems to have to worked so well in that when we've taken samples the beer hasn't tasted... unlike a beer haha

Will a light bleach soak work for sanitizing the bottles? We'd prefer to not spend any more money if we can save it.

Thanks
 
the sodium metabisulfite is used in the wine making industry to stop wines from fermenting any further and in homebrewing for knocking chloramine and chlorine out of brewing water. i don't think it's something you want in your bottling process as it might stick around and kill your yeast that are supposed to be carbonating your bottles (i don't know how exactly you used it i guess). you can use bleach, but you need a lot of sterilized water to rinse if off with. what i would do is place your clean bottles into your dishwasher, run it on 'sanitize' if you have it, if not it still works, and make sure to leave out the soap. just run a cycle w/o soap and heat dry it in there, that sterilizes the bottles. then you can just open the dishwasher door and use it as a drip tray as you fill each bottle from the dishwasher. has worked numerous times for me (and others) with no ill effect.
 
I soaked the bottles in oxyclean overnight, then the day of bottling I rinsed them with tap water really quick and sparyed the inside with a solution of starsan. It was my first brew and first time bottling. I have just gone through a case and a half and not a single infected bottle yet.
 
Yes, a light bleach soak will work. I did this for about 30 years before I switched to idodophor. There are two problems with bleach:
1. You need to soak for at least 20 - 30 minutes for it to sanitize
2. You need to rinse really well to remove every last bit of bleach, and some say (I'm not one of them) that you need to rinse with boiled water. That would cost a lot more than buying iodophor or starsan.
The dishwasher would also work, but don't use that for cleaning the bottles. It is the heat that does the sanitizing in the dishwasher. If you do use the dishwasher, it will take a long time for the bottles to cool before filling, and make sure you don't have any jet dry in there, as that can kill the beers head.

-a.
 
We bottled tonight... took forever with the bleach. Hopefully it turns out but I'm not too concerned.

Will definitely be investing in a bottle of starsan for the next go-round.


As for how we used the bisulfite, it was mainly for sanitizing big stuff. Poured in about a cup or so into the bottom of a primary fermenter, chucked all the other gear in and plopped the lid on top and let it sit for awhile. The sulfur dioxide gas that is created is what sanitizes apparently so we left it sit for a bit.

We sanitized the bottles with a bleach soak followed by a hefty rinse... quite a pain in the ass.
 
android said:
the sodium metabisulfite is used in the wine making industry to stop wines from fermenting any further and in homebrewing for knocking chloramine and chlorine out of brewing water. i don't think it's something you want in your bottling process as it might stick around and kill your yeast that are supposed to be carbonating your bottles (i don't know how exactly you used it i guess). you can use bleach, but you need a lot of sterilized water to rinse if off with. what i would do is place your clean bottles into your dishwasher, run it on 'sanitize' if you have it, if not it still works, and make sure to leave out the soap. just run a cycle w/o soap and heat dry it in there, that sterilizes the bottles. then you can just open the dishwasher door and use it as a drip tray as you fill each bottle from the dishwasher. has worked numerous times for me (and others) with no ill effect.
Click to expand...

+1 on the dishwasher. The only way to bottle. I bottle very quickly this way.
 
+2 Dishwasher Sani Rinse. Just make sure you give them a good scrub before you put them in. Or better yet, just rinse bottles out really well after you use them.
 
I have been just washing out the bottles using a high pressure bottle washer (the one that attaches to the faucet) and very hot water. This seems to work great as all the trub and beer smell is gone after the washing. I always add water to the empties after pouring the beer out.

On bottling day I use the pump sanitizer filled with Starsan and then place them on the bottle tree. Love the way the pump just sits on top of the tree. Works great for me.
 
I've used the dishwasher on 7 brews now and have had good luck with all. I do take a small piece of tinfoil and put it over the top of the bottle as soon as I take it out of the dishwasher, this way the bottle is good until i have time to use it.

Although I like this method, it is a fair amount of messing around. My next purchase will be the Vinator.
 
I just always rinse the bottles (immediately after pouring the beer, or if brand new) under a normal sink and swish a few times hard, then upend them in the dishwasher to drip dry and then store until bottling day.

On bottling day, I use my sulfiter with some io star, (same ratio as star san), spritz them 3 times and again upside down in the dishwasher to drip until I'm done with them all. Then I set them up on the open dishwasher door and bottle.
 
Tdawg said:
Star san! Good stuff and you can reuse it. A bottle will last a long time
Click to expand...

This isn't the point in the brewing process that you want to cheap out on. Get Star SAn. Imaging ruining a batch of perfectly good beer to save a couple bucks.
 
I use a bottle tree with a rinser on top and star san. I just run all my bottles through it real quick before starting the rest of my prep. I like the dishwasher idea but not sure if I can fit all my bottles in mine.
 
recently acquired bottles go in an oxi clean soak to remove labels and crud.. Bottle brush if necessary to get em clean then a soak in star san to remove the #$*&^%! oxi clean residue, then let em dry and store covered in boxes until I use em. Bottles I am reusing just get a good hot water rinse after pouring the beer and let em dry and store em covered. Bottling day I just set the box of bottles to my right.....my vinator full of star san and my caps next to that....my bottling buckett in front of me...and a towel spread out on the table to set the filled loose capped bottles on. grab a bottle and hit it 2-3 times on the vinator. fill it and lay on a cap then set it on the towel. Once I get a case I cap em and mark the cap. I then put em back in the box and start over with the next case of bottles.
 

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