Best methods for cleaning bottles?

I'm about to bottle a new batch this weekend and I've got about 36, 22oz bottles I need to clean. There is a accumulation of dust, dirt, and debris in them since they were stored in the garage. Any recommendations for a good, thorough cleaning before bottling?

I like to rinse with plain water first then fill my bottling bucket up with 5 gals of hot water and mix in my cleanser, then put as many bottles in the bucket standing up as I can and let then sit for about 10 mins each. once I have cleaned all my bottles I repeat the process with a sanitization solution.

If they've been sitting out a while or have been received from sources other than my own use (i always rinse mine directly after emptying), I give them a few hours soak in warm water and some bleach or oxyclean. That will loosen up any organic residue or mold/mildew that might be in the bottles, usually without having to brush at all. Then I rinse them well and of course sanitize immediately before I fill them.

after years of bottling, I found the greatest way to clean and sanitize them a few weeks ago. First, I got the jet bottle washer attachment for a sink. This thing is awesome. It shoots a pretty high pressure jet up into the bottle. That will get rid of dirt, dust and any debris I might have left behind. Then, after seeing several people rave about it, I got a Vinator. this device holds a little bit of sanitizer. You depress the bottle on it, and squirt sanitizing solution into the bottle. After that, you are ready to go. No soaking, scrubbing, dumping etc.

I'm a bit anal about sanitation, so if I'm using bottles that I haven't used before, I always scrub the bottles well with a brush before sanitizing. I don't want some small bug to mess up all that work so, although I hate bottle prep, I do it religiously.

I usually go for a scrub with a bottle brush and some cleaner, then throw them all into a big tupperware thing and soak them in star san. This usually helps loosen up the bottles too. I let them sit in the star san for a couple days, then when it comes to bottling day Ill take them out, brush off any left over labels, and put them in the dishwasher. No soap or detergent, just use the "sanitize" cycle. I leave them there until I pull them out one by one when bottling.

This might be overkill with the dishwasher, but its a nice way of drying them out too, lacking a bottle tree.

You can clean them on the outside as mentioned several way above, but for the inside I use a bottle brush. Cut the loop off and insert the straight end into a drill...

If I get bottles from "the wild" I do the oxyclean free & hot water soak for a couple of hours, then blast them with the jet bottle washer till clean.

To sanatize I use the vinatore, then hang on the bottle tree.

Three of the best things I have added to my collection, Jet bottle washer, vinatore and bottle tree!

Dave

When I first get bottles, I soak in Oxyclean to remove labels and any other funk. Then I run all my bottles through the dishwasher and store in cases. When I am ready to bottle, I soak in Starsan and bottle. As I drink them, they get rinsed then dishwasher and cases..

Let them soak in water/oxyclean to loosen up and sediment, let them dry, then just put them in the dishwasher with no soap, and run it. That will rinse and sanitize in one step. With no work.

I just bottled my first batch last night. I soaked the bottles, ran them through the dishwasher without detergent and let them heat dry, then I wrapped the tops with aluminum foil and placed them in the oven. I slowly brought the oven temp to 350 degrees and baked them for 90 minutes to sterilize. After this, they will be sterile until the foil is removed, which I did right before bottling each beer. It worked very well and I'll be able to re-use the unused, unwrapped bottles.

That is way over kill. Beer bottles do not need to be sterile. They need to be sanitized. The water in the dishwasher is hot enough to kill any bacteria.

For cleaning?
Hot oxyclean soak

Edcculus said:

after years of bottling, I found the greatest way to clean and sanitize them a few weeks ago. First, I got the jet bottle washer attachment for a sink. This thing is awesome. It shoots a pretty high pressure jet up into the bottle. That will get rid of dirt, dust and any debris I might have left behind. Then, after seeing several people rave about it, I got a Vinator. this device holds a little bit of sanitizer. You depress the bottle on it, and squirt sanitizing solution into the bottle. After that, you are ready to go. No soaking, scrubbing, dumping etc.

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+1 on the vinator; the best money I have spent on brew gadgets thus far. Bottle drying tree is a close second.

I use bleach, cheap and effective. I fill the slop sink with water, add a little bleach, submerge four 22 oz bottles at a time. Then i heat up my bottling sugar, transfer my secondary to bottling bucket. Then it's time to rinse the bottles, use a $10 metal bottle rinser.

djt17 said:

+1 on the vinator; the best money I have spent on brew gadgets thus far. Bottle drying tree is a close second.

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Another +1 here. Before I had the tree, I would fill a bucket and drop in three or foud bottles in and swish them around, pick them up from the bottom and drain, then shake out as much foam as possible. All done two at a time. Bottle tree with the vinator is great.

