Bottling

How do you clean and sanitize bottles without a rack?

My method is as follows:
Clean them by soaking overnight in PBW/Oxyclean and then rinsing the next day (also helps take the labels off, if necessary).
Sanitize with a vinator and dry them in a bottling tree. Those two items have made my miserable bottling days a whole lot easier.

Without a rack, I'd assume you just let them air dry, but if you're using something like StarSan it doesn't matter if there's a little liquid/bubbles left inside, it's all safe.

I don't have a rack. I just either soak the bottles in oxyclean and hot water if they're in need of a deep cleanse then rinse heavily OR just rinse them with hot water if there's nothing gunked on the bottom.

I like to use the jet bottle and carboy rinser for high pressure cleaning.



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...

To sanitize you can do the ole dunk and swish method but I find that the vintator is easier and quicker to use.



You can find more info and tips in my bottling sticky.

i always run the dishwasher to sanitize it on bottling day, then rinse the bottles with iodophor solution and put them upside down on the clean dishwasher rack to drain until im ready to bottle

I soak in hot tap water and oxy clean over night which makes the labels fall off. Then I run them through the dishwasher on the hot cycle, which is hot enough to sanitize the bottles. I let them cool for 30 mins or so right in the dishwasher before I bottle.

^ This vinator, along with a bottling tree has made my whole bottling day a breeze, I can't believe I went so long without one......

also i rinse out the bottles really well with hot water right after drinking them, so i dont really need to clean them other than rinsing unless there is stuff stuck on the bottom

moose5330 said:

How do you clean and sanitize bottles without a rack?

Click to expand...

I clean mine and let them soak in my tub the night before and use a bottle brush to get all the debris out of the bottles. Hot hot hot water with dish soap. Then I drain and rinse the bottles out very very well. I actually put my bottles in a milk crate upside down that night to drip dry/air dry. Then the day of I make up 2-3 gallons of starsan in a 5 gallon bucket. I will put 5-6 bottles in the bucket(fully submerging them) starsan takes 30 seconds to a minute to do its job. Then I take the bottle straight out if the starsan and empty it back into the bucket and go straight to my bottling wand to fill. Also put your bottle caps in a glass of starsan. This procedure works perfect and you will have no flaws. Starsan is a no rinse product so don't worry if you have some foam in the bottle before filling. It's a tasteless order less product. Cheers and I hope this information has helped you.

rinse them out and put them in the dishwasher on "sanitize". Let them cool off and fill, never had any problem with that

I usually already have clean bottles without labels and no crud in the bottom.

They go from a box in the basement to the kitchen.

Soak them in a sink of sanitizer for a few mins.

Take them out, turn upside down to drain, added back to box and then to the brewery to get filled up.

A bottle tree http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/bottle-tree-90.htmlis a good investment. Doesn't take up much space, and you can drip dry.

I don't have one yet myself, (It's on the x-mas list) but what I've been doing is this:

• I only save bottles that have just been used. If it's sat for more than an hour without going through the whole cleaning sanitizing process, I toss it. Also, any sour beer bottles get tossed.
• When a bottle is emptied, I fill it with a few ounces of tap water, cover the top and shake vigorously to release sediment from the bottom. Almost all beer will have some sediment, even if it doesn't look like it. Repeat.
• I keep a bucket full of PBW cleaner solution in the garage. I store my used bottles in that solution until it fills up. Change the water out when it starts looking funky with label/paper floaties, usually every two weeks or so for me. In cold weather, you can go longer. In a hot garage, I wouldn't trust this much longer than a week. Unless you are starting with label-less bottles, then you can go a little longer. It's the paper and glue that the nasties are going to eventually be able to feed/grow on.
• When that bucket fills, I remove the labels from the water, and scrape down any label residue that may remain. I put these bottles in wooden case crates that I built on the cheap (Lookup DIY beer crates) and I transport to the kitchen sink to rinse in and out with tap water. Make sure to shake it up with a few ounces inside to release any label material/floaties from the PBW bath.
• I then transfer the bottles to a second bucket containing starsan solution, and give them a 5 minute dunk. You can also just leave them in there until ready to use. If you don't do a fresh water rinse before transfering from PBW to Starsan, the extra PBW getting in there will diminsh the abilty for the Starsan to stay in it's effective sanitizing PH range.
• If I'm not ready to use them right away, I store them in my wooden cases and cover them with a sheet of aluminum foil (sprayed down with starsan) as soon as possible. Dust is your main enemy. Don't do your cleaning process in a dusty environment, and cover the tops ASAP to keep dust from falling in. Or you can store inverted, dust generally doesn't travel upwards, unless you've got wind kicking around.
• Since I'm not using a tree, I invert them for 10 seconds or so prior to crating to drip most of the starsan out. I come back 30 minutes or so later, and empty the remaining liquid which has collected. It doesn't get rid of all the moisture, but it's good enough to let evaporation do the rest before anything funky can start growing in the moist environment. Since I live in a dry climate, this works for me. May not be a good idea where it's humid.
• When I'm ready to bottle, I always do one more starsan dip just prior.

I'll tell you that I didn't start off being nearly this anal. The more you learn about all the little things that could affect the outcome of your beer (I wouldn't go so far as to say ruin), the more you'll find yourself willing to put in the extra attention to detail and process.

Good luck!

I like Revvy's method w/a few modifications. Check this link. I even bookmarked it so I can pass it along from time to time.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

Not to knock on folks that use a dishwasher, but if you do, I'd recommend running a seperate cycle from other dishes and know that if you use Jet dry, or a detergent with a sheeting/drying agent, that this can kill head retention.

Personally, I started out doing this and no longer trust it. There's just no way much water/detergent is getting up inside those bottles. You're pretty much relying on the heat to sanitize and I'm not sure that's really up to snuff across all makes and models.

When bottling I just pull my (clean) submerged bottles from the tub of StarSan solution, spin the fluid out and then fill with beer. I've no use for a rack or bottle tree, but the vinator would save the time of submerging the bottles.