Bottling question

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jmuman703

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Hey all!

Can I wash bottles in a dishwasher or do I need to use sanitizer on each one? I rinsed each beer bottle out so there is no residue that needs to be scrubbed out. This is my first batch so I don't want to blow it!

Thanks for all the advice!
 
You can wash them in the dishwasher, but you'll still need to sanitize them just before you put beer in them. Schmutz from the air can get in there and make the nasties. Dishwater, a sprits with a vinator (or squirt bottle if you're poor like me), pour out the excess, and fill.
 
bfinleyui said:
You can wash them in the dishwasher, but you'll still need to sanitize them just before you put beer in them. Schmutz from the air can get in there and make the nasties. Dishwater, a sprits with a vinator (or squirt bottle if you're poor like me), pour out the excess, and fill.
Click to expand...

Yes, wash first sanitize second.

For more bottling info check out our sticky.
 
I found the vinator on Amazon for way cheap so I bought one and use star san just prior to filling and capping each bottle. I run the whole load through the dishwasher to clean them and then sanitize just before I fill them with brew. The sulfiter is a great way to flush each bottle and insire that the bottles are as sanitized as possible too. Good luck and look around because the Vinators have a very broad price range and can be had for very cheap if you look around and shop wisely.
Wheelchair Bob
 
Very cool ok I will do that then. I will wash then sanitize. Does the sanitizer need to sit in the bottles or can I just dunk, fill, and empty?
 
I wouldn't use a dishwasher, personally. I know some do, but I think the glass that bottles are made of aren't heat-treated, so the extreme temps in a dishwasher might degrade the volumes of pressure that they can hold over time. Then again, I might just be paranoid. I usually just bathe them in oxyclean for a couple of hours/over night and then dip them in a star-san solution right before bottling.
 
jmuman703 said:
Very cool ok I will do that then. I will wash then sanitize. Does the sanitizer need to sit in the bottles or can I just dunk, fill, and empty?
Click to expand...

If you're using a wet contact, no rinse sanitizer like starsan or iodophor dunking and draining is fine, though a vinator as mentioned is more convenient and faster.
 
Consider my method, easy and effective and no slippery, wet bottles to drop while filling!

1. Soak all bottles in a tub of oxyclean and water (I soak overnight)

2. Rinse each bottle one by one in an assembly line with garden hose or sink (I use a helper to hand me bottles 2 at a time and it only takes me about 10 minutes to rinse 110 bottles! )

3. Drain bottles upside down for 10 minutes on bottle tree or on clean dishwasher racks

4. Set bottles in oven at 190F for 20 minutes to sanitize and dry

5. As soon as the bottles are cool enough to handle you can bottle.

No slippery bottles, no sanitizer influencing the flavor of your beer. I've bottled around 1,200 bottles this way and never had a single issue.
 
Jayhem said:
...no sanitizer influences the flavor of your beer.
Click to expand...

Except when properly dilluted, sanitizer NEVER should "influence" the flavor of your beer.....I've bottled for years with sanitizer, both iodophor and starsan, and never had it affect the taste.

Otherwise sounds like a decent system. It works for you.

Have you considered this instead of dragging out the hose?

jet-carboy-bottle-washer.jpg
 
Hey everyone thanks again for all the great ideas and advice. The sanitizer I use is called one step and it's a no rinse cleaner. But ok, I think I will use a dish washer and just let the bottles air dry (just turn off the washer prior to the dryin phase). I'm super excited! Tomorrow is the day.

Also, random side question, my beer is a hefeweizen and it has been in primary for 18 days (19 by bottling day). It has been kept at a constant 69 degrees throughout that time. However, it still burps every 5 or so minutes. Is it still safe to bottle. I too a gravity reading last Sunday and it was right around where it should be. I'm going to take another tomorrow. I guess what I am askin is do you think it's safe to bottle then?
 
I personlly use the following method:

1. Run empty dishwasher on hottest possible setting.

2. Fill bottling bucket halfway or so with sanitizer solution.

3. Dunk as many cleaned bottles in as I can fit in the bucket - this ensures plenty of contact time.

4. Remove bottles, pour solution back into the bucket, please on countertop.

5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 until all bottles are sanitized.

6. Place bottles in dishwasher and run them on a drying cycle.

7. Bottle.


So far, this has worked well.
 
jmuman703 said:
Hey everyone thanks again for all the great ideas and advice. The sanitizer I use is called one step and it's a no rinse cleaner. But ok, I think I will use a dish washer and just let the bottles air dry (just turn off the washer prior to the dryin phase). I'm super excited! Tomorrow is the day.

Also, random side question, my beer is a hefeweizen and it has been in primary for 18 days (19 by bottling day). It has been kept at a constant 69 degrees throughout that time. However, it still burps every 5 or so minutes. Is it still safe to bottle. I too a gravity reading last Sunday and it was right around where it should be. I'm going to take another tomorrow. I guess what I am askin is do you think it's safe to bottle then?
Click to expand...

