Bottling cleaning question

[Daddylawman]

Well, I just drank my first homebrewed beer (American brown ale) and I'm definitely looking forward to go from crawling to walking. Just a quick question. If I rinse out my used bottles after I pour my beer, do I need to do anything else other than use StarSan before I reuse the bottle? I plan on just storing it upside down until I need to bottle again.

Thanks

 

[m00ps]

i stepped up my bottle sanitiaton regimen after noticing a number of my earlier batches had a few bad bottles. Here is what I do for every bottle I drink - commercial w/ label and already de-labeled bottles

Rinse w/ water 2-3 times, make sure no yeast is at the bottom
Dunk in PBW for at least 15min
Rinse and dry on bottle tree

On bottling day:
Rinse all bottles in water to get off any dust on the outside from storage.
Dunk in Starsan, hang on bottle tree until filling

havent had an issue since

 

[botigol]

Daddylawman, that is exactly what I do, unless I have yeast stuck to the bottom/sides or if there is a visible line around where the top of the liquid was inside of the bottle. I haven't had an issue yet, but I have only made 20 batches or so.

 

[doverox]

i've been working in a microbrewery that still bottles by hand and their practice is to allow minimal time between sanitizing the bottle and filling it. the longer something sits around, the more risk of infection even with the sanitizer. we basically sanitize them, let them drain for a minute and then bottle immediately. so at home, i have been washing them with odorless dish soap and a bottle brush, then soaking them in star san and pulling them out as needed (all this is done on bottling day obviously).

 

[Psylocide]

For HB bottles that are being re-used, I just make sure to rinse them out really good and peel off my label when I get done drinking it and put them away.

On bottling day, I take my spray bottle of starsan and spray the inside of each one, turn it upside down, put in a line with the other bottles and fill while still wet.

Commercial beers get a PBW soak to get the labels off, then the same treatment.

That's it for my "method."

 

[adamranders]

I always rinse them 3-4 times after pouring, with hot water, and store in closed boxes. Then the night before bottling day I run them through my dishwasher with no detergent on the hottest setting which for me is sanitize. Then starsan and bottle tree day of, before filling.

 

[Remmy]

When I bottle batches of beer, I don't bother flipping the bottles upside down beforehand. I rinse them throughly, de-label them and then rinse them after I de-label. When bottling day comes around, I put the bottles on the Sanitize cycle on my dishwasher. I've bottled close to 50 batches and have yet to have an infection.

 

[Yooper]

I rinse mine immediately after pouring a beer and store upside down (I would get mold otherwise, if there was any moisture in them), and then on bottling day simply inspect for cleanliness and then sanitize.

 

[m00ps]

people in my neighborhood leave empty bottles on my doorstep, kinda like a drunken milkman trade. But I will occasionally get some that are just riddled with mold. One 6pack even had a large amount of dog hair in it too. I didn't even want that thing coming inside my house...

 

[fartinmartin]

I do a thorough rinse once poured then put the batch in the dishwasher on bottling day, then starsan rinse and refill.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

Rinse well after drinking and drain. When I get a case of bottles I wash in dishwasher with oxy clean then sore in boxes to keep out dust. Bottle day pull out a box and a bucket of easy clean solution. My wife dunks and drains and I fill as we go. If she gets done dunking before I am done filling she starts capping. We can do a ten gallon batch in about 1 1/2 hrs not counting clean up time.

 

[Moose_MI]

Quick rinse/shake after poring to remove dregs and set aside. Once I get about a case of empties I oxy clean free soak for ~15min....quick hit with bottle brush...rinse and box. Many folks never use a bottle brush and have no problems. My ocd just has to hit the bottle with a brush 😄

 

[ifnotuthenwho]

I'm in the rinse well after drinking and sanitize with starsan right before bottling. I store them on a bottle tree between sanitizing and filling.

No infection yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Daddylawman]

I appreciate all the input. Hope all your beers are delicious and cold.

