Bottle Washing Procedure

[jmhbutler]

Hi there, I'm hoping to get some input on my bottle washing procedure. I've read many other threads which seems to be either unrelated or have very mixed opinions. Currently, I have the following processes:

1. Spray with jet washer after opening/pouring
-bottling day-
2. Spray with jet washer
3. Couple pumps of PBW
4. Scrub with brush
5. Couple pumps of PBW
6. Rinse with jet washer
7. Sanitize

I'm starting to feel like this is excessive and may be able to be cut down. If bottles are washed with sprayer after opening is it really necessary to rewashed and scrub before sanitizing? Could the following work? If so, should I use a natural, non-scented detergent or none at all.

1. Spray with jet washer after opening/pouring
-bottling day-
2. Run through dishwasher
3. Sanitize with StarSan

Thanks!

 

[m1batt1]

The dishwasher portion likely won't do you much good on anything but the outside as the mouth of the bottles are so small.

If you consistently spray them out after pouring I would just check at that time to ensure there's nothing stuck in the bottle. Beyond that I would drop number 2 and 5 from your original list and go with that if I were doing it.

All depends on how clean they were after the pour.

 

[sweetcell]

1. Spray with jet washer after opening/pouring
-bottling day-
2. Spray with jet washer
3. Couple pumps of PBR
4. Scrub with brush
5. Couple pumps of PBR
6. Rinse with jet washer
7. Sanitize

i think you meant PBW, not PBR

second, i think you want something in between the two extremes your describe (too much, vs. not enough).

PBW will work on it's own, given some time. fill the bottles with warm PBW solution, or dunk in a big tub of PBW solution, leave overnight, rinse, and you're clean.

IMO, just rinsing after you pour isn't enough. you could have a clump of yeast or some other form of organic grime clinging in there. PBW does a great job of dislodging those.

 

[jmhbutler]

Thanks m1batt1 and sweetcell. PBW is what I meant (edited). I realized the soaking does the trick but, living in a small apartment and brewing in my kitchen, I'm trying to get away from lengthy soaks.

Any alternatives? My reasoning to use the dishwasher was that if a small bit of organic remained, the heat from the dishwasher would sanitize any bacteria in it.

 

[Peruvian802]

I've cleaned some might grungy bottles with a soak in oxyclean over night and some light brushing. I'm talking bottles that sat outside under pine trees for years, not just that someone forgot to rinse them when they were done. Oxyclean is pretty amazing stuff.

I even keep a bucket of it for dropping commercial bottles into for soaking off the labels.

 

[sweetcell]

excellent point, Oxyclean Free can be used in place of PBW. i prefer PBW but unless you get in on a bulk buy Oxyclean will be cheaper. and both will also soak off labels. win-win!

 

[monkeybox]

I actually follow a shorter procedure than your second one:
1) Rinse/use bottle washer before storing bottles.
2) Run bottles through dishwasher with 'high temperature wash' and 'sani-rinse' options.

I've done this for more than a dozen batches, and have never had an issue, but of course, ymmv.

 

[grathan]

I rinse under the sink in water, store upright, rinse with water to get dust out, sanitize.