I actually went a step further. Oxiclean soak, dishwasher (on hot setting), and THEN starsan before putting the beer in the bottle. You have to be careful with dishwashers. Remember that they recirculate water. It is possible that organic matter from your last real dishwashing cycle could get into your bottles. I'd definitely give them a final star-san rinse before bottling.

The initial cleaning, delabeling is a royal PITA. My first batch I ran then in the DW. I will probably just use a tub of sanitizer next time until I get a vinator. I store my bottles upside down in cases so they won't get dirty when they are empty.

djt17 said:

+1 on the vinator; the best money I have spent on brew gadgets thus far. Bottle drying tree is a close second.

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I don't see the point of the vinator. What does that do that a quick dunk and shake doesn't? Just another thing to spend money on if you ask me..... Dunk, shake, hang on drying rack (in my case the bottom rack of the dishwasher). Achieve the same result in the same amount of time and spend less money.

Cheaton said:

I don't see the point of the vinator. What does that do that a quick dunk and shake doesn't? Just another thing to spend money on if you ask me..... Dunk, shake, hang on drying rack (in my case the bottom rack of the dishwasher). Achieve the same result in the same amount of time and spend less money.

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I've found the vineator to be far faster than any dunk, shake, dry process.

Me and my brother who have recently started brewing go absolutely overkill on our bottles but we don't mind the extra work. First off like a few posts have said the JET bottle rinser and vinator are extremely useful and handy I cannot stress this enough.

You really wanna know our methods? lol
1. We soak in Oxyclean FREE for a day or more.
2. Scrub bottles with bottle brush while in Oxyclean solution.
3. Then we drop in bleach water for however long. We may rinse with the JET depending on how long they have been in water
4. Store them in a Rubbermaid tote or on a bottle tree for storage depending on how soon you are going to bottle your beer.
5. Use Star San in vinator just before bottling (allow atleast 30 second contact time)

Trevor57 said:

That is way over kill. Beer bottles do not need to be sterile. They need to be sanitized. The water in the dishwasher is hot enough to kill any bacteria.

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But I'm a microphobe- and I REALLY liked the idea of sterile bottles (vs. sanitized). Also, they keep until you use them.

Smogre said:

I've found the vineator to be far faster than any dunk, shake, dry process.

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Ya, but how much time are you really cutting off of your bottling? 5-10 minutes? Of course, I must say, I'm a cheap bastard. As much as I like gadgets I dont' buy anything that's not going to save me considerable time and headaches. I mean, if you're talking circular saw vs. hand saw that's one thing. But if you're talking squirt vs. dunk I can't see the value. That $15 pays for an entree at a decent restaurant.... that's worth more than 5-10 minutes every few weeks, or months even.

I brought a bunch of bottles off craigslist, and got a vinator and bottle tree thrown in. TBH, I didn't think the vinator would be much better than the dunk method, but I've been impressed. Between it and the bottle tree, the process is just much smoother.

I soak 50 to 100 bottles in oxyclean using a big rubbermaid tote, then hang them on the bottle tree to drain. I'll rinse off the outside with a hose. Then I dunk them in fresh water, back on the tree, then into fresh water again. Before they go back on the tree, a couple of squirts on the vinator with Star San, and they are ready for beer.

Cheaton said:

Ya, but how much time are you really cutting off of your bottling? 5-10 minutes? Of course, I must say, I'm a cheap bastard. As much as I like gadgets I dont' buy anything that's not going to save me considerable time and headaches. I mean, if you're talking circular saw vs. hand saw that's one thing. But if you're talking squirt vs. dunk I can't see the value. That $15 pays for an entree at a decent restaurant.... that's worth more than 5-10 minutes every few weeks, or months even.

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Let's be clear. I primarily keg. When I do bottle specialty brews, I use the dishwasher.
The vineator is used on wine bottles.
It's been years since I dunked. Plus, I use far less star san and water now.

It seems like a lot of you guys just love to spend extra time and money. You can't get a bottle cleaner than clean.

I go straight from Oxiclean, a quick dunk in some fresh water, then into the dishwasher.

It seems like a lot of you guys just love to spend extra time and money. You can't get a bottle cleaner than clean.

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It seems to me in the stupid amount of time I've spent browsing these forums that bottles are probably the #1 area where infections occur. People seem so concerned with sanitation through the fermentation process but fall down here. The bottle is probably where your beer is goign to spend the majority of its "life" so it seems to me that the bottle (or keg) should every bit as scrutinized as your fermenter.

I rinse mine after decanting, then store them upside down to keep dust out. Then a few days before bottling, they all get a long oxyclean soak in the tub followed by a good rinse. On bottling day, they all get sprayed with starsan to sanitize and then bottled while wet.

Trevor57,

I know it seems like a waste of time to you, but I soaked them because they had been in storage for a long time (more than a year), the dishwasher was just to make sure, and the sterilization made bottling so easy because we just grabbed a box of sterilized bottles, tore off the foil, filled, and capped. It took about 30 minutes (or less) to bottle two cases.

