Sanitizing your bottles...

[SmartyJones]

Any suggestions on "best practice" to use or do to sanitize the bottles before use? I've seen some say soak in sanitizer for 5 min and let dry others say bake them in the oven ...

 

[Braufessor]

Best practice, IMO, is to first make sure they are clean - either, rinse really well as soon as you are done with them or soak, brush rinse in PBW or Oxyclean. Once your bottles are CLEAN, the best way to sanitize them, IMO, is to get a tub of Starsan solution and submerge them. Personally. I have a 18 gallon tub from walmart (like a plastic bushel basket with rope handles) and I fill it with 10 gallons of water and 2 oz. of starsan. This will accomodate all the bottles I need for a 5 gallon batch. Submerge them all, get everything else ready, take them out and dump, and fill. Do not rinse them. The foam is NO BIG DEAL - won't hurt anything. The only way you can screw up star san is: 1.) rinse it off. 2.) Mix it incorrectly. 3.) not have CLEAN bottles before you sanitize. Starsan soak only takes minutes (less actually) to sanitize.

 

[Braufessor]

BTW - you do not need to soak in starsan. Many people just duck them and dump them out. I use this method because I find it simple. Starsan works basically on contact, so as long as you get the entire surface wet, you are good. Starsan also "keeps." I use the same batch for a month or two before replacing - even then, I probably would not have to replace, but I am overly cautious.

 

[SmartyJones]

Thanks for the tip! I believe this is the method I will be trying for my first batch when it's ready?! What about hang drying them on one of those bottle trees? Should I just not bother with those? ... So you say take them straight out of the sanitizer and fill them without drying them?

 

[wormraper]

I find what works for me is to

1. soak them in oxyclean/pbw for a few hours.
2. rinse them out really well
3. put them in the dishwasher on sanitation mode (no soap of course)
4. dip them in starsan and fill with beer.

voila, has worked every time so far.

 

[SmartyJones]

How do you "keep" your star san in your open container without a lid?

 

[wormraper]

Thanks for the tip! I believe this is the method I will be trying for my first batch when it's ready?! What about hang drying them on one of those bottle trees? Should I just not bother with those? ... So you say take them straight out of the sanitizer and fill them without drying them?

YES, DO NOT dry them. Star san only works when wet. don't fear the foam

 

[eastoak]

no need for tubs or buckets just shoot the sanitizer where you need it, inside the bottle.

 

[JonathanG]

I agree with everybody above in that you can't sanitize them if they are not clean first. I rinse bottles out thoroughly after using them, then put them in storage. Throw them in a sink full or bucket full of Oxiclean or PBW, then rinse well.

I then mix up a 5-gallon batch of Starsan in a bucket and set it on the counter right next to the sink. I then put my bottle tree down in the sink, then thoroughly spray it down with my spray bottle full of Starsan. I'll then dunk the bottles in the bucket of Starsan and make sure the entire inside has been hit with the Starsan, then dump the partially full bottle of Starsan back into the bucket, then immediately stick the bottle on the bottle tree so it can drain.

I then take a paper towel and soak it with Starsan and set it next to my bottling bucket. I take my bottle caps and stick them in a small bowl full of Starsan. I'll take about a dozen bottle caps out of the bowl at a time and place them on the towel just as they'd sit on the bottle, with the sanitized side facing down.

I also tend to spray down my bottling wand after 6-12 bottles, just to make sure anything floating through the air doesn't survive into the bottle.

I'll fill 1-bottle, set it on the counter top, and immediately place a sanitized bottle cap on top. After I fill about a dozen bottles, I'll then secure the bottle caps with the capper and move them off to the side so I can put more bottles in their place.

I also bottle over my open dishwasher door as it keeps any drips and spills from hitting the floor, as well as when I spray the wand down with Starsan, it simply drips into the dishwasher. Then when I'm done, I simply shut the dishwasher door.

 

[SmartyJones]

I miss having a dishwasher! That would be a great thing to do ... Fill bottles over the opened door of a dishwasher ...

 

[SmartyJones]

... I didn't even think about sanitizing the caps!! Thanks for that great tip/reminder!...

 

[looneybomber]

I dunk and dump mine in starsan, then place them, upside down, in my dishwasher. That way no dust/bacteria floating in the air fall into the bottles. I periodically wipe down my tubing and have my caps sitting in a plate of starsan. I promptly place the caps on and then crimp them all when I'm finally done filling them all.