 

[aprichman]

After drinking I wash with a small amount of water 5 times. Bottles that are homebrew get stored and then soaked in starsan for ~3-5 minutes before going on a starsan'd bottle tree, I'll usually start to bottle 5-10 minutes after I'm done. Bottles that aren't homebrew get stored in a bin after I rinse them out and get a baking soda bath which helps the labels break away. After that they are just rinsed out and I'll hit them with starsan before bottling.

3-5 minute soak in starsan does all the hard work and makes bottling (one of my least favorite parts of brewing) a little less painful

 

[mrgrimm101]

After reading all of your techniques, I feel that I overdo the cleaning part.

After every brew, I always rinse about 3 times to make sure that there is no yeast in the bottom of the bottles. Then I store them until bottling day. If they have labels, I get a sinkbath going with OxyClean Free to get the labels off, then a good rinse. This acts as a cleanser. If the bottles don't have labels, I still fill them with cleanser, give em a shake, and then rinse.

THEN I fill them or dunk them in StarSan, drain, then I stack them all upside down on my countertop (I put paper towel down), sort of leaning against eachother so they are propped up.

I'd say that I could skip the cleanser step, but I've had mold before that needed to be cleansed and scrubbed out with a brush. It just takes so long to clean and rinse every bottle, then sanitize, then fill every bottle.

 

[Yooper]

I'd say that I could skip the cleanser step, but I've had mold before that needed to be cleansed and scrubbed out with a brush. It just takes so long to clean and rinse every bottle, then sanitize, then fill every bottle.

Yes, that has happened to me. I always learn the hard way!

Now, I rinse very very well after pouring a beer (and do the same for wine bottles, since I make a ton of wine), and then store upside down. No mold will grow in a clean bottle without any moisture on the bottom. That saves hours of time!

 

[mrgrimm101]

I don't have a bottle tree..I usually just store them back in a 12 pack case or a box until bottling day. I never thought to store them upside down..I figured any water in the bottles will drain down and get the cardboard wet and that wouldn't be good either to have around the mouth of the bottle.

 

[dobes]

I rinse them out after use. The day before or day of I give them a PBW soak and rinse. Then a shot of star San from the comatose and when done fill.

 

[Kirkwooder]

When I empty a bottle I set it next to the sink and when the next round of dish washing takes place, usually at least twice a day, they all go in the dishwater. They get scrubbed with a brush inside, and a scrubby on the outside, rinsed well and then drip dry in the dish rack. Once dry, they go back into the case boxes they came from. When i am ready to bottle the next batch, they get the same treatment again, with the exception of pbw instead of the dish soap. Then a dip in a bucket of star-san before filling.

I'd rather over do it than risk loosing a single beer!

 

[C-Rider]

Here is my system. If I can't rinse it out before the yeast dries I just get my 5 cents back at the recycling place.
1-rince bottle after drinking and let it dry upside down
2-wait til I have 12 bottles cleaned
3-place them in a bucket w/OxyClean
4-when I have another 12 bottles I take out the first batch, lables are gone by then.
5-rince and let drip dry upside down (the 12 that just came out of the oxyClean
6-store the cleaned, de-labled,dry bottles in a closed plastic box
7-soak clean bottles in Star San on bottleing day for a few minutes
7a-put bottle caps in a strainer and dip into StarSan and let drip
8-place bottles on lower rack of dishwasher after spraying StarSan on the rack
9-place bottling bucket on the diswasher
10-fill bottles and place on counter
11-place sanitized caps on bottles and cap.
Easy Squeezy Lemon Peeze. or what ever that means. LOL

 

[KeninMN]

I clean my bottles with homemade PBW (3 lb OxyClean Free + 1 lb TSP substitute) that has been recycled from carboy cleaning and stored in a 5 gallon bucket with lid. After pouring, each bottle gets shake-rinsed three times with hot water to remove the yeast dregs and then immediately gets placed into the bucket of PBW. When the bucket is full of bottles (16 - 20, depending on shape and size distribution) each bottle gets hit with a bottle brush, rinsed three times in my hottest tap water (I wear thick rubber brewing gloves), dried on my FastRack and then stored in boxes until bottling day. (Using this method all but the toughest labels have soaked off and fallen to the bottom of the bucket.) On bottling day, after the beer is racked into the bottling bucket, each bottle is submerged in StarSan for at least two minutes, drained and placed on my FastRack. Bottling begins immediately after. I've noticed a huge difference in bottle-to-bottle consistency since I started using this method.