If you're using one-step, you might want to read this thread. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/sanitizer-question-54932/

If the gravity is the same as when you took it on Sunday, then yes. Remember an airlock is NOT a gauge it's a vent. It could be bubbling, because of a change in barometric pressure, change in temp, or the dog tried to have sex with it. ALWAYS go by hydromter not what an airlock is doing.
 
jmuman703 said:
Hey everyone thanks again for all the great ideas and advice. The sanitizer I use is called one step and it's a no rinse cleaner. But ok, I think I will use a dish washer and just let the bottles air dry (just turn off the washer prior to the dryin phase). I'm super excited! Tomorrow is the day.

Also, random side question, my beer is a hefeweizen and it has been in primary for 18 days (19 by bottling day). It has been kept at a constant 69 degrees throughout that time. However, it still burps every 5 or so minutes. Is it still safe to bottle. I too a gravity reading last Sunday and it was right around where it should be. I'm going to take another tomorrow. I guess what I am askin is do you think it's safe to bottle then?
Click to expand...

Ignore the "burps", they mean nothing but that gas is escaping.

Take gravity readings two days apart (or one reading per day, three days in a row). If they match, fermentation is done, and you can bottle.

I'm a proponent of aging most beers for a bit before I bottle, but it's not at all necessary to do.
 
My bottle handling is less complex than this. I clean them well and make a point of rinsing them immediately after pouring. They sit on a shelf or in a box for a while until the next bottling day. Then they go into the dishwasher. I am lucky enough to have a sanitize setting on my dishwasher (stainless steel inside). It does a steam and heat drying cycle that has always worked for me. I put the bottles in on Friday night and put the machine to work. In the morning, the bottles are squeaky clean and cool and ready to receive amber goodness. I've bottled 1000's this way with nary a (bottle-caused) funky beer. I've "funked" some up, for sure, but it wasn't a bottle problem!
 
Revvy said:
Except when properly dilluted, sanitizer NEVER should "influence" the flavor of your beer.....I've bottled for years with sanitizer, both iodophor and starsan, and never had it affect the taste.

Otherwise sounds like a decent system. It works for you.

Have you considered this instead of dragging out the hose?

jet-carboy-bottle-washer.jpg
Click to expand...

That's an awesome attachment. Where would you find such a thing?
 
Ok excellent. I will sanitize and then throw them in the dishwasher. I think that will be the best/easiest way for me to ensure that they are all clean and ready to roll! Gotta say, I feel pretty lucky. It sorta feels like Christmas came a few weeks early. Not to mention they will be ready to drink by Christmas eve!
 
With the bottles small openning,I don't think the wash water will get up into the bottles very well.Every few brews I soak'em in PBW for a couple hours,then brush & rinse. Then onto the bottle tree to dry before storage. Otherwise,empty,rinse,scrub,rinse & dry. That way I know the inside of the bottles have been cleaned thoroughly & evenly. Def seems to have cured a carbonation problem I was having.
 
Hey guys! I just bottled my bavarian weissbier. I was a little unnerved because my final gravity was a little higher than the recipe says. However my starting gravity was equally as high. Starting og was 1.055 (should have been 1.050) and my ending og was 1.015 (and the recipe said it should be 1.010). Do you think it's ok or do you think I just bottled a bunch of bottle bombs?
 
As long as the gravity had stopped dropping (three consecutive days of the same SG), and as long as you didn't add too much bottling sugar (plenty of calculators around) there's virtually no chance of bottle bombs, barring glass defects.

You'll just have a little extra kick in your brew (assuming a temp of 65 for both measurements, about 5.3% ABV) but that's hardly a bad thing.
 
Ok interesting. I may be in trouble. It's been in primary for three weeks and i only took two readings. One was 1.020 and 6 days later it was 1.015. I might have jumped the gun a bit. I was excited. However, when I took my first reading at 2 weeks there was still a thin layer of krausen on the beer. Today when I bottled it was gone. Oh well I guess I need to RDWHAHB! Haha
 
Good news is that Hefeweizen is supposed to have a lot of carbonation. You're living on the edge and pushing the envelope! Just hide behind a table while your doing it in case the glass starts flying...
 
You can find bottle washers at any brewshop or online. Try to find the ones made by the "jet Bottle and carboy company" of Traverse city, Michigan. Theirs comes with a lifetime warranty, if it breaks send it in and they'll replace it. Mine died after 7 years of use, I mailed it in on a Thursday two weeks ago, and it arrived on black Friday. With a nice note saying they were sorry it broke...
 
JordanThomas said:
I wouldn't use a dishwasher, personally. I know some do, but I think the glass that bottles are made of aren't heat-treated, so the extreme temps in a dishwasher might degrade the volumes of pressure that they can hold over time. Then again, I might just be paranoid. I usually just bathe them in oxyclean for a couple of hours/over night and then dip them in a star-san solution right before bottling.
Click to expand...

I bake mine in an oven at 340f for an hour. No ill effects.
 
Interesting. Maybe I'll bake them next time. I'm really just looking for the fastest but most effective way of sanitizing bottles. As I said earlier though, the beer is already resting in its bottles. Now is the time to be keepin those fingers crossed I don't end up with bottle bombs!
 

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