cleaning bottles

[bigfoot16]

I've been searching the forum, getting lots of different ideas, but I'm still confused. I notice a film on the bottom of the bottle after drinking and rinsing immediately. Does this mean all my bottles will need to be scrubbed prior to rebottling? The brush typically won't get everything. I thought if I immediately rinsed I only had to sanitize when we brewed??

 

[buffalobrewer]

typically you don't need to scrub if you rinse. Are you giving it a good swirl when you rinse? it seems about 1 out of 10 i end up soaking in oxyclean to get rid of some stubborn stuff.

 

[Kaz]

I rinse out about 3 times after pouring and then just store until its time to bottle the next batch....sanitize with Star San, hang on the bottle tree..fill and cap. I don't think I've had any problems with this method. One thing to look out for is the stray bottle that doesn't get rinsed and ends up all krusty and moldy...they sneak up on you every now and then...usually the wife's fault... :}

 

[Daybis]

I usually do a quick rinse and I put them asside until I have enough to clean an entire 50 bottle wash. When it's time to clean, I do a long soak in oxyclean. I then use a bottle rinser to thoroughly rinse out the oxclean. If the bottles are really gross. I always do an oxclean soak, quick rinse, and then I do another oxyclean soak followed by a thorough rinse. I'm anal retentive about clean bottles.

 

[rpappi]

i rinse really well prior to storing empty. fill bottle half way and put my finger over the top and leave a small gap and shake till no more water is in there.

prior to bottling i use a bottle sprayer and then idophor.

 

[jonmohno]

i always rinse out really well after drinking and use thumb and shake it good.let air dry in rack then store.Then when its botteling day i take some baking soda and some hydrogen peroxide soak with hot water then use a bottle brush to clean, then rinse really well. then before i bottle i soak them in the sanitizer i use to bottle. seems like alot of work and its kinda a pain but i dont have a dishwasher and i believe you never should use soap because the enzymes stick to the glass and give bad head retentiion for your next batch.but you dont want miss any yeast when rinsing because it will grow mold when in drying mode. i always look in the bottle and if i see white or mold i just take those back to the store to get recycled.dont want to even deal with trying to clean that.

 

[wetzie]

Same method has been working very well for me. Shake them up real good.

I usually do a quick rinse and I put them asside until I have enough to clean an entire 50 bottle wash. When it's time to clean, I do a long soak in oxyclean. I then use a bottle rinser to thoroughly rinse out the oxclean. If the bottles are really gross. I always do an oxclean soak, quick rinse, and then I do another oxyclean soak followed by a thorough rinse. I'm anal retentive about clean bottles.

 

[Brewvy]

I just rinsed a couple times, till clear, after pouring.Then put fifty in dishwasher.I then filled on the dishwasher door and capped . hope this works

 

[as1084]

I just rinse and shake 3 times, then toss them in the dish washer as I drink them. I don't wait until all of my bottles are empty. Then put the clean ones back into storage. But I don't have to worry about all that anymore since I got a keg system.

FYI: If you can afford a keg system, I would highly recommend it. Soooo much easier that bottling!

 

[ultravista]

as1084 - wher ein LV are you? I am close to the South Point on LV BLVD.

I'm thinking about kegging one of these days. Prowling Criags List for a decent cooler. Something I can store the brew in and also double as a cooled fermentation chamber.

How do you keep your temps down when brewing in the summer?

 

[as1084]

ultra -- oh nice. Yea im 5 min. from you on Warm Springs and Jones. I got lucky with my coolor cause my dad has connections with local 7up center here so I got a cooler from them for like $50. I don't brew in the summer because it is too damn hot. I just make sure to brew enough beer in the winter to hold me over in the summer. I might start brewing in the summer if I can find a good deal on a plug in thermostat controller for my fridge. Are you a member of SNAFU?

 

[braceful]

I notice a very thin film if I rinse immediately but do not store upside down at first. Once I switched to storing upside down for at least 24 hours the film went away.

 

[pikledbill]

I just rinsed a couple times, till clear, after pouring.Then put fifty in dishwasher.I then filled on the dishwasher door and capped . hope this works

Same here...use the "sanitize" setting on the dishwasher if you have one (I don't use soap)...let bottles cool in the dishwasher, bottle and cap on the door.

