How do you clean bottles

[YOpassDAmike]

How do you clean bottles before bottling day? I am not talking about how to remove a label from a bottle, I want to know how others clean their non- labeled bottles between batches. Hot water rinse, pbw soak, etc. Just want to know what method works best for others, thanks.

 

[Sadu]

I rinse out the bottles after drinking. Then a few squirts of starsan before storing them upright in covered boxes.

On bottling day, run them through the dishwasher with no powder to sanitise.

Any bottles that don't fit in the dishwasher get another good rinse, good spray with starsan and a shake to make sure the starsan covers all surfaces. Also like to spray the necks after I have finished touching them.

I find this pretty easy - waaaay easier than cleaning and delabelling bottles from the recycling center.

 

[flars]

After pouring I give the bottles a hot rinse with the jet washer followed by a cold rinse. Invert the bottles in the rack for drying. The bottles are kept upside down in a cases until needed. On bottling day add a little Star San solution to each bottle, spray the bottle lip with sanitizer, and shake to coat the inside of the bottle. Bottles are inverted in the Fast Rack to drain. Fill the bottle while it is still wet with the sanitizing solution.

 

[SlickTX]

+1 on using the dishwasher. The night before I bottle I put enough bottles in the dishwasher and run it on the "sanitize" setting with no soap. Most dishwashers have a long, hot setting they call "sanitize" or something similar. The next day the bottles get a dip in Starsan then get hung on a bottle rack until it is their turn to get filled.

 

[bendog15]

I bottle a lot. 10 gal batches, that means 100 beers. I don't waste my time rinsing them out in the sink. What I usually do is l- the day after drinking, give the used bottles a quick blast on the bottle washer, which is attached to the garden hose outside. Hang them on the bottle drying tree until there is 24 of them. I transfer the bottles upside down to a plastic milk crate. That holds a case perfectly. When it's time to bottle, I throw about 110 bottles in a big plastic tub with cold hose water and oxyclean. Soak for 24 hours. Rinse, sanitize and fill.
Never had a single infection, or any bacteria whatsoever. This may be overkill compared to a lot of other guys, but if i go through the trouble of making a batch of beer, I'm not gonna let a dirty bottle ruin it for me.

 

[Homercidal]

I have a bottle cleaning wand that I put on my cordless drill and use that to "scrub" the bottom and sides. It's got felt arms that fly out and wipe the sides. Felt on the bottom to get the gunk on the bottom clean.

I can't recall the brand, but they are a little hard to find as they aren't commonly sold everywhere. When I need to scrub the bottle, it works very well. Usually a good rinse after pouring the beer and a bottle is clean enough for next time.

 

[tempestam83]

I rinse them out with water as I drink em. On bottling day I soak them in star san for about 10 minutes, give a few plunges with the bottle cleaning brush then let them sit upside down on a fast rack until bottling.