bleach bottle sanitation

Hi,

I am about to bottle my first 10 gallon batch. It is going to be a huge job, especially if you take into account that I sanitize bottles with bleach solution...

Now, don't ask me why... I just can't get any good no rinse sanitizers around, so... it's the only thing I have at this moment.

I wanted to split a job in two days (or at least to make it a bit easier), so I thought of filling all the bottles (100) with bleach solution today and leave it over night.

Tomorrow morning I would rinse and bottle the beer.

Do you think this is ok? For how long the bleach is active as a sanitizer in such an environment as a glass bottle?

thanks

Make sure to rinse very well with warm water. I used bleach for 2 years until just recently I had 2 batches ruined. The bleach reacts with the yeast and they create the nasty band-aid plastic taste. I always rinsed well too so be careful and make sure you're not using too much bleach which I think was another one of my problems. I use star-san now and can't believe I didn't switch earlier.

Just use a solution of .5-1 tablespoon bleach to 5 gallons of water, and then add 1 tbs of vinegar to that after the bleach has been diluted. It is below taste threasholds, isn't enough to cause yeast to produce phenols and has a contact killing time of 20 seconds.

This is the no rinse solution Charley Tally reccomends (inventor of star san).

You can always rinse with water if it makes you more comfortable with using bleach!

have you considered dishwasher hot cycle sanitation?

1 tablespoon of bleach and vinegar for 5 gallons. Bleach the water then acidify. Do not rinse afterwards. Profit.

This is what I use for everything but bottles (I use the oven for bottles, only because I don't have a vinator).

Order up some starsan from one of the many online suppliers. Mix up a small batch in a bucket. Get yourself a regular old spray bottle and fill it with starsan solution. Give each bottle 5 or 6 squirts and then dunk the neck of the bottle in the starsan bucket. Put the bottle on your bottle tree to drain. Better yet, use the your dishwasher.https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/ This thread helped me a bunch. Turn bottling into a party! Drink Beer!

Germelli1 said:

Just use a solution of .5-1 tablespoon bleach to 5 gallons of water, and then add 1 tbs of vinegar to that after the bleach has been diluted. It is below taste threasholds, isn't enough to cause yeast to produce phenols and has a contact killing time of 20 seconds.

This is the no rinse solution Charley Tally reccomends (inventor of star san).

You can always rinse with water if it makes you more comfortable with using bleach!

Click to expand...

I thought I remembered that Charlie Talley said one ounce of bleach and vinegar, so I went back to the podcast to check, and sure enough it is one ounce, not one tablespoon. One fluid ounce would be two tablespoons of bleach and two tablespoons of vinegar per five gallons of water.

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=basic-brewing-radio-2007
It's the March 29, 2007 broadcast.

DeafSmith said:

I thought I remembered that Charlie Talley said one ounce of bleach and vinegar, so I went back to the podcast to check, and sure enough it is one ounce, not one tablespoon. One fluid ounce would be two tablespoons of bleach and two tablespoons of vinegar per five gallons of water.

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=basic-brewing-radio-2007
It's the March 29, 2007 broadcast.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm an idiot. Disregard.

Well, it may be that one tablespoon would work, I just wanted to keep someone from ruining a batch by using too little. Charlie says one ounce (2 tablespoons) is enough, so that is what I would recommend to be safe (actually, I'd recommend StarSan).

DeafSmith said:

I thought I remembered that Charlie Talley said one ounce of bleach and vinegar, so I went back to the podcast to check, and sure enough it is one ounce, not one tablespoon. One fluid ounce would be two tablespoons of bleach and two tablespoons of vinegar per five gallons of water.

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=basic-brewing-radio-2007
It's the March 29, 2007 broadcast.

Click to expand...

jfr1111 said:

Yeah, I'm an idiot. Disregard.

Click to expand...

Me too, that is the exact podcast I got the info from and for some reason in my head I have always thought there are two oz in a tablespoon, not the otherway around.

Thanks for setting us straight!