Bottle sanitizing and drying alternatives?

[onipar]

After bottling my first batch yesterday, some questions arose.

If we don't have a bottle tree or a dishwasher, what is the best way to air dry the sanitized bottles? What we did struck me as possibly...not smart.

(We lined the bottom of our bottle boxes with plastic bags (to protect the cardboard), then paper towels (to absorb the drips), and placed the bottles open side down back into the box after sanitizing.)

Also, I plan to buy Star San for the next batch, but I probably won't get a Vinator quite yet. Is there another way of sanitizing the bottles with Star San other than dunking them in a bucket? Does using a squirt bottles work well enough, or is there a better method?

Oh, and are there any DIY plans for bottle trees or vinators? Couldn't seem to find any...

Thanks.

 

[unionrdr]

I was just setting the bottles upside down in the dish rack to dry. The squirt bottle thing is ok for many. & I was filling the bottles with star-san,let'em sit for 30 seconds or so,then pour into the next bottles,repeat. I got a bottling tree,& boy what a Godsend! I also bought a vinator,but it pumps down instead of up. No car to get it replaced,wonder if it can be fixed? Never heard of any DIY bottle trees or vinators. But I guess it can be done. Maybe out of PVC or something. Just easier to buy it than go through the hassel of making one,imo...

 

[pksmitty]

There's no need to dry the bottles after sanitizing. All I do is sanitize about 8 bottles with my vinator (or you can dunk the bottle in sanitizer), then fill and cap. Repeat until done.

If a bottle tree fits your process better, and you want to build your own,
here's a link to how one member did it

 

[kapbrew13]

I dry washes bottles but never dry starsan sanitized bottles and carboys and everything else. Starsan should be wet and foamy.

 

[scoundrel]

A squirt bottle is fine. My process is to clean them with PBW, rinse, then spray with StarSan. I don't worry about air drying and cover them with foil (sprayed with StarSan). When I'm ready to use them, I shake the little bit of StarSan in the bottle and dump it out. I don't worry about drying them. I just fill them. If the StarSan has been in the bottle for some time, I will sometimes dump the old and spray them again right before filling.

 

[unionrdr]

I neglected to mention only drying washed bottles. My bad. I don't sanitize them till right before bottling. I like to rinse the gunk out of the bottom as we drink them,then into a 5G bucket of PBW,just enough to cover them by 2" or so overnight. The labels have slid off,the glue dissolved,Just bottle brush real quick & onto the bottle tree to dry before storage.

 

[MazdaMatt]

diy bottle tree: 4x4 trunk, plywood stand, 3/8 dowel, 3/8 drill, glue, hammer, paint - you can figure it out from there.

If you have a dishwasher, you could probably just use the racks as drying racks. Spray it with sanitizer and you're good to go.

 

[onipar]

Great, thanks for all the tips!

Yeah, part of the problem is I don't have a dishwasher. The other "problem" was we didn't have Star San yesterday, so we were doing the whole sanitize in a bucket then rinse scenario.

Sounds like in the future, when I have the Star San, I don't really have to worry about flipping them upside down to dry, which is cool with me.

We haven't really had to wash/clean bottles yet as this was our first batch, so I guess time will tell what we develop as the best method. I know I plan to wash out sediment as we drink, so we don't have a huge pile of bottles to clean before brew day.

I like that bucket of PBW idea, but do you keep a bucket filled with that all the time so you can just dunk in bottles as you need to?

Thanks again everyone!

 

[unionrdr]

Yes,I like keeping a bucket of PBW solution around for cleaning recycled bottles with very little effort from me. I've tried a few different ways,but this method is by far the best! Try it,I think you'll agree. Just get one of those $5 orange buckets/lid from home cheapo,they're grrrrreat for this kind of thing!

 

[onipar]

Yes,I like keeping a bucket of PBW solution around for cleaning recycled bottles with very little effort from me. I've tried a few different ways,but this method is by far the best! Try it,I think you'll agree. Just get one of those $5 orange buckets/lid from home cheapo,they're grrrrreat for this kind of thing!

That does sound perfect, because my tendency is to have probably only a couple beers a day, so being able to wash them out and dunk them at my leisure is great!

Definitely gonna do this, thanks.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

I used to use a plastic tote (Sterilite 72 qt) or a chest cooler and fill it with hot water and Oxyclean (or PBW in the more recent years). I'd let them sit overnight and rinse them really well if I used Oxyclean. I use StarSan to sanitize. It's no-rinse if properly mixed (as previously stated). I'd just pour a little bit into each bottle and shake them. I'd shake once more just before bottling and then dump the contents back into my storage tub. I reuse StarSan for a long time.

 

[unionrdr]

Glad to share! When you get a bottling tree & vinator,you can keep them together to make your brewing life way easier! Cheers m8!

 

[nefarious_1_]

I used to give a spray with star stan into each bottle (just as a precaution,) then run them through a hot rinse in the dishwasher until I was banished from the kitchen hahaha.
Now what I do is give them all a few sprays of star san, let them drain out upside down in a sanitized milk crate, then spray some bottled water inside to get some of the residual sanitizer out. I don't care what 5 Star or anyone else says: dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid is bad stuff. Take a look at the MSDS for it. I realize at low concentrations it's barely a health risk, but it's just for peace of mind.