 

[HH60gunner]

I fill up my bath tub and use a few scoops of oxyfree. While the water is filling up I fill the bottles as well so that they sink to the bottom, and don't float bottom end up leaving a part not in the cleaning solution. After I drain the tub I keep the water in the tub running and give it a quick rinse in & out with a shake. Then I sanitize with starsan after it's done. Sure it's a bit more work then others do, but it gives me peace of mind. Oh, also whenever I get done drinking a bottle I do like most everyone else and run some hot water in it and shake the bejeezus out of it. Oh, also I let it sit in the oxy clean for a few hours. this also helps in removing any labels from bottles you've collected or had donated to you. Works better for some brands then others. I swear sam adams uses super glue or something because I can almost never get all the glue off their bottles.

 

[superjunior]

a good bottle rinser is a cheap investment and saves a ton of time. poor beer, rinse bottle than stick on tree. store upside down till ready for dishwasher and sanitizing. simple, but I can't wait till my kegs get here

 

[400d]

i always rinse out really well after drinking and use thumb and shake it good.let air dry in rack then store.Then when its botteling day i take some baking soda and some hydrogen peroxide soak with hot water then use a bottle brush to clean, then rinse really well. then before i bottle i soak them in the sanitizer i use to bottle. seems like alot of work and its kinda a pain but i dont have a dishwasher and i believe you never should use soap because the enzymes stick to the glass and give bad head retentiion for your next batch.but you dont want miss any yeast when rinsing because it will grow mold when in drying mode. i always look in the bottle and if i see white or mold i just take those back to the store to get recycled.dont want to even deal with trying to clean that.

now that's really too much man. I mean, how far can you go?

I just rinse the bottle 3-4 times with tap water after the beer has been drunk and store it in a closet.

on the bottling day I just sanitize (with whatever I have on hand - bleach solution mostly) and bottle...

never had a problem....

 

[dfc]

I rinse the bottle out as soon as I pour it into a glass. I usually rinse a good 3-4 times and then store upside down to drain and dry. I sanitize directly before bottling and have never had a problem doing it this way.

 

[MisterGreen]

I always do a hot PBW soak for about 10-15 minutes and my bottles sparkle. Then I do a StarSan rinse just before bottling. Never had a problem. Of course, a good rinse after drinking a bottle always helps.

 

[NorCalAngler]

I rinse well after pouring then store them in a closet until I have about 30 bottles to soak in Oxiclean and hot water in my utility sink. I usually end up leaving them in the sink for a couple days out of laziness then I rinse and store for bottling day.

 

[flabyboy]

I'm not sure I understand the problem with the soap. If rinsed really well several times and then sanitized, I don't see it harming the beer. The glasses we drink our beer from go through the dishwasher with detergent and some people use rinse aid. I still get a head on my beer. Maybe I will regret trying it this way, but I know my bottles are clean

 

[phishfood]

Rinse a couple of times right after pouring, then leave an inch or so of water in the bottom for an hour or overnight, then shake, dump, and let drip dry. Sanitize before bottling, and absolutely no problems so far.

Now, as far as the ones that a friend never rinsed and I got back a month later..........

 

[greenfrog5]

+1

leave an inch or so of water in the bottom for an hour or overnight, then shake, dump, and let drip dry.

In general, I'm always trying to use water responsibly:

After pouring bottles: Rinse, rinse/shake, rinse, drip-dry. With visible film remaining, soak w/ 1/2" of hot tap water overnight, and/or bottle brush - always drip-dry.

Extra dirty bottles and virgin (labeled) bottles get 1-2 hrs in Oxy. (in bulk: 25+, to re-use the 3-5 gal of water a few times). Then quick hot water sink rinse, then full immersion in warm rinse water. For this I reuse a narrow/tall Brita pitcher capable of immersing one 12oz/22oz bottle (let bottle fill up to sink, then soak for a minute so films/soap/oxy/etc can float up-and-out, then pour it back into the Brita). Finally an outer, then inner rinse/shake with hot tap water, visual inspection (backlit), and drip-dry. Sanitizer/spray inner + sanitizer neck-dip + 2 min drip on bottling day.

I'll rinse, rinse/shake, drip-dry and store somewhat open (dry, upright, no lid or unsealed lid on bin) any bottles waiting for the Oxy-bath until I have enough to make efficient use of a bucket of water.