I can't fault anyone for being crazily anal with cleaning where this beer stuff is concerned. $20-$50 plus alot of time are at stake in every batch. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I keep a 1 gallon pitcher filled with a mild oxyclean solution next to my kitchen sink. After I pour a beer, I give it a quick rinse to get out any sediment (pour in a little tap water, stick finger in bottle and shake vigorously. Repeat 2-3 times). Then I fill it with the oxyclean solution and drop it in the pitcher. The oxyclean solution will get rid of any labels or remaining gunk.

The next day, I'll pull the bottles out, pour the solution back in the pitcher and give them a quick rinse. I let them dry and then store them in boxes.

On bottling day, I fill up my sanitizing bucket (a retired Ale Pail) with sanitizer solution. I dunk the bottles in the bucket in batches (however many will fit) and give each batch a 2 minute soak. Then they go onto the dishwasher racks, ready for bottling.

Any new homebrew bottle is soaked in oxyclean to remove the label. On brew day the bottles are all placed in the dishwasher and sanitized. This takes about 2 hours, so about 1.5 hours in I start to get the priming sugar boiled and the beer transfered from fermentor to bottling bucket. Once the bottles are sanitized in the dishwasher I then prepare a batch of sanatizing solution. I then dip the bottles in the solution fill each bottle then dump it back out into the bucket. This final step is done just before I fill the bottles.

I can bottle and cap a 5 gallon batch in about 45 minutes now (not counting the dishwashing time).

1) Dunk n' shake in a bucket with sanitizer.
2) Cycle through the dishwasher (preceded by an empty rinse cycle).

Oh...and the "sanitizer," it's just One Step. Alone.

It's not that I don't take sanitizing seriously, but I place much greater emphasis on using bottles that I've emptied myself, rinsed clean soon after, and then stored under a cover.

Seems like there are a lot of posts with what seems to be a "double sanitize". i.e. "first I run them through the dishwasher to sanitize, then I dunk them in a sanitizing soloution". I've never bottled before, but I'd like to give it a try soon (I've spent 4 hours over the last 2 days cleaning swing-tops). Is the dishwasher sanitize cycle not good enough or something?

Smogre said:

I've found the vineator to be far faster than any dunk, shake, dry process.

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+1, and Amen. New, labeled bottles = PBW for an hour, cleans & delabels in one step (can't use Oxi-Clean, water is too hard). Sanitize with Star-San & vinator (one of the BEST brewing accessories, along with auto-siphon), then run through dishwasher. Never any problems. Dishwasher doesn't get up inside the bottle. There are those that just rely on the dishwasher temps to do the job inside the bottle; I don't.

rico567 said:

+1, and Amen. New, labeled bottles = PBW for an hour, cleans & delabels in one step (can't use Oxi-Clean, water is too hard). Sanitize with Star-San & vinator (one of the BEST brewing accessories, along with auto-siphon), then run through dishwasher. Never any problems. Dishwasher doesn't get up inside the bottle. There are those that just rely on the dishwasher temps to do the job inside the bottle; I don't.

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I don't think Oxi-clean is too concerned with the hardness of your water.... did you mean star-san? Oxi-clean can take off hard water stains after all...

Trevor57 said:

It seems like a lot of you guys just love to spend extra time and money. You can't get a bottle cleaner than clean.

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I agree with you, a lot of this is overkill ( no pun intended). A little bleach and rinse is just as effective as any of these methods and you don't have to let them soak all day.

ChuckinWA said:

Seems like there are a lot of posts with what seems to be a "double sanitize". i.e. "first I run them through the dishwasher to sanitize, then I dunk them in a sanitizing soloution". I've never bottled before, but I'd like to give it a try soon (I've spent 4 hours over the last 2 days cleaning swing-tops). Is the dishwasher sanitize cycle not good enough or something?

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It's not that it's not "good enough" I just prefer the two lines of defense. If the DW doesn't kill it the Iodine solution will. I'd hate to ruin beer due to poor sanitation.

I have read that it is also good to switch up your sanitation choices every once in awhile too. For example, if you use iodine, change over to Star-san for a few batches. You need to catch those little beasties while they are sleeping.

How do you pronounce "vinator"? I don't want to sound like a rube when I go to buy one.

I think it's pronounced exactly how you'd expect. Vin - A - tor with the emphases on Vin.

For $14 or so bucks, it's a gem. I'm pissed that I sold mine. I figured that I only bottle a sixer at a time but even so, it's nice. Dunk and gurgle is a chore. You need a basin filled with enough sanitizer to reach over the top. The vinator can do 50 bottles with about a quart of sanitizer and each bottle will take you 5 seconds.