First Bottling on Saturday

[cdezeeuw]

So we are doing our first bottling on Saturday. I read through many of the sticky posts and other recommended threads and I think I have information overload. If you don't mind I wanted to run down the process of a few things to make sure I read and comprehended everything. Any suggestions or course corrections are appreciated.

Bottle cleaning
Using recycled bottles, going to use OxiClean to soak the outsides on Friday night to remove the labels and glue. Then run the bottles through the dishwasher with no detergent for a thorough cleaning. (i read that detergent can leave a film on the bottles.)

Is the dishwasher overkill? I don't want any of the label junk to get inside the bottles. Once the labels are off, do a second Oxiclean soak instead of dishwasher?

Bottling Sanitizing
On bottling day, preparing a dedicated bucket of starsan mix to sanitize. Should the bottles do any soak in here or just a good submersion prior to bottling?

Thanks in advance.

 

[JonM]

You'll have good results if you use a warm oxyclean soak to get the labels off. You probably don't need the dishwasher rinse. A quick flush with tap water will do fine.

A quick dunk in the starsan will be fine, as long as all surfaces are in contact with the starsan.

And have lots of old but clean towels on hand. Bottling that first batch can get messy. Cheers!

 

[mattlsull]

You might want to also sanatize your bottle caps either by boiling, or using either starsan or idophor.

I always like having a spray bottle full of sanatizer handy. You can get a spray bottle at Home Depot in the same section where you find the Oxiclean.

 

[_JP_]

My recommendations:

Soak in Oxyclean overnight (I use a rectangular cooler). Run dishwasher if any dishes are in it.

Next morning, inspect each bottle for "funk" left in there and use bottle brush if necessary. Remove labels. Dump spent oxyclean. Remove clean dishes from dishwasher.

Fill cooler with sanitizer water and soak a few bottles at a time (along w/ caps). Use dishwasher racks to dry bottles upside down until ready to bottle.

You can use the open door of the dishwasher to stand bottles on while filling them. You don't need to clean up any spills that way - it'll be cleaned up by the next dishwasher cycle.

Use a bottling wand. They're only about $3 and make the process much faster.

Have a friend cap them as you fill them, if you really want to make things go quickly.

Stuff like this also makes things easier: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/double-barrel-bottling-now-twice-fast-257264/


BTW, I keg, but still bottle "big" beers that need to age, like barleywines. I use brown Grolsch swing-top bottles.

 

[Revvy]

Read my bottling sticky.

 

[cdezeeuw]

Thanks for the replies!

Yes, I will for sure be soaking the caps prior to use. There are 3 of us doing this homebrew project together so bottling should go pretty smooth.

JP - great tips. Bottling wand came with our kit so we are set there. Not sure I have a big enough vessel for all 48 bottles to soak overnight so we'll see how that goes.

Revvy, thanks for the link, I have read that thread and all the replies. Sometimes it can be a lot to digest all at once, hence the need for some small clarifications.

Cheers!

 

[Bob_T]

Not sure I have a big enough vessel for all 48 bottles to soak overnight so we'll see how that goes.

Do your bottle cleaning in advance...we started saving and cleaning well before our first brew day...
We saved bottles until we had enough to fill our largest cooler, warm water and oxyclean...soak for a few hours...labels fall off...give the a green pad scrub to remove the glue, bottle brush the inside, rinse well, dry on bottle rack...
After they are dry, I just covered the top with aluminum foil and put them back in the 12/6 boxes...
When we bottle, we just removed the foil and soak them in StarSan for a bit...
I've got about 4 cases cleaned and foiled waiting in the garage for the next bottling day...

 

[cdezeeuw]

So I did a test run of about 13 bottles last night. (about all my bucket could hold at once.)

Wow, that Oxiclean is amazing for removing labels! I took Bob T's advise and foiled the tops of the clean ones so I know which are clean and ready for bottling.

Now I just need to procure a large enough container to submerge all 48 bottles at once to make this easier!

Thanks again for the suggestions everyone.

 

[Bob_T]

I took Bob T's advise and foiled the tops of the clean ones so I know which are clean and ready for bottling.

Just to be clear, even though they are clean, they are not ready to bottle until you sanitize them...

Good luck!

 

[Desrever]

I would look into getting a Vinator to sanitize your bottles, Makes Bottling a Snap

 

[cdezeeuw]

Just to be clear, even though they are clean, they are not ready to bottle until you sanitize them...

Oh yeah, we are doing our best to practice epic sanitation procedures!

Yes, Vinator is on our wish list of equipment.