First Bottling Tomorrrow

[voodoochild7]

I'm gonna do a bottling tomorrow and this is my plan. Gonna fill a cooler with bleach water and bottles tonight and gonna let the bottles sit. Then when I get home from work tomorrow I'm gonna rinse them out and fill 'em. Will letting them sit in the bleach that long be a bad thing. Any suggestions here?

 

[david_42]

Long soaks in bleach will not hurt glass. I can't say what it will do to the cooler pastic, except I've de-toxed a cooler with bleach and it didn't seem to hurt it.

Boil up some water tonight to rinse the bleach out of the bottles.

 

[Truble]

did the same thing last week for my 1st bottling, except that my bottles soaked for a couple days in bleach solution that was in my bottling bucket. both got clean at the same time. I was soaking them because they were old used bottles, so I then washed them with soap. when I was ready to bottle, I made up a warm/very warm sanitziing solution, gave them all a quick dunk, and put them into the bottle box upside down onto paper towels that I put on the bottom. Took them right out as I filled them...

In short, soaking seems to be fine, and if you are rinsing with tap, and not cooled boiled water, you may want to think about using a sanitizer after the rinse.

 

[Windaria]

If you did bleach like that, add some vinegar to your rinse water. Bleach leaves behind a flim and that could affect the taste, but vinegar takes it out. That is why I tend to do at least two rinses, one with vinegar one without to rinse out the vinegar.

Also, as some people mentioned, for the final rinse you could just use your dishwasher.

 

[Orfy]

If you did bleach like that, add some vinegar to your rinse water. Bleach leaves behind a flim and that could affect the taste, but vinegar takes it out. That is why I tend to do at least two rinses, one with vinegar one without to rinse out the vinegar.

Also, as some people mentioned, for the final rinse you could just use your dishwasher.

How much vinegar per gallon do you use?

 

[Windaria]

Erm... I don't know, maybe a tablespoon? It really doesn't take much... but I didn't really do it on a per gallon bit. I just added a splash of it then about 3 cups of water and swished it quite vigerously.

 

[Walker]

Bleach leaves behind a flim

Really? This is the first time I have ever heard this mentioned.

Palmer even goes as far to say that some brewers don't even rinse after cleaning with a proportionally correct bleach solution (but he does rinse with some plain old boiled water... the same thing I do.)

Now you have me worrying about something new.

-walker

 

[Windaria]

I'd heard it from a few people... I mean I guess it would be reasonably easy to test.

Sanitize the outside of something with bleach to where you would normally feel fine using it then...

Lick it.

If it tastes like bleach at all, then there you have it, that flavor will get into your brew. At least with Vinegar it is made from a brew, so any aftertaste from it will meld right in, though I don't think it really leaves one, especially not after yet another washing.

 

[voodoochild7]

A freind of mine who worked in a research lab said the best way to rinse glass short of an autoclave was with hot water and then cold the cold gets rid of the residue by condensing anything left in there really quick. Not sure but that's what he told me he does this with his wine and hasn't botched any yet.

 

[Walker]

Hmmm... tasting it? That leads me down this path:

When I am done cleaning my things with bleach, I can't SMELL the bleach at all. And, since most of what we perceive as taste depends upon our sense of smell, I am inclined to think that no smell == no taste.

I'll try it though, just to relieve my own mind.

-walker

 

[Windaria]

See... I can totally smell the bleach, even if I just use the slightest amount, after a rinse.

 

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

So what about the vinegar? It seems like you'd get an off flavor from that. I do a bleach soak and then rinse in one step. I like that because just about the time they get pretty dry, I'm ready to bottle and they have very little time to contaminate.

 

[voodoochild7]

I thought I was smelling the bleach the I started smelling the bottles while there were on the table and not in my hands the bleach smell was on my hands and not in the bottles.

 

[Windaria]

Well I do a second rinse after the vinegar. <smiles>

As for off-flavor, it is again only a cap, but instead of being a chemical at least vinegar is a brewed item itself, and since I have only been doing wines and ciders... <shrugs>

 

[Walker]

yup.. I was going to suggest the same thing. I've made that mistake before.

Also, when I rinse out my carboys after a bleach soak, I have to make sure to wash off the OUTSIDE of it, too. Usually some bleach-water slops onto the side of it, and the smell can easily be thought to be coming from INSIDE of it, when it's actually not.

anyway... to each his own. we're all pretty careful about cleaning things, I think, but I sure am not looking for more steps involved in my brewing, so I think I'll skip the vinegar.

-walker

 

[voodoochild7]

I just rinse with tap with the bottle washer hot water then cold is that okay or should I boil my water next time. So far so good though no problems

 

[Walker]

if you aren't having any problems, there is no need to change anything, IMHO.

-walker