First bottling next weekend.

honus03 · Mar 8, 2015

I'm gonna be bottling my first batch of beer this weekend. I want to have an extra bucket with star san in it to sanitize my bottles. So my question is does the bucket that I will be sanitizing my bottle in need to be a food grade bucket or will pretty much any clean bucket do?

FirstAidBrewing · Mar 8, 2015

Since no beer is coming into contact with the plastic I don't think you need to worry about food grade. Although another bucked at your LHBS won't be that expensive and they should be food grade anyway.

I clean (OxyClean Free) and sanitize (StarSan) my bottles in the bath tub and have never had an issue.

eadavis80 · Mar 8, 2015

I would just fill your bottling bucket with sanitizer solution, put the bottles in there and then put the sanitized bottles on a bottling tree or wherever you want to have them accessible when you bottle. Dump the used sanitizer back in another bucket when you're done. I just keep a bucket of Star San in a $5 bucket I got at ACE.

SnakeRidge · Mar 8, 2015

eadavis80 said:
I would just fill your bottling bucket with sanitizer solution, put the bottles in there and then put the sanitized bottles on a bottling tree or wherever you want to have them accessible when you bottle. Dump the used sanitizer back in another bucket when you're done. I just keep a bucket of Star San in a $5 bucket I got at ACE.

This exactly what I do.

Dixon9717 · Mar 8, 2015

I use a Rubbermaid tote that's big enough for what I need to bottle. Fill my bucket up with Sanitizer water then pour into tote once bucket is sanitized. Fill all my bottles from tote about 6 at a time empty back into tote and set on drying rack. Leave siphon,wand and hose in the tote until needed. When it's all done then I have a tote for storage.....

Singletrack · Mar 8, 2015

I use a long plastic flower box liner. I make fresh star san each time because it only takes a little over one gallon to fill it. The long, narrow, shallow shape is easier to use than a bucket, IMO. It is not a food grade container, but I fear the foam, so I'm consuming only a few drops that have touched it.