Best methods to clean bottles.

[trephor]

Hey! I was just curious, after 7 batches, five all grain and two extract. After reusing my bottles, and rinsing them immediately after use, I still get nervous about the over all cleanliness of my bottles. I have yet to have any infections, but the bottles don't look as clean as new anymore. What are some methods other than shaking hot PBW in the bottles?

Thanks.

 

[user 125772]

Dishwasher , Sani-clean cycle.

 

[imasickboy]

If your bottles are "sanitary" clean, which it sounds like they are, but you want "shiny new" clean, a dip in white vinegar will eliminate any water spots or other residue left behind from cleaning.

 

[tgolanos]

Invest in a bottle tree:
http://www.thehopandgrain.com.au/product/bottle-rinser/

 

[madscientist451]

Fill bucket with PBW solution, immerse bottle, let sit 24 hours, dump PBW solution from bottle to bucket. You can use the PBW solution over and over. Rinse bottle with water and use bottle brush. Inspect bottle by holding up to light source and look though the opening. If it's not clean after this routine, either recycle it or go though the process again. Note you still need to sanitize the bottle with star-san or something similar.

 

[trephor]

Thanks for the good advice! I hope to start kegging soon.

I have been running them through the dishwasher before my PBW shake and sanitize. I might start soaking them in a bucket of PBW to be safe.

 

[PADave]

I rinse my bottles with water as soon as I pour. Then on bottling day soak in Starsan. Over 30 brews, no problems.

 

[flars]

I've just made it a standard procedure to immerse all of my bottles in a weak PBW solution after a quick rinse. I do this because a triple rinse will not take all of the yeast out of some bottles. Empty and then use a bottle brush in a battery powered drill to scrub.

I use a weak PBW solution to prevent mineral residue from our hard water.

I also have a lot of bottles and a lot of time so the cleaning isn't a hardship.

 

[Jtk78]

I rinse right after pouring and store bottles. Just before bottling (sometimes the night before, but usually same day) I fill a wash tub with hot water and homemade pbw and fill bottles, empty, and they go on to bottle tree. Then I set up my bottling area which includes a vineator filled with Star-san. I grab bottle from tree, three pumps on vineator, hard shake, and fill with beer. Fill 6 then I cap. The filling is done with left hand, vineator done with right hand.

 

[kh54s10]

I rinse them out after pouring, then store. On bottling day rinse again and spritz with Starsan on a Vinator. Set all the bottles on the dishwasher rack then fill. One infected bottle in about 45 five gallon batches. And that bottle was quite good, whatever the infection was....

 

[IchLiebeBier]

I go overboard a bit. But I don't want all my efforts to be ruined by dirty bottles. Here's what I do.

1. Immediate rinse of bottles after use. Place in book crate in kitchen to await cleaning.
2. Once I get 50 or so bottles, I mix up a hot batch of PBW and fill the bottles with my autosiphon and some tubing. I let it sit overnight.
3. I took a bottle brush, cut off the round end of the handle, and attach it to a cordless drill. I pick up each bottle, and drill-brush the bottle and drain it. I place it in the sink until I do all the bottles.
4. Hot water rinse the outside of all the bottles and then wash the inside with a bottle washer. Place each bottle in fast rack or on bottle tree to dry.
5. Get cheap foil from dollar store and cover each bottle opening with it. place in crate and await use.
6. Just before use, I remove the foil and place all the bottles in the sink. Hot water wash the outside to get any dust off. Hot water rinse the inside again just to be safe.
7. Squirt starsan in the bottle with vinator. place in fastrack to drain out starsan.
8. Rinse all caps with hot water and soak in starsan. Drain it off and wait for capping.
9. Fill and cap.

Like I said...overkill. But it works.

 

[waterskj]

I do this with both beer and wine bottles:

I have a large cooler sitting next to my laundry sink - it has a mild bleach solution in it.

Rinse bottle after use.

Submerge in cooler

When cooler filled..

Remove two bottles at a time .. let water "glub' back into cooler..

Use the bottle rinser that attaches to the tap to rinse out one bottle while holding the other bottle under the flow to rinse the outside...

Swap positions of bottles..

Place on bottle tree to dry

When bottle tree full.. store bottles..

When bottling .. add Star San to Vinator.. squirt in till all the inside has Star San on it .. place on tree..

Bottle Beer/Wine

Then its kinda like "Rinse - Repeat".


Every so often dip a finger in the water to see if you can still smell a faint odor of bleach . add small amounts as necessary..

replace water in cooler every couple of months..

Don't put bottles with labels in cooler..

 

[SlitheryDee]

I bought a bottle washer early on and for the most part it's been all I've needed. I did mess up and let a few bottles sit too long before washing them and noticed that there was some residue that wasn't coming off. Probably a soak in pbw would do the trick, but I got a bottle brush with a kit a while back. That will work immediately when I want to use them. As far as making my bottles look shiny and new, I haven't really gotten to the point where I worry about that.