 

[GulfCoastGirl]

no need for tubs or buckets just shoot the sanitizer where you need it, inside the bottle.

+1 I love my vinator... makes easy work of sanitizing bottles

 

[Hellosluggo]

I have all my bottles clean, dry and ready to go (usually Oxyclean and a bottle brush, plus a soak in clean, cool water followed by a short pressure rinse afterwards), then use the poor man's vinator (industrial spray bottle) to spray 3 or 4 pumps of Star San into each one, roll them around to coat all surfaces and let them drip out on the pre-sanitized bottle tree, then go to racking beer in the wet bottles. Easy sleazy, but I still hate bottling.

 

[BOBrob]

no need for tubs or buckets just shoot the sanitizer where you need it, inside the bottle.

+1+1+1 Get a bottle tree and vinator! I can rinse, hang, sanatize, fill and cap 55 bottles in little over 2 hours. You will want an "autofill wand" for the spigot on your bottling bucket also. Cheers

 

[unionrdr]

You mean a bottling wand. I clean it & all my tubing used in PBW,rinse & run starsan through'em right before use. And I second,third,& forth the vinator & bottle tree. I'll never be without them. They def save time & space. I can fit 45 bottles in about a 2 square foot space,with the vinator on top. Great time savers.
I have taken to not just rinsing my emptied bottles,but scrubbing them as well with the bottle brush. Over time,lil bits of compacted yeast build up in some of the bottles. Then dry on bottle tree & store in craft 12 pack boxes till needed. Put starsan in vinator & pump away on bottling day. 2-2.5 hours set up to clean up,& my set up allows me to sit down with everything in arm's reach.

 

[Peppers16]

I find what works for me is to

1. soak them in oxyclean/pbw for a few hours.
2. rinse them out really well
3. put them in the dishwasher on sanitation mode (no soap of course)
4. dip them in starsan and fill with beer.

voila, has worked every time so far.

Every man to his own but I would suggest that this is a lot more effort than needed. A rinse after emptying is sufficient for cleaning, and a dip in starsan is fine for sanitising. IMO at least.

 

[Nagorg]

+1+1+1 Get a bottle tree and vinator! I can rinse, hang, sanatize, fill and cap 55 bottles in little over 2 hours. You will want an "autofill wand" for the spigot on your bottling bucket also. Cheers

Roger-Roger

 

[petey_c]

Variation #65... I rinse them out after pouring. After that (usually the following morning) I soak them in 5 gals of oxiclean. When that bucket gets filled, I empty them and store upside down, repeat, until bottling day. Bottling day, I have the vinator and an additional half gallon of starsan that the caps are soaking in. I dip the top of the bottle in the bucket to get all around the exterior of the mouth, two shots on the vinator and store upside down 'til I'm ready to bottle. Sanitize the wand, fill a bottle, grab a cap out of the bucket and twist one on. I used to soak my bottles, like above in 5 gals of starsan but you're really wasting a lot of it. You could also use a cheap sprayer. Pete

 

[eastoak]

when people say "soak in...." are they soaking cruddy bottles or what?

 

[unionrdr]

The bottles have been cleaned & dried before soaking in starsan sanitizer. Gotta be clean 1st.

 

[Tombstone0]

Here's my method:

1. Rinse my bottles with hot water right after they're emptied.
2. On bottling day, look through the bottles into the light to see if any of them have crap in them.
3. Fill the dirty bottles with pbw or oxyclean solution, let it soak for 10-15 minutes, then rinse really well.
4. Spray a few squirts of starsan into each bottle.
5. Dump the excess starsan mist the tops of the bottles with starsan and fill. Usually in groups of 10

 

[Slainte-brew]

+1 to tombstone, exactly what I do. Make sure they are fairly clean right when you empty them, usually just hot water. Quick rinse and visual check on bottling day. Spray bottle with starsan, couple pumps inside, swirl it before I fill and rack right over it. It cut 15-20 mins out of my day not waiting to fill and empty bottles in a bucket.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Im with the others using dishwasher...

Just make sure they are rinsed out bottles(no debris inside), throw them in the dishwasher heat cycle(not wash, you dont want jet dry/etc up inside). Once cool, when bottling i just open the door, pull out a bottle, shoot some starsan water up inside of it with a bottle vinator, shake it out, and fill. Filling pushes out any extra starsan foam that maybe inside, if your one of those people who care.

