Dry heat for sterilizing bottles… best way to go.

Here’s why I think using dry heat is the best way to sterilize your wine and beer bottles:
1) You can do it as many days prior to your bottling day as you like so it cuts down on stuff to do on bottling day.
2) You are actually sterilizing the bottles, not just sanitizing them.
3) It’s cleaner, no splashing sanitizing liquid around your kitchen.
Give it a try next time! Just remember that these bottles aren’t tempered glass so to prevent shattering, place them in the oven prior to turning it on (which makes sense anyway), then when they are done just turn the oven off and let them cool slowly on their own over several hours. I do mine right before bed, then take all the bottles out next morning and put them back in their case and into storage until I’m ready to use them.
Come bottling day all I have to do is remove the aluminum foil from each bottle as I fill. Simple!

I agree with everything you said. I do have a question for you (I am not trying to be argumentative, just trying to clarify details in my head).

I always thought the oven reached higher temps while preheating...or at least hotter by the heating element and uneven all around. Is this a concern with putting the bottles straight in the oven while it is preheating?

The preheat cycle on an oven is just a time delay so you don't thrown your cake in and set the timer for 30 minutes but the first 6-9 minutes it's still warming up. It doesn't get hotter than the temp you set it at.
Well, at may get a little hotter because of the natural range that ovens cycle through. A good experiment is to put an oven thermometer inside then turn it to 350F and note every few minutes where the temp is at. You'd be surprised how much the temperature varies as it tries to maintain 350F. Cheaper oven are really bad at this.
Regardless, you want to raise and lower the temp of your glass bottles slowly. Putting them in at room temp then turning the oven on is slow enough.

Thanks for the info! Exactly what I was looking for! And I entirely agree on the practicality of this. Especially on double-batch bottling days or 10 gallon batches!

its not as much the level of heat that he is avoiding with putting the bottles in before turning the oven on, it is the sudden change in temp that the glass would experience if you put them into a pre heated oven. That would likely crack the glass. I'll stick with star san though. works for me and I don't have to wrap bottles in foil.

theonetrueruss said:

its not as much the level of heat that he is avoiding with putting the bottles in before turning the oven on, it is the sudden change in temp that the glass would experience if you put them into a pre heated oven. That would likely crack the glass. I'll stick with star san though. works for me and I don't have to wrap bottles in foil.

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Exactly correct, thank you.

Wrapping in foil is my favorite part!

What temp and duration do you use?

I used to sanitize (sterilize) my bottle in the oven, and it worked well enough, but I have switched to StarSan with a Vinator because it is less time consuming. The big concern I always had with putting the bottles in the oven was the direct radiant heat from the red hot coils heating the bottom side of the bottles faster than the top side (particularly for the bottles on the bottom rack). In fact, after I turned the oven on, I would stand in front of it for the 25 minutes it took for the temperature to stabilize (350º F if I recall correctly) and turn the oven on for 30 seconds, then off for 30 seconds to keep the heating coil from getting red hot (you can see why I changed my method ) After the temperature stabilized, I would leave it on for three hours, then turn it off and let the bottles cool overnight. It was nice to not have to worry about sanitizing bottles on bottling day, though. I think I recall Kaiser saying something about using wet heat - I think he put a little water in the bottles and baked them at a lower temp (250 or so?) - I would think that would be effective also.

The oven seems like too much work to me. All I do is use a vinator with starstan. Pump the bottle 2-3 times and place on the rack waiting for beer. Not has a problem since using the vinator. Loading and unloading the oven seems like a pain in the ass. Plus when I do 3+ case batches it just wouldn't work if I'm using 750s mixed in with 12oz and 375s. Starsan vinator pump is easy peasy!

Oven seems interesting, but man o man the vinator and starsan is easy. Plus, I put my caps in the vinator before I start sanitizing bottles and when it's time to cap... they are also sanitized!

passedpawn said:

Oven seems interesting, but man o man the vinator and starsan is easy. Plus, I put my caps in the vinator before I start sanitizing bottles and when it's time to cap... they are also sanitized!

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I have only used the oven method once when I had 14 gallons to bottle in a day (a beer and a 7.75 sanke fermenter topped to brim with applewine.

I also ordered a vinator and am itching to use it ASAP...Come on beer, condition already!

Germelli1 said:

I also ordered a vinator and am itching to use it ASAP...Come on beer, condition already!

