How to dry bottles without a bottle rack?

[SwampassJ]

5.99 at Target. Regular long necks fit perfect, Sierra Nevada bottles fit, but can't use all of the holes. 22oz and 750ml bottles fit, but are really top heavy and may fall free. I put the 22oz and 750ml bottles in the center holes and surround with 12oz bottles.

 

[doctorRobert]

I'm still waiting for someone to say "But pee is sterile isn't it? I piss in all my bottles and then have my dog pee in the ones I can't manage"

just because piss is sterile doesn't mean it can sterilize.... which is why BMC must also sterilize their bottles.

 

[Teromous]

I just got a few empty beer boxes from a local bar and lined the bottoms with paper towels. Then I just set them in the boxes up side down, the water will drain out and you'll have dry bottles in no time

I do this. Whatever foam is left in the bottle gets pushed out when I bottle, and StarSan is safe anyway. If it's not I'll just be a mutant with one extra superpower during the apocalypse in 2012.

 

[dshaggy]

I got my bottle tree for like $13 and I think it holds 48. It comes apart for sanitation and has a handle, which makes it worth the price since I usually bottle outside. I soak new bottles in oxyclean free for about 20 min or so. The labels come right off and I scrub the small amounts of glue off. Before bottling, I soak in bleach water for several minutes, then rinse with a cheap faucet adapted bottled rinser.

There are a lot of alternatives to a bottle tree, but for me it was well worth the $.

 

[dummkauf]

I got my bottle tree for like $13 and I think it holds 48. It comes apart for sanitation and has a handle, which makes it worth the price since I usually bottle outside. I soak new bottles in oxyclean free for about 20 min or so. The labels come right off and I scrub the small amounts of glue off. Before bottling, I soak in bleach water for several minutes, then rinse with a cheap faucet adapted bottled rinser.

There are a lot of alternatives to a bottle tree, but for me it was well worth the $.

Yes, but how do you sanitize the whole bottle tree

I sink the bottles in starsan, empty starsan, fill with beer....in that order

 

[dshaggy]

I unscrew it piece by piece and submerge in bleach water (in my bottling bucket) along with everything that's going to be touching the beer; hoses, caps, etc.

 

[Toga]

Yes, but how do you sanitize the whole bottle tree

I sink the bottles in starsan, empty starsan, fill with beer....in that order

I do exactly the same. I put 3.5 -4 gallons of starsan solution in a 5 gallon food safe bucket. Put bottles in and let them fill and sink. I let them soak for a few minutes. I pull them straight from the bucket, dump, give a couple shakes to get out the excess, then fill, and cap. Works like a charm.

When washing for future use I dry the bottles in a box upside down lined with paper towels.

 

[NyQuil_Driver]

Yes, but how do you sanitize the whole bottle tree

Whenever I whip up a batch of sanitizer at the beginning of a bottling day, I put some in a spray bottle, then hose down everything that's too big to fit in the bucket.

 

[user 53515]

+1 on not drying. The day before I bottle I soak my bottles in oxyclean to remove the lables plus any crud that may be inside the bottles (from strays only as I rinse my bottles after pouring). I rinse them with hot tap water a few times and let the sit out on a towel until I bottle the next day.

On bottling day I dump about 2 gallons of star san solution in a tub and submerge 6 bottles, let them sit a few minutes, remove and empty back into the tub and then immediately bottle. While I am bottling those 6 I put 6 more empties into the star san and repeat. Has worked great so far!

+1 I do exactly the same except I starsan all of them at one time and stand them up on doubled up paper towels. Fill, cap, rinse in tap water, dry with a towel, box, and age.

 

[beerguy2009]

you can also put them through the dry cycle of your dishwasher, or just let them sit in the rack.

I just sanitize them and put them in the dishwasher to dry on the rack. I always run a load in the dishwasher just prior to sanitize the racks.
Do most people rinse their bottles after sanitizing them with iodophor?

 

[demonrichie]

you could always try and see if someones throwing out an old dishwasher and swipe the rack out of that... im looking for one to do that very thing

 

[Mermaid]

Thanks for the tip about using the dishwasher as a bottle rack.
I think I might spring for a vinator, that seems immensely useful, but I might try the dishwasher rack trick to keep them ready to use.

By the way, the "heat cycle of doom" is the only thing I've found that removes the gold foil "trim" on the top of the Leffe bottles I recycle, and the extra sticky labels on other bottles. Good for lazy people like me

 

[HatchetJack]

I have an extra large kitchen island/bar and after wiping it down 2 or 3 times with a spray bottle of one step sanitizer, I then spray it down good and wet once again. Then I shake out the sanitized bottles and invert on the wet sanitized countertop. I use warm sanitizer in the bottles so they dry pretty quickly with the exception of the opening. As I am turning the bottles over two at time to prepare for bottling, I give them a quick shake to remove the excess. I have bottled 16 batches so far with no problems and have not had a bottle fall over yet. Just be careful there or no kids or drunks around.

 

[monk420]

i made my own with a 2x6 and some wooden rods stained them and glued them in a lil bulky but pretty cheap to make works pretty good

 

[Fishin-Jay]

I run the bottles through the dishwasher with a bit of PBW. Then I use a vinator to put a few squirts of Star San in each bottle right before bottling. I then store the bottles on the clean dishwasher rack until I'm ready for them.

 

[Gipper]

I just did my first batch of bottles, and I put them in the dishwasher on the "Sanitize" setting with no soap and called it a day. I'll let you know if my beer comes out funked

+ another 1. My dishwasher also has the "sanatize" feature so I just let it do the work and bottle straight from the washer...

yeah, soak bottles in a tub of oxi clean to get any crud or labels off. Quick cycle through dishwasher with sanitze option, soak the caps in star san or similar and then bottle up your beer!