 

[Nagorg]

1) Drink beer from bottle.
2) Rinse empty bottle well. Turn upside-down and let dry.
3) If you have a label on the bottle or want to clean further:
3a) Soak in Oxy Clean or PBW soloution.
3b) Rinse well.
On bottling day:
1) Put Star San solution in Vinator.
2) Blast each bottle on Vinator.
3) Put bottle on Bottle Tree.
4) Fill bottle with beer from bottling bucket (priming sugar added)
5) Cap bottle.
6) Store for ~4weeks.
7) Place in fridge for 1-2 days.
8) Enjoy!

 

[RobertRGeorge]

I have found that over time some of the bottles, and depending on the yeast (the SF Lager yeast is notorious) develop what appears to be beer stone during bottle ageing, although it could be stubborn yeast deposits, that don't come out with just hot-water rinsing. For these I put about 1ml of Clorox in the bottle, fill it and let it sit overnight, then rinse it for 10 seconds with a blast bottle rinser.

 

[Braufessor]

How do you "keep" your star san in your open container without a lid?

I have a room in my basement dedicated for brewing, so, I just leave the tub sit there on the floor with a piece of plastic draped over it. I almost always have something soaking in it (buckets, spigots, tubing, beer lines, growlers, gallon jugs for yeast starters, bottles, etc. I don't keep the starsan forever, but I will use the same tub for a month or so. Basically, a big bottle of starsan lasts me about a year, which is more than good enough for me. I always check it with narrow-range colorphast strips to make sure pH is well below 3.

Like I said, I know i don't "need" to soak things, but it is incredibly simple to put 5 gallons worth of bottles in the tub when I wake up, go upstairs, drink coffee, boil my priming sugar, etc. and come back down when I feel like bottling and everything is ready to roll. Likewise, if I am going to sanitize a keg, I can transfer 5 gallons into the keg, throw the posts, seals, etc. in the tub with transfer tubing, walk away and come back when I want to keg it.

If I did not have a dedicated spot where I could let all this stuff sit, it would probably not be so convenient.

 

[Braufessor]

This is what I use for tub, etc.

 

[eanmcnulty]

To clean:
Rinse well after opening.
Soak in Oxyclean for a half hour or so. Rinse. Store.
(I work with about 15 bottles at a time. I tend to have a pipeline of bottles being cleaned and dried and stored, so I put a small piece of foil over each bottle, just to keep dust and bugs out, and store them in my basement.)
To sanitize:
Put bottles in dishwasher (no soap), and run it on heat-dry setting. (It reaches over 170f for 15 minutes.)
Pull bottle, fill, pull bottle, fill...
I don't see a need to use Starsan after they have already been sanitized. Never had a bad bottle.

 

[Gregwarro]

Here is what I do

Make sure the bottle is clean with hot water/ pbw soak (if necessary) I then fill a tub with star san and dunk the bottles till the fill up. After letting them sit for a few I empty the star san and put them back in the box they came in and fill. I typically fill 12-24 bottles at a time depending on the size then I cap them. then move on to the next box. Once I am done capping I close up the box and shove it in the closet.

I used to store them upside down, but from emptying with star san and filling there is like 5-10 minutes in between I doubt much if any bacteria is dropping in there.

One other note, I don't bottle unless I am giving it away, otherwise I just keg it up. After doing 48 12oz bottles last night... I remember why!

 

[Unibrow]

+1 I love my vinator... makes easy work of sanitizing bottles

This^^^^

The vinator is the best bottling tool, hands down

 

[eastoak]

1) Drink beer from bottle.
2) Rinse empty bottle well. Turn upside-down and let dry.
3) If you have a label on the bottle or want to clean further:
3a) Soak in Oxy Clean or PBW soloution.
3b) Rinse well.
On bottling day:
1) Put Star San solution in Vinator.
2) Blast each bottle on Vinator.
3) Put bottle on Bottle Tree.
4) Fill bottle with beer from bottling bucket (priming sugar added)
5) Cap bottle.
6) Store for ~4weeks.
7) Place in fridge for 1-2 days.
8) Enjoy!

the winning entry :rockin:

 

[coalburnerjones]

no need for tubs or buckets just shoot the sanitizer where you need it, inside the bottle.

This is definitely the way to go!

 

[unionrdr]

I like my vinator & bottle tree. They make the job go faster,& only have a footprint of about 2sqft. Set the tree on a chair next to me & life is easy.