 

[onipar]

ThePearsonFam, that's a good point. I can do the PBW idea with a cooler I have already to save a few bucks.

unionrdr, yeah, I would *love* to just buy the vinator and bottle tree, but I'm trying to be frugal. I'm a college professor and have no work all summer, which means no income. I know $40 for the two items is pretty cheap, but to me, it's $40 I don't necessarily have to spend.

nefarious_1_, a milk crate! Brilliant. I bet I can score one or two for free from the grocery store, and that'll save me money on the bottle tree. EDIT: On second thought, I bet the local dollar store might even have some kind of milk crate device--like a storage crate--that might work.

How did you go about cleaning/sanitizing? That seems like the only PITA part about using an old milk crate.

 

[unionrdr]

I was just thinking of taking them with you the next time you go to the coin-op car wash,& blast'em clean their?

 

[onipar]

I was just thinking of taking them with you the next time you go to the coin-op car wash,& blast'em clean their?

Ha! Wow, you all really know how to think outside the box. love it. :rockin:

I'm totally doing this if I can get my hands on some milk crates.

 

[nefarious_1_]

I had a hell of a time finding a couple that weren't all scratched up (I know someone who manages a grocery store) but I still put a piece of plastic on the bottom for extra precaution. I also spray the @%*! out of it before anything goes in there. The bottles only sit in there for a little while anyway.
A storage bin is a great idea too if you're worried about sanitation. I actually use one I got from walmart for my larger champaign bottles. Spray it down and stand the bottles upside down inside. You can even put the lid on it!

 

[onipar]

Yeah, those old milk cartons can get grungy, especially with old milk spilled in them. I'll probably check out the old dollar store first to see if anything catches my eye as being a good fit.

Yeah, between the car wash idea and spraying it up with Star San, I think whatever I find will work. I also considered using an extra, removable, piece of plastic for the bottom.

If I find cheap stuff that works well, I might even post pics in the DIY thread.

 

[RugerRedhawk]

After sanitizing, I just dump the sanitizer out and then set the bottle aside. Then right before filling the bottle I dump out whatever starsan settled. This works perfect, there is no need for the bottle to be dry.

I think dunking them in a bucket of starsan would be the next best way beyond using a vinator.

 

[onipar]

Thanks, Ruger. Star San is the next purchase I plan to make. That alone will cut our sanitation time in half. Then I'll see about a crate for drying, though it sounds like that's not necessary with Star San. Finally, I may eventually invest in a Vinator, but I think I'll try the methods outlines here first (dunking, spraying, pouring from bottle to bottle, etc).

All in all the advice you all have given me will definitely save me around $40, which is a very good thing.

 

[Slurm]

I use my kitchen sink and dish drainer.

I soak bottles in a sink full of hot water and OxiClean to remove labels/residue. A quick scrub with a green scrubby works to knock off any glue residue. Some bottles need a little work with the bottle brush to get out the last of whatever grime is inside. Rinse with hot water and stand upside down in the dish drainer. All my bottles are stored clean -this is not a brewday activity.

I do pretty much the same thing to sanitize the bottles - a sink full of StarSan and hot water. Dunk the bottles in the solution, swirl em around, pour out the solution (back into the sink with the rest), and place bottles upside down in the dish drainer. The bottles will stay sanitary for hours, plenty of time to bottle a batch, as they are upside down and still have some wet foam in them. It only takes a few minutes to sanitize enough bottles for a full batch.

 

[jroot]

Here's a drying rack I fabricated a while back.....Wire from Home Depot and scrap wood

 

[onipar]

Thanks, Slurm and jroot.

That bottle holder looks a lot like something my father tried throwing together at the last minute, only he used an old dirty piece of wood from the garage and rusty old nails and wire hangers.

He didn't seem to understand I was trying to sanitize the bottles that the device he made was flat out grimy. Though it was good in theory. I may go that route if the crate thing doesn't pan out.

 

[janivar123]

http://norbrygg.no/forum/index.php/topic,4858.msg46142.html#msg46142

Last post on first page has some interesting pictures
Seems like they go directly from lye to acid tho

 

[diS]

This is what I use for bottle drying:

It is grass grid on which I anchor steel threaded rod with nuts and rings. It can hold about 49 of 0.33 l bottles or ~45 of 0.5 l bottles.
Took me 15 mins to get it done.
Simple as that..

 

[scrambledegg81]

There's no need to dry the bottles after sanitizing.

This.^

Each time I bottle, I've used a large 30-gallon Rubbermaid tub, filled it 1/2 way with water/sanitizer, soak all of my bottles at the same time, and just take them out 1 at a time to fill (draining the sanitizer back into the Rubbermaid). Works wonders, easy to clean up afterwards, and you can use the remaining sanitizer to clean your brew tools prior to dumping out the tub.

 

[janivar123]

http://norbrygg.no/forum/index.php/topic,4858.msg46142.html#msg46142

Last post on first page has some interesting pictures
Seems like they go directly from lye to acid tho

for those that dont bother looking its a system for sanatizing a hole case at once