Soaking/Cleaning Bottles with Dishwasher Soap

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

brewinginct

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2009
Messages
183
Reaction score
3
We ran out of oxy-clean and pbw and probably won't make it to the hbs before we bottle tomorrow. can we use normal dishwasher detergent to soak and clean the bottles before using them?

I thought that I had read something about how dishwasher detergent is harder to get off the glass, which in turn messes with the beer. But there's much contradictory advice out there that who knows.

So should I wait to go to the hbs again, or do some bottle cleaning with dishwasher soap.
 
Just use regular oxy-clean from Walmart or other local store. I use 1 tbsp/gal with great results. Just make sure to rinse thoroughly.
 
Don't use dishwasher detergent. Will leave a film on your bottles. If your dishwasher has a sanitize option, use that. It should heat the bottles to the right temp so that they are clean. Then use some starsan to sanitize them.
 
I actually put my bottles in the dishwasher and do not have issues with carbing or head retention. I DO NOT use a rinse agent (I know that will kill the head). I do run a second rinse cycle and use the high temp heat dry. I also rinse them with hot water before sanitizing.

I would never bottle without using a sanitizing solution. Go get the star-san and do it right the first time, why chance ruining an entire batch.
 
I DO NOT use a rinse agent (I know that will kill the head).

Not sure that this is true. I use the little detergent balls that include a rinse agent and I add extra Jet-Dry to my dishwasher every so often. I rarely, if ever, wash the glasses I use for drinking beer by hand, so that means they are getting coated with rinse agents all the time. Yet I've never noticed unusually small or no head on any of the beers I've drank in years.
 
I got two beers from a colleague recently, both of them had bad head retention, I asked if he used the dishwasher....he did on both of them, both totally different styles. I'd not use a dishwasher in my sanitising process. We never used them in Germany either when I worked there, special glass washers and special detergent for beer glasses.
 
I've used regular household bleach when I was out of idophor to sanitize on bottling day. I just followed the dilution directions on the bottle for sanitizing. Also, make sure you rinse really well to avoid off-flavors. I've been drinking the beer from that batch for several weeks now with no noticeable chlorine flavor
 
Back
Top