Bottle Clean Protocol (for Friends)?

[micraftbeer]

I keg my beer, but frequently share batches with friends/neighbors. So I bottle some and give them out. Bottles cost ~$0.50 apiece from the homebrew shop, and no way I have patience to peel labels and soak off glue from commercial bottles. So I reuse/recycle the bottles back from the ones I give out.

As I collect a large enough batch of empties to load the dishwasher, I'll give the bottles a rinse and then hold up to the light for visual inspection for mold. If moldy, I don't bother, goes in the Recycling. From time to time, different batches of bottle returns have a higher count of moldy bottles than others.

I've read the posts on here about how fellow homebrewers clean their bottles, but a tub of 1-step under their sink isn't something they'd do. So my directions to them is to rinse the bottle out with water a couple times immediately after emptying. But I was wondering if there was something more (that was still simple enough for a non-homebrewer to do) that could decrease the incidence rate of finding moldy bottles.

Things I've been wondering about:
1. Drinking from the bottle vs. pouring into a glass- seems like backwash would be more prone to bacteria. Any thoughts?
2. After rinsing, should they be storing bottles upside down so rinse water can run out- thinking standing water may be prone to catching air critters?

 

[MaxStout]

1. If I give bottles of HB to someone and they are kind enough to bring back the empties, I assume they drank from them and may not have rinsed them. Clean and sanitize.
2. After cleaning/rinsing, invert them and let them drip dry overnight. Then put away in whatever boxes you use. I don't like to leave standing water in those.

 

[dmtaylor]

I have a huge bin of about 250 bottles with no labels that I just reuse over and over. All were rinsed several times immediately after pouring. I do nothing special to keep residual droplets out. I just gently toss them into the big bin upways, sideways, downways, whichever way randomly, where they dry out and are ready to go for next bottling time, at which point I dunk the number I need in a bucket or sink of Starsan & water for a few minutes before draining and filling with primed beer. Been doing this hundreds of times since 1999.

Since I have so many bottles... if I ever give any away, they can just keep them. Somehow I think I'll survive. Labels aren't that hard to get off from new bottles anyway. Soak in some hot water for 15 minutes, then I use the handle end of a spoon to scrape them off, followed by a scrub brush. If the labels don't come off easily from doing this (rare), throw them in the recycle bin. Sanitize in Starsan solution afterward.

 

[sibelman]

I'd ask friends to add water, shake, dump, and repeat twice (three total). Before bottling, I fill bottles with bleach solution and let them soak overnight. Then I rinse them thoroughly and put them in the dishwasher (sanitize cycle). Then fill and cap.

 

[madscientist451]

Accumulate your reject bottles in a bucket. When there are enuf bottles fill it with hot water and toss in some PBW. Or you can be frugal and just mix up enough PBW to fill the bottles. Give each bottle a shake with the solution inside and leave overnight. In the morning, shake ‘em again, rinse and inspect. Any nasty bottles should be recycled, but most of them should be fine. Expecting others to be careful with your bottles is setting yourself up for dissapointment. Instead, be thankful you got ‘em back and that they enjoyed your brew.

 

[Climb]

I tell people that I give bottled beer to, that the beer is for them to enjoy but the bottle is mine and needs to be returned. I also request that they rinse the bottle promptly after it is empty.

I quickly find out who is appreciative of home brew and who is not. Those that don’t comply, aren’t given more bottled beer.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!

Haha, I do agree though, for the most part.. I've given bottles to people that I don't expect to get back, this would be some family members that I only see on occasion. But for friends and co workers or people that i share with more regularly, they typically return them rinsed, and fairly clean. A couple guys I know well, I'll fill a growler for and get it back clean within a day or 2, but those are beer drinking buddies that also give me beer so they get special treatment.

Ultimately if you're sharing and getting bottles back I would ask for them to fill halfway with hot water, stick your thumb it it, shake well and empty, once or twice, then set it upside down.

 

[IslandLizard]

Pretty much what I have been doing...