 

[rwgaro]

Wow a lot use several steps... I do the below and haven't had any issues.

When drinking I rinse out bottle 2-3 times w/ water immed after pouring. Bottles go in dishwasher with other dishes at the high temp setting (pretty sure temp is high enough to sanitize). When emptying dishwasher, I be sure my hands are clean and put a bit of aluminum foil on the top of each bottle, then store bottles (usually in boxes). When bottling I'll pull out my bottles, remove foil right before inserting bottling wand, then bottle.

New bottles from LHBS get the dishwasher treatment as above.

With labeled bottles I pour (to drink) and immed rinse as above. Soak in oxyclean hot water, pull labels off, use sponge to scrape any remaining label gunk, then into dishwasher as above...

 

[jskennedy1979]

My method for cleaning bottles is in a different order than many of the responses. Posting to give a different view to the OP and obtain critique from the crowd.

I make no effort to clean the bottles right after pouring. After I pour them, I recap them (gentle pressure with my thumb). Most caps will lock pretty tight. I save up 20-24 bottles in their six pack holders under my desk (usually 7-10 days).

The saved bottles go into an 18-gallon storage bin filled with one full scoop of OxyClean Free and 7 gallons of hot water. I soak them overnight (~24 hours) and the next day rinse them clear with really hot water. The labels are always floating, no glue on the bottles, and never see sediment in the bottom. I dry them upside down in the six pack holders ovenight and place foil around the mouth on the following afternoon.

I store these (covered) in the garage till bottling day. When I bottle I start by removing the foil on 50 bottles. Soak the mouth end in StarSan, spray the bottle with my bottle rinser (http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/vinator-bottle-rinser.html) and fill. Immediately, cap bottle. Any flaws in this approach?

 

[1977Brewer]

Any way that gets your beer in a clean and sanitary bottle is the right way. You're wasting a ton of foil if you're covering them until they're sanitized, and you're playing Russian roulette if you're not going straight from sanitizer to bottled and capped.

 

[Chadwick]

I rinse my bottles with hot water after pouring. On bottling day I'll put those bottles into the dish washer set on sanitize. As soon as they are cool enough to handle I bottle. Never had a problem.

 

[chuckcomm]

I rinse well after pouring into the glass. Drain upside down then put in the beer boxes until next bottling day, sanitize and bottle. No problems so far.

 

[unionrdr]

I rinse'em out, the fill to shoulder with water & give a quick scrub with a bottle brush. Before I started doing that, I eventually got tiny spots causing gusher infections, etc in some bottles. Now I rinse/scrub/rinse & onto bottle tre to drip dry before storage. Then Starsan in my avinator on top of my bottle tree to sanitize on brew day right before filling. O2 caps get a quick dunk in Starsan before being placed on the bottles. I get a dozen or so built up, then cap with my bench capper.

 

[glenn514]

One of my daughters "gifted" me with about 30 bottles a while ago. Many of them had "science experiments" inside. Those went into our recycling bin! Since I now have plenty of bottles, I no longer accept those "gifts." All my bottles have been thoroughly cleaned and de-labeled. I do thoroughly rinse the bottles out immediately after pouring. Then, on bottling day, I run them through the dishwasher on the heated dry setting. I then pour a small amount of StarSan into a bottle, shake it a few times, and empty that StarSan into the next bottle. I then fill the bottle I just rinsed with StarSan. Quick and easy...once those bottles are cleaned and de-labeled!

glenn514

 

[hanuswalrus]

I just rinse em out really good with hot water after pouring, let them soak in hot water over night, then let them drain upside down the next day in the sink.

I suggest a vinator if you don't already have one. I have a vinator and a fast rack. I can get all my bottles sanitized on bottling day in about 5 minutes. I was hesitant to spend the $20 on the vinator, but trust me, you won't regret it.