sanitize bottles the day before

I was thinking about sanitizing bottles the day before bottling and resting the bottle cap top. Are there any problems with this idea that I'm not thinking of?

sanitize the caps too...

right,,,,,

killian said:

I was thinking about sanitizing bottles the day before bottling and resting the bottle cap top. Are there any problems with this idea that I'm not thinking of?

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I sanitize bottles as they get washed, whether thats a week before bottling, the day before, or whatever. I just cut out squares of saran wrap and cover the tops of them as soon as they're clean. I pull the saran wrap off when I get to that bottle while bottling.

Um, you do know that the no rinse sanitizers (starsan and iodophor) are best used as No-rinse, Wet contact sanitizers meaning their efficacy is decreased by 50% when you let them dry......So you will be better off sanitizing your bottles on bottling day, and filling them while they are still wet (though drained.)

If you do it ahead becasue you think it takes too much time out of your bottling day, then perhaps you need to "pimp" your bottling process....It takes me about 45 minutes to bottle a batch of beer, and that includes sanitizing 2 cases +1 sixer of bottles....

There's plenty of tips and tricks to make the best out of your bottling process here;

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/revvys-tips-bottler-first-time-otherwise-94812/

ANd for more info and tips on sanitzers, you'll find a lot of good info here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/sanitizer-question-54932/?highlight=sanitizer+question

well if the bottle is "closed" then what would the problem be?

killian said:

well if the bottle is "closed" then what would the problem be?

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The minute you remove the tinfoil than if there is any micro organism or airborn particle that manages to come into contact with the inside of the bottle..there is a high possibility that it would NOT be killed....on the other hand if your bottles are "wet" with sanitizers there is a HIGH PROBILITY that it will be killed....

It's your beer, and your choice to do what you want...but like I said, they are wet contact sanitizers....that means you increase the protection and likely hood of NOT getting an infection, by using things properly....it's like having multiple layers of protection.....

My method lately is to sanitize by dunking in Star-san and letting drip a minute on the dishwasher rack (after a sanitize cycle) by dropping the tops through the openings in the top rack. This prevents the tops from contacting the rack. After a minute or two drip (the time it takes to fill the rack, or I get my count of bottles) the go right to the freezer in prep for BMBF later.

I've also done this without the freezer, when filling bottles directly from bottling bucket.

I don't see a problem waiting a day, if you are careful, but as long as you are dunking in sanitizer (or using spray method) I don't see why you'd want to either. It only takes about 3 minutes to dunk, swish and rack.

You're basically trading a few minutes of work on one day, for a few minutes of work on another. I'd rather sanitize at time of bottle, and keep the time between to a minimum.

I 'clean' my bottles in advance and sanitize right before bottling. I use my bottle tree and this on top of it:



It takes me about 5 minutes to sanitize a large batch of bottles and about 30-40 minutes to bottle 5 gallons of beer...

I still sanitize in advance, sort of. This was in the Papazian and I haven't losta batch yet. I clean with whatever and then sanitize in 10% bleach = 90%H2O, 10 minute minimum immersion.

Then drip dry and store.

On bottling day I have to rinse all of the bottles three times, so there is still work to be done on bottling day, but it fits my process well.