Sanitizing bottles

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abweis0

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This is my first post and first batch, so bear with me. I've got a question about sanitizing before bottling. I've got an Brewers Best IPA that has had two weeks in my primary and ready for bottling. I soaked my bottles in a bleach/water solution, ran the dishwasher empty with no soap, then ran it again through the dishwasher with the bottles, again with no soap. Bottles are dried and ready for beer. Got an equipment kit from Brewers Best that came with a no rinse sanitizer. Can I use that for my bottles? How close to bottling can I sanitize my bottles then fill them? I watched a video on www.homebrewingvideo.com and the guy in the video sanitized bottles the day of bottling. Can I do that, sanitize the day of bottling, with the equipment I have? Also, will the sanitizer give any off-flavors to my beer since it is a no rinse product?
 
No Rinse is the way to go, and yes use it the day of bottling. Normally I'll sanitize my bottles with it and cover them with some plastic wrap or foil while I bottle the others. Wish I had space for a bottle tree. I haven't had any off flavors from the no rinse, follow the directions on it, but normally just a minute or so of contact time then shake it out and fill 'er up.
 
If you used bleach you need to rinse the bottles very well before using them. A very small amount of bleach can go a long way. The dishwasher gets hot enough to kill most all of the harmful bacteria but it won't rinse the insides of the bottles very well if you still have a bleach residue. As far as the no rinse, I've seen people go straight from the no rinse to the bottling bucket without ill effect.
 
I keep a bucket of StarSan (no rinse sanitizer) next to me as I bottle. I submerge 8 or so bottles in the bucket and pull them out as I fill from the bottling bucket. No rinse is just that, no rinse. You can fill 'em while they are still wet with no issues.
 
you have really worked yourself up haven't you. the sanitizer that came with the kit is just fine as long as its a sanitizer and not a cleaner. yes you want to sanitize your bottles right before you bottle. this will cut down on the chance that bacteria and what getting on and in the bottles. don't forget to sanitize the caps as well.
 
Thanks everyone, sounds like I will be able to get by with sanitizing right before bottling. I will try to pick up a bottle of StarSan since I've heard a lot of people prefer/use that product; plus the no rinse sanitizer that came with the kit is only enough for just a few batches at most and I'll need to pick up some more anyway. Oh, and I did sanitize the caps, however I didn't use all that came with the kit so I hope the ones I didn't use are still good.
 
Yeah the caps that you did not use are still fine. I tend to sanitize about 5-10 more caps then I know that I will need just in case I screw up or one doesn't want to cap right. Any caps I don't use get dried off and thrown back with the rest of my caps for next time.
 
Great, well I used 22 oz amber bottles so I knew I'd have some left over. I was able to bottle 24 of the 22oz bottles and 5 12 oz bottles. Now the hardest part of making beer...WAITING. Why?...Why?....
 
I sanitize my bottles the day I use them. What I do is wash them like you would normally wash any bottle with soap and water. To sanitize, I use a spray bottle with Star San solution and spray them down inside and on the cap. I would soak them, but I use Grolsch style bottles and soaking them in Star San solution apparently causes the metal to rust on the bottles.

Keeping a bottle of Star San solution nearby is always a good move!
 
sp1365 said:
Yeah the caps that you did not use are still fine. I tend to sanitize about 5-10 more caps then I know that I will need just in case I screw up or one doesn't want to cap right. Any caps I don't use get dried off and thrown back with the rest of my caps for next time.
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that depends. if your using oxygen absorbing caps then you don't want to sanitize any more than you need. while getting them wet wont affect their ability to seal next time you use them. it will completely remove the oxygen absorbing quality of the caps. the caps activate when wetted and wont retain this quality afterward.
 
TipsyDragon said:
that depends. if your using oxygen absorbing caps then you don't want to sanitize any more than you need. while getting them wet wont affect their ability to seal next time you use them. it will completely remove the oxygen absorbing quality of the caps. the caps activate when wetted and wont retain this quality afterward.
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Good point. I don't use Oxygen absorbing caps so I didn't think about that.
 
TipsyDragon said:
that depends. if your using oxygen absorbing caps then you don't want to sanitize any more than you need. while getting them wet wont affect their ability to seal next time you use them. it will completely remove the oxygen absorbing quality of the caps. the caps activate when wetted and wont retain this quality afterward.
Click to expand...

so how should you sanitize oxygen absorbing caps then? I just bought some and am planning to use them later today
 
abweis0 said:
This is my first post and first batch, so bear with me. I've got a question about sanitizing before bottling. I've got an Brewers Best IPA that has had two weeks in my primary and ready for bottling. I soaked my bottles in a bleach/water solution, ran the dishwasher empty with no soap, then ran it again through the dishwasher with the bottles, again with no soap. Bottles are dried and ready for beer. Got an equipment kit from Brewers Best that came with a no rinse sanitizer. Can I use that for my bottles? How close to bottling can I sanitize my bottles then fill them? I watched a video on www.homebrewingvideo.com and the guy in the video sanitized bottles the day of bottling. Can I do that, sanitize the day of bottling, with the equipment I have? Also, will the sanitizer give any off-flavors to my beer since it is a no rinse product?
Click to expand...

This sounds like a lot of work. Many on here use a no rinse sanitizer such as Star San and bottle right into the wet sanitized bottles. This sounds like the easiest way to do this. If you don't mind doing a little extra work you can try the oven sterilization method I got from John Palmers How to Brew. If you do this correctly it will leave you with sterilized bottles that you can prepare at any point before brew day. I did this with my last batch by rinsing them out, wrapping the tops with aluminum foil, baking the bottles for a couple of hours, letting them slowly cool in the oven over night, and ripping off the protective foil as I bottled. This was great for peace of mind.

Here is the section about this from John Palmers How to Brew website.

Oven
Dry heat is less effective than steam for sanitizing and sterilizing, but many brewers use it. The best place to do dry heat sterilization is in your oven. To sterilize an item, refer to the following table for temperatures and times required.

Table 3 - Dry Heat Sterilization

338°F (170°C)
60 minutes

320°F (160°C)
120 minutes

302°F (150°C)
150 minutes

284°F (140°C)
180 minutes

250°F (121°C)
12 hours (Overnight)

The times indicated begin when the item has reached the indicated temperature. Although the durations seem long, remember this process kills all microorganisms, not just most as in sanitizing. To be sterilized, items need to be heat-proof at the given temperatures. Glass and metal items are prime candidates for heat sterilization.

Some homebrewers bake their bottles using this method and thus always have a supply of clean sterile bottles. The opening of the bottle can be covered with a piece of aluminum foil prior to heating to prevent contamination after cooling and during storage. They will remain sterile indefinitely if kept wrapped.

One note of caution: bottles made of soda lime glass are much more susceptible to thermal shock and breakage than those made of borosilicate glass and should be heated and cooled slowly (e.g. 5 °F per minute). You can assume all beer bottles are made of soda lime glass and that any glassware that says Pyrex or Kimax is made of borosilicate.
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