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I used my vinator "alone" once, then bought the tree that goes under it. Otherwise, you end up with a little starsan in each bottle which bugged me. I like the tree and recommend it.

I used the dishwasher for 2 years before the vinator. While it seemed to work fine, many of my beers became gushers after 6 months. It might not have been the dishwasher (there were other things), but I now trust in starsan exclusively, and the world is a great place!

I've used the OP's method on almost 40 batches now. Love it. Super easy - when I empty a bottle, I wash it out. When I have a case or two of empties, I put foil on them and put them in the oven. Set to 350, set the timer for 80 minutes, turn off when it beeps. Next morning put them in empty milk crates.

I just like having lots of bottles available whenever I need to bottle a batch. If I'm focused, I can bottle 5 gallons in 1 hour, including clean up.

Although, I have never tried a vinator. Do you guys sanitize the bottles as you're bottling (i.e. fill one bottle as you sanitize the next)? If so, might be worth a shot. If you have to take 15 minutes to do that before you bottle, eh, I like splitting up the work.

Palefire said:

I've used the OP's method on almost 40 batches now. Love it. Super easy - when I empty a bottle, I wash it out. When I have a case or two of empties, I put foil on them and put them in the oven. Set to 350, set the timer for 80 minutes, turn off when it beeps. Next morning put them in empty milk crates.

I just like having lots of bottles available whenever I need to bottle a batch. If I'm focused, I can bottle 5 gallons in 1 hour, including clean up.

Although, I have never tried a vinator. Do you guys sanitize the bottles as you're bottling (i.e. fill one bottle as you sanitize the next)? If so, might be worth a shot. If you have to take 15 minutes to do that before you bottle, eh, I like splitting up the work.

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I santizied a carboys-worth, then onto the tree (to drain/dry). Honestly, I was really sold on the dishwasher until I gave the vinator a try. It's mo betta!

passedpawn said:

I used my vinator "alone" once, then bought the tree that goes under it. Otherwise, you end up with a little starsan in each bottle which bugged me. I like the tree and recommend it.

I used the dishwasher for 2 years before the vinator. While it seemed to work fine, many of my beers became gushers after 6 months. It might not have been the dishwasher (there were other things), but I now trust in starsan exclusively, and the world is a great place!

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I have noticed that sometimes, the foam turns back to liquid. My previous sanitation method was: dunk for a second, shake, pour out, set aside. When I would actually fill the bottles with beer I would dump the residual star san again, then fill with beer.

My last batch I realized the first few bottles I forgot to redump before filling...my pale ale was a wee bit watered down. It is a surprise when I will get the 5 or so bottles that will be watered down a little, but enough that I am weary of giving out bottles

Germelli1 said:

I have noticed that sometimes, the foam turns back to liquid. My previous sanitation method was: dunk for a second, shake, pour out, set aside. When I would actually fill the bottles with beer I would dump the residual star san again, then fill with beer.(

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Yes, when bottling I had to turn each bottle upside down to dump out the 0.5 oz of starsan. Ugh. Next time I had the tree and the world was right.

I just use the dishwasher as a tree and I don't care if there is residual starsan. It won't effect the beer.

I sanitize 9 bottles and hang them on my bottle tree (there's room for 9 bottles on each level of the tree), then fill those bottles, then sanitize 9 more, etc., making sure to start bottling with the first bottle sanitized. This gives the bottles enough time for the Star San to drain out, but not enough time for any nasty bugs to move in, as the insides of the bottles are still wet.

I think having the bottles ready to go on bottling day is the biggest plus for me.

Using a tree and vinator I do a case at a time. I sanitize a case then I bottle a case and cap a case. I do that process until all the beer is packaged. I dip a fist full of caps in starsan after I have all 24 bottles filled and place them on top, then cap. It's quick and the nice thing is I can bottle impulsively if I run into time with no planning needed. I just grab my folding table that I do my bottling with, all my bottling stuff and go at it.

Tree and vinator with Star San is nice. My parents have one for their wine and my brew buddy has one that I've helped with.

I've got too much crap to store already though, so I just use the dishwasher without detergent w/ heat cycle turned on. Load 'em up in the morning before work (or night before if on weekend). I can load up a whole batch worth, say 53 bottles. Keep it sealed up until I'm ready to bottle. Easy enough for me. 3 batches done this way and no issues with head retention or gushers.