Storing bottles once emptied....

[Moshmeister]

Hi all,

I hope this isn't a stupid question but I can't find an answer anywhere so it might be!

Once I've finished drinking from a bottle, I know I should clean it out with soap & water before storing it. My question is: should I store it with the bottle cap on or off? If it's on I'm worried that there might still be damp in there and it could lead to infection as it won't dry out. Conversely, if it's off I'm worried that bacteria in the air could get into the bottle easier.

Any advice is much appreciated!

Thanks

Mosh

 

[Melana]

We used to clean the bottles well with just water and store up side down in the dish drainer until dry then pack upside down in the case box.

 

[Philistine]

Don't over think it. Storing your bottles with the cap off is just fine. Provided you cleaned your bottles and dried them before storing, any contaminates that could make their way in would be killed off when you sanitize the bottles.

 

[Larso]

Don't over think it. Storing your bottles with the cap off is just fine. Provided you cleaned your bottles and dried them before storing, any contaminates that could make their way in would be killed off when you sanitize the bottles.

+1
Rinse, no soap, after use and cover with tinfoil if storing in shed . Otherwise leave uncovered

 

[DaNewf]

Agree with those above. Good rinsing out with hot water ASAP after pouring the beer. No soap.

I let bottles drain on my bottle tree and then store them upside in boxes lined with paper towel.

 

[unionrdr]

I rinse the bottles out,then fill to the shoulder with water & scrub with my bottle brush. Then rinse again real quick. I place them on my bottle tree to dry before storing them in the same 12 pack/case boxes I put the full ones in.
Just stack the boxed,dried empties in a seperate place than boxes of full ones.

 

[Moshmeister]

Great, thanks for all the advice guys.

 

[Trox]

I usually give them a good rinse after pouring, then when I get a bunch I'll wash them all out with some oxiclean and bottle brush, place them on bottle tree to dry, and then store them in the boxes they came in. If the bottle is going to be out in the open after cleaing (such as being kept in a 6 pack carrier) I'll put a piece of aluminum foil over the top to keep anthing from falling in.

When I get ready to bottle I'll quickly rinse them all, hit them sith star san, fill with beer, and call it a day.

 

[Desvio]

I just rinse mine out with water only, after all you are going to rinse and sterilize them before bottling again. Whether you use Starsan, sodium metabisulfite, citric acid (my favorite) or the pot-n-pan cycle in your dishwasher, any nasty invisible microbes will be killed off.

 

[SEndorf]

What I use, is the Jet Bottle Washer , then upside down storage on the Fast Rack.
No bottle brush. Saves a lot of time and space.

 

[N3Bruce]

I keep a Fastrack on the kitchen counter, when I drink a homebrew, I rinse it thoroughly, then invert it in the Fastrack to dry. Once I have it filled, I store them downstairs in the pantry. Just need to do a quick rinse and sanitation and you are ready to refill them. My first few brews I labeled, but I decided to reserve that only for gifts and parties now, and use caps of different colors to tell the different beers apart.

 

[unionrdr]

yeah,me too. I just label outgoing beers now. I use a black caligraphy marker to put a code on the cap for everyday. The printer uses a lot of ink printing the labels with the right color density.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Rinse out immediately after use, dry upside down on rack, store in box upside down. Sanitize on bottling day. Scrub out if left overnight, then same procedure.