Plus, I prefer to run a bottle brush with cleanser (washing soda) through each bottle at some point in the cleaning cycle. Then rinse well, drain and leave to dry.

Each bottle gets sanitized right before refilling.

 

[mac_1103]

"The beer is free, but there's a $50 deposit on the bottles."

 

[dmtaylor]

"The beer is free, but there's a $50 deposit on the bottles."

This is homebrewing GOLD!

 

[mac_1103]

That's been our brewery's motto since its inception. Well one of them anyway. The other one is "It's OK if you don't like it, that's just more for us!"

 

[Jeroen79]

Here i just rinse them after drinking and on bottle day put them in the bottle cleaner with OXI and rise again, never had an infection.

 

[odie]

I tell people that I give bottled beer to, that the beer is for them to enjoy but the bottle is mine and needs to be returned. I also request that they rinse the bottle promptly after it is empty.

I quickly find out who is appreciative of home brew and who is not. Those that don’t comply, aren’t given more bottled beer.

BINGO

 

[BeerNsteadofH2O]

I tell people that I give bottled beer to, that the beer is for them to enjoy but the bottle is mine and needs to be returned. I also request that they rinse the bottle promptly after it is empty.

I quickly find out who is appreciative of home brew and who is not. Those that don’t comply, aren’t given more bottled beer.

exactly how it works in my house, if you enjoy the brew(and want more) you return the bottle in serviceable condition, (most even save me bottles from store bought brews)from there when I have 24 or more bottles they go into a tub with enough pbw to cover them, after a 10 minute soak, I take a bottle brush to each one, then empty it and put it in a strainer in a slop sink, then they get a hot water rinse,inside and out and are allowed to drain, then drop them into a bucket of star san, to rinse, then they go back on the strainer upside down to drain before storage- on botteling day, they get sanitized by placing them on a rack that pumps Iso- for through them before the deed- it sounds like alot of work, but it really isnt, I actually enjoy the process as part of the hobby.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Hot rinse and some starsan sprayed inside and out. The alcohol in the beer will get what I missed.

 

[dwick]

Apparently my process is a bit of overkill, but here it is.
- Rinse immediately after emptying bottle.
- Store upside down in bottle racks in basement.
- Soak bottles in a large tub of very hot water and PBW for 48 hours.
- Rinse bottles using a faucet jet bottle washer.
- Wash bottles on dishwasher sanitize cycle with more PBW, without drying.
- Soak in Star San immediately prior to bottling.

 

[SFC Rudy]

People way over complicate the bottle cleaning process.

1. Rinse your bottles after the pour. Store on a bottle tree.

2. On bottling day make your priming sugar solution. While it is cooling:

3. Make a few cups of One Step cleaning solution.

4. Cut the end off of your bottling brush and put it in a drill

5. Dip the brush in the One Step and scrub your bottle for about 5 seconds. Rinse. You should be able to clean 3-4 bottles a minute. 60 12 oz bottles should take about 20 minutes.

6. By now your priming sugar should be cool enough to use. Proceed with bottling and clean up

I can bottle five gallons in a about 2-1/2 hours including cleanup.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I think it's funny that people will drink from glasses and eat from forks that 1,000 others ate and drank from. Only a 2 minute spin through a machine operated by someone who isn't skilled enough to do much else, but their bottle cleaning habits are like you're in level 7 bio facility.

 

[ncbrewer]

As said previously, I wouldn't rely on bottles being returned clean - clean them thoroughly when you get them back. I've tried many methods of bottle cleaning. I was never completely satisfied until I tried a Papazian method. He wrote about cleaning carboys with 2 oz bleach in 5 gallons of water, with an overnight soak. I use this bleach concentration, but scaled down for just the bottles I am cleaning (one session of beer bottles) - still an overnight soak. Hot water rinse the next day with a jet washer. It cleans better than anything else I've tried - spotless and no film. Then on bottling day, I spray one bottle with star san using a vinator, while I'm filling the previous bottle - very little extra time involved.

 

[sibelman]

bleach...cleans better than anything else

Yes, this is true.