Bottle Prep Prior to Brewing

[MSUCatBrewer]

Before brewing my first two bottles, I did the following:

1) Submerged and filled with Starsan, dumped out.

2) Placed upside down on a flat surface (on a towel sprayed with Starsan) for the interior to dry.

3) As soon as all suds had dissipated from the inside of the bottles, I filled.


Thoughts?

PS. I'm using 1 oz Starsan/5 Gal of H2o...it's really sudsy. Is it supposed to be?

Thanks!

 

[schatzke]

Sounds good. Don't fear the foam!
Welcome to the hobby from Billings!

 

[MSUCatBrewer]

Do I need to wait for the suds in the bottle to dissipate before filling?

Cheers to Montana!

 

[JediJoel]

You do not. I typically go right from dumping starsan to filling the bottle. I also spin the bottle while dumping it in order to create a whirlpool. The starsan creates less foam this way

https://youtu.be/viX3lpeG3lk?t=26

 

[Brownalemikie]

It took me a few sessions of bottling to figure out that you don't have to shake the bottle with Starsan inside. Now I simply submerse the bottle in Starsan and then slowly pour the Starsan out.....similar to decanting a beer into a glass. By doing this you will have zero foam. I do the same with my carboys before siphoning from the brew pot.

 

[NCSU_Brewer]

You do not. I typically go right from dumping starsan to filling the bottle. I also spin the bottle while dumping it in order to create a whirlpool. The starsan creates less foam this way

https://youtu.be/viX3lpeG3lk?t=26

I do the same thing when bottling. I also don't bother to completely fill the bottle with starsan. If you let it float on its side and then spin it, you'll get it adequately sanitized.


I also recommend using a dishwasher and/or dish drain for staging sanitized bottles. Once I figured this out, bottling days went much more smoothly.

 

[RM-MN]

Starsan is a wet contact sanitizer. If it dries it no longer is a sanitizer but that is OK because the little bit that is left in the bottle when you dump it won't harm the beer or the yeast that causes the carbonation. To completely sanitize requires the surface to be wet for 1 minute.

 

[jekeane]

"Don't fear the foam" is a common motto with Star San.

You can also use 6ml of star san in a gallon of distilled water. I generally make 1 gallon dump it into my brew bucket shake the heck out of it and/or roll the sanitizer inside for 30 seconds then pour the sanitizer back into the gallon bottle or into the small sanitizer bucket i use for brew days. I seal up my fermenter at that point until I'm ready to fill it with wort.

The left over sanitizer I use for the rest of months brewing and racking activities as star san made with distilled water will last for several months.

 

[McGarnigle]

You don't have to sanitize the outside of the bottles, so no need to submerge if you don't want to. Personally, I use a baster to squirt Star San inside the bottles, then roll/shake, wait and dump.

I dump it out in the sink. I don't re-use the dumped liquid, so I try not to use too much of it.

 

[kh54s10]

Get one of these: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=388092&stc=1&d=1486570933

Spritz a bottle, put it on the rack of your dishwasher, repeat for 50-55 bottles then fill them all.

 

[LostHopper]

Get one of these: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=388092&stc=1&d=1486570933

Spritz a bottle, put it on the rack of your dishwasher, repeat for 50-55 bottles then fill them all.

+1
I try to keep my brewing gadgets to an absolute minimum but I have never regretted adding this.