dishwasher for bottles?

sorry if this has been asked before, I'm in a time crunch...just realized that tomorrow will be my best chance to bottle a hefeweizen I brewed a few weeks ago (wife and kid will be away tomorrow, leaving the house to me)...

any reason NOT to clean bottles in a dishwasher, using standard DW detergent/rinse agent?

I plan on sanitizing after they are washed. These bottles have all been used before and quick rinsed/put away.

sorry, been away from this obsession for a couple years...just getting back into it.

Thanks!

yes, there is a very good reason not to. You really shouldn't use regular soaps/detergents for anything related to homebrewing. The primary reason is that, at least for bottles, the soap residue affects head retention. Also, the dishwasher might do a great job washing the outside of the bottles, but probably won't do all that much at cleaning the inside. However, the dishwasher's dry setting (sanitize setting) on some of the better DWs can be used to sanitize the bottles once they have been cleaned - but you shouldn't use any detergent at all for this. If you are in a crunch for time and can get your hands on some oxyclean, I'd just fill up a tote/tub/whatever with water, mix in a scoop or two of oxyclean, and soak all of your bottles at one time overnight or at least for a couple hours. Then rinse them all and do your sanitizing thing. Good luck, welcome back to the obsession!

Might be ok.


Generally I soak my bottles in hot water with PBW for a couple of hours and then remove any lingering label residue. Then run them through the dishwasher with PBW. After I sanitize and fill.

If you're in a pinch you will at least want to give the insides of the bottles a scrub if you can't soak

agree to the above posts. I do a quick 1 hour soak in oxyclean and a good scrub with the bottle brush, rinse a couple times and sanitize in the dishwasher on the sani cycle.

I appreciate the replies!

No need to use oxyclean if the bottles have been cleaned before. If they are relatively clean already, it's a waste of time.

So, if they are already clean, you need to sanitize, and the dishwasher might work fine. As mentioned before, many dishwashers have a high-temp sanitize cycle that does reach pasteurization temps and time, and that will effectively sanitize your bottles.

So, if your dishwasher has a NSF label (see pic), then you'll get hot temps and times that kill bacteria (see pic) per the pastuerization chart for beer (see pic).

I don't do this any more, but I used to. I don't even bottle any more, but when I did I changed to a vinator and starsan and I thought this was much easier.

If the bottles are already clean "These bottles have all been used before and quick rinsed/put away", then all you need to do is dunk them in a bucket of sanitizer and drain.

That's all I do. Fill with sanitizer, drain, stand on the side for about 5 minutes. Pour out any sanitizer that has moved to the bottom, and then it's good to go. I don't worry about a little sanitizer left inside on the sides of the bottle.

I have made 3 beer batches and have used the dishwasher with normal dishwasher soap each time. Mine have turned out fine. I should point out my dishwasher has a sanitizing wash cycle and this is what I use. It runs through a normal wash then the water heats to 140 degrees and sanitizes the bottles. Just my two cents though.

I just checked the dishwasher, and it does have an NSF cycle.

Using the DW hasn't failed me yet.

I have used the dishwasher for all of my 12-14 batches, with no problems. I run the dishwasher empty with a healthy splash of bleach. After that cycle is complete, then I load up the bottles (ones that had been rinsed out right after pouring the previous beer batch) into the dishwasher and let run on the longest, hottest setting, the night before I head to bed). The next morning, I bottle that batch. I do however give all the bottles a quick look into the bottom to make sure no little fuzzys are hidden in there.

Thing about homebrewing, allways a different way to do everything.