Bottle question

I am going to purchase some bottles for my initial brew - do they need to be sanitized prior to use, and if so, what is the easiest and most efficient way to do them?

Yes you need to have clean and sanitized bottles each time you bottle. You don't want to put nice clean beer into something that would ruin it do you?

There's many ways to sanitize it, I find the simplest is with a vinator and starsan. Each bottle is sanitized in 3 pumps...3-4 seconds each. You can burn through 2 cases in minutes.

I outline the process in my bottling thread. Bottling Tips for the Homebrewer

yes, fill a bucket with starsan or iodophore, soak for a few minutes, drain back into bucket, allow to dry. Caps too!

Yes - even if I bought bottle I watched being sanitized in a labratory I would still sanitize them again when bottle day came. Why? Because I love my beer, we have been through alot. After me leaving alone in the fermenter for three or four weeks, I do not want to risk any thing to hurt it. I want it to have a noce clean vessle to make that final sprint from flat beer to carbonated goodness.

Here is my method, using bottles that have been used. For new treat the same. but start at step two.

1) Pour a brew. Enjoy a brew. RINSE THE BOTTLE !

2) I soak for anywhere from an hour to over night in TSP. Some folks claim TSP is outlawd in their areas - so the use OxyClean Free. Use what you got - but use it!

3) Rinse well. Now mix some StarSan. This stuff is awesome, and the foam is your friend. Bottle while it is still wet - if it dries, so does 90% or so of your sanitizing ability if I recall correctly.

4) Fill and cap. And wait. Go get some micros to try - your gonna want to brew while these are carbing up, so it's good to get an idea of what you want to do next. Plus - free bottles!


5) Repeat repeat repeat.

therealrsr said:

yes, fill a bucket with sanistar or iodophore, soak for a few minutes, drain back into bucket, allow to dry. Caps too!

Click to expand...

You DON'T want to allow your sanitizer to dry actually. Most of the sanitzers we use, especially Starsan and iodophor are No rinse/wet contact sanitizers. They are double edged swords. They kill two ways. They kill everything on the object prior to sanitizing, and then as long as they are still wet they form a sanitizer barrier that kills everything that comes into contact with object.

If you let the sanitizer dry any micro organism that comes in contact with the sanitized object, rather than being killed by it, makes the object no longer sanitzed.

If you let it dry you are reducing it's efficacy by 50%

You really want to sanitize right at the time you are using the thing you are sanitizing. And let the wort/beer flow on top of it.

I put a lot of good info and tips of effectively using sanitizers in here. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/sanitizer-question-54932/[/QUOTE]

In starsan's case it becomes yeastfood which is really good for fermentation.

I made sure they were all clean inside then used my dishwasher in sanitizer setting which uses heat and steam. If you do this don't use a dish rinsing aid. Apparently, it will hurt head retention later on. This is my first batch, but I guess I will just see what happens. Seemed a lot more practical than filling each bottle with one step solution

I run new bottles through the dishwasher. Then mix up five gallons of StarSan and pour it in a bus-boy type plastic tub. Soak the cleaned bottles in the starsan for a couple minutes and drain them. Then bottle your beer while they are still wet, or you can get one of those neet little bottle sanitizer units that squirt sanitizer into them and it's not as messy.

You mentioned purchasing some, and while there's no harm in that either, if you're looking to save some money on bottles, talk to your local bars and such. I am friends with a bartender at a local establishment I frequent and they have a ~150 bottle list, I get quite a variety of good quality bottles from her all for free. Often just in a few days she'll be calling me to let me know she has a few boxes full, etc. So, something to keep in mind if you need more bottles, it can get pricey otherwise!

worstbrewing said:

You mentioned purchasing some, and while there's no harm in that either, if you're looking to save some money on bottles, talk to your local bars and such. I am friends with a bartender at a local establishment I frequent and they have a ~150 bottle list, I get quite a variety of good quality bottles from her all for free. Often just in a few days she'll be calling me to let me know she has a few boxes full, etc. So, something to keep in mind if you need more bottles, it can get pricey otherwise!

Click to expand...

This is where having a few friend who drink BMC canbe a good thing - I have a buddy who brings me 18 - 24 Micheloeb bottles every other week !

Definitely sanitize; you might have to clean them also--I would just to be safe. The easiest method for cleaning is to let them soak for a while, preferably overnight, in a hot solution of Oxyclean. Shake each bottle a bit when half full, then rinse well. I've never used a bottle brush while doing this, and I've never had a problem.

To sanitize, you can use a few things--Iodophor and StarSan seem to be most popular. I use StarSan and just soak the bottles (and caps if you're not using flip-tops) in solution for a few minutes. If you want to go cheap, do it in a bucket or a tupperware container. If you want to spend a little money, you can use a vinator (contraption that spritzes sanitizer into the bottles).

There's a great sticky in the bottling/kegging forum outlining Revvy's bottling process, which seems pretty efficient to me.


Edit: Holy crap, responses are fast today. Nevermind.

Revvy said:

You DON'T want to allow your sanitizer to dry actually. Most of the sanitzers we use, especially Starsan and iodophor are No rinse/wet contact sanitizers. ...If you let it dry you are reducing it's efficacy by 50%

Click to expand...

Thanks Revvy, I use Iodophor and sanitize the kitchen area well with bleach before bottling so I take the drying risk. Just the idea of iodine in my beer, I know its all in my head, doesn't sit well. Kind of like my going to a secondary because 4 weeks in my primary plastic bucket doesn't sit well. Sorry I couldn't resist! Enjoy your responses, they are always so thorough. Have a great weekend.