Bottle Sanitation vs. Sterilization Issues

[jamursch]

I'm slightly confused about some bottling techniques that I need some help with.

First, here's my bottling procedure:
1. Rinse bottle twice after pouring into a glass
2. Soak used bottles in Oxyclean overnight to remove labels
3. Rinse inside of bottle with hot water using a bottle washer
4. Rinse outside of bottle under faucet (to remove oxyclean residue)
5. Completely submerge in Sanitizer prior to bottling and hang on sanitized bottle tree to drip just prior to bottling.
6. Fill with beer and cap

Now, I have had some mixed results where I get an odd bottle that has less of a head when I pour it and a slight but noticeable sour taste to it. This happens on a random bottle now and again, but it still happens.

Is this happening because of leftover residue in the bottles from the oxyclean?
Did I not get the bottles that friends are collecting clean enough since maybe they don't take the same rinsing steps as I do?
Do I need to go one step further and sterilize my bottles in the dishwasher too?

I'd rather not run them all through a full cycle in the dishwasher as that takes even more water and energy than I'm already using but also don't want to keep running into these inconsistent results.

I sure could use some advice or wisdom on what might be causing this random issue.

Thanks.

 

[TyTanium]

Your process seems fine.

Reduce the time on the oxy soak.... do a HOT soak for an hour. Rinses much easier when it's hot - no residue.
Also, do you have a bottle brush? Oxy works wonders, but a little physical agitation is some extra insurance for you.
I like the hot water rinse.
Submersion is fine, but wet contact is all that's necessary.
Don't need to sterilize in the dishwasher

 

[paulster2626]

You guys are nuts. I personally:

-drink beer.
-leave beer on counter for a few days.
-wife says "get this **** off the counter", so I take the empties down to the basement.
-look in bottles, think 'oh man i forgot to rinse these again. nasty' (no mold though)
-give bottles a quick rinse and shake with hot water only.
-put bottles upside-down on ghetto homemade bottle dryer (just wood with screws in it)

Then bottling time! Yay!
-take upside-down bottles
-give 'em a one-shot vinator with old star-san still in it, but still good according to ph strip
-fill 'em up (I star-san the next one while the current one is filling. takes roughly 30 seconds per bottle)

Never had a problem! Sometimes I get spaced-out when bottling and forget to star-san a bottle or two - again no problems. For some reason I always thought it was more important to ensure the bottling equipment and beer itself was kept sanitized as opposed to the bottles.

 

[pondlumber]

Yeah, I don't spend any time removing labels, why would you do that?
It's good to be cleaner than paulster, but not necessary at all. I guess things could become a problem if you wanted to bottle age for a few months.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Personally, I like the labels removed, but to each his own. A 30 minute soak in a diluted vinegar/baking soda bath and they come right off. Follow that up with a 10 second wash under the faucet using a scrubby sponge to get the glue off and it's a done deal.

Your washing/sanitizing process seems fine to me. Probably even overkill, as I just do a decent rinse out with warm water after I pour the beer, then sanitize when I'm about to fill them and it seems to work fine. I don't have a wash step in the midde and I don't use a bottle tree. Just dunk in Starson, pour it out, fill and cap.

Perhaps the sour taste you occasionally get is rousted yeast from the bottom. I get that once in a while if I am not careful with my pour.