bottle sanitizing?

Ok, I tried a new method of bottle sanitizing the other night. It just felt weird, so I want feedback.

My old method was to soak the bottles for about three min in starsan, then dump & turn upside down until ready to bottle.

My new method was to use a spray bottle, spray in about 7 squirts of starsan, shake it up, let it rest for 3 min, then dump out what would come out, then bottle.

Is there any problem w/my new method? It was MUCH faster and less clean up.

It's probably no different then someone using a vinator to squirt the starsan into the bottles....As long as you are getting all the inner surfaces wet with the sanitizer for a long enough time I can't see the flaw in your method.

Revvy said:

It's probably no different then someone using a vinator to squirt the starsan into the bottles....As long as you are getting all the inner surfaces wet with the sanitizer for a long enough time I can't see the flaw in your method.

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thanks. I noticed that the spray bottle didn't get everything wet, hence the reason I squirted a bunch of times, then shook it up. Yes, it's wet for at least the 3 min recommended by starsan, and probably a lot longer.

It sure was a lot quicker and easier than the old method. Less liquid on the floor for SWMBO to worry me about.

tranceamerica said:

thanks. I noticed that the spray bottle didn't get everything wet, hence the reason I squirted a bunch of times, then shook it up. Yes, it's wet for at least the 3 min recommended by starsan, and probably a lot longer.

It sure was a lot quicker and easier than the old method. Less liquid on the floor for SWMBO to worry me about.

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Yeah...you're actually doing more than the vinator users do by shaking and letting them sit for awhile.... I usually use the soak in bucket method with iodophor, but I might try your idea next time....I've curious how do you have the nozzel of the spray bottle set? Wide mist or fine stream?

I do more of a mist, tryign to get it to flow down the sides.

Not sure how it works yet, because I've only done one batch this way, and haven't waited long enought to see if I'm getting infections or not.

But I think it should work, and the extra bonus is that I can use the same spray bottle to spray sanitize other things when I'm brewing.

In the past, I always mixed up about 3 gallons of starsan in a bucket for use while brewing - this only got used to dunk things in, like the airlock, stopper, funnel, etc. Now, I think I'll just use a smaller pan to soak the small stuff in (will keep star san in a gallon jug for reuse too) and use the spray bottle in the bucket for the larger things. Much faster, less wasteful too.