Time to bottle

It's time to bottle my first batch, what is the best way to sanitize the bottles. I saved my beer bottles as I drank them.

 

I thoroughly clean my bottles and run through the dishwasher first. Then when bottling day arrives, I soak the bottles in the bottling bucket, that is half filled with water and the appropriate amount of starsan. Put on a rack in the dishwasher to drain, and then proceed to bottle.

If your bottles are clean already, you should only need to sanitize prior to bottling.

 

Do you put dishwasher detergent in when you run them through the dishwasher

 

Yes, I do use detergent when cleaning. Normally, I rinse the yeast out of the bottles and throw them in with other dishes after drinking a few beers. Store them and then sanitize before bottling.

 

The key word there is Star San - cleaning gets the crud out, sanitizing kills the bugs. You can clean with anything food safe as long as you rinse well enough.

If you wash your bottles in the DW with labels on, you will get bits of label in the bottles - same issue with dirty plates. I run labeled bottles through anyway, but I rinse them after.

Finally, read this and you'll be much happier on bottling day.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

 

I de-label mine. After I get a couple dozen stocked up I will through them in a bucket with warm water and OxyFree to remove the glue and label. The day before I want to bottle I stick them through the dishwasher without detergent, that can kill head retention. When I'm about to bottle I will stick a few in StarSan to sanitize and fill.

 

Get a vinator, use it with star San , Forget about shortcuts, this is the shortest.

 

One of the best beer purchases I ever made.

 

What's a vinator?

 

Here is a pic of one. You put sanitizer in it, and press the bottles down over the nozzle. A squirt of sanitizer is propelled within the bottle, then you put the bottle on the rack or in dishwasher to drain. Bottle sanitized.