Keeping bottles sanitized

[Poppy360]

I have a load of bottles in a bucket of bleach soln. for sanitizing and getting the labels off.

How do I keep the bottles sterile during and after the drying process and before bottling? Do I rinse with plain tap water and leave them upside down? Should I rinse them with boiled tap water?

Any hints or tips?

 

[JimC]

Assuming you didn't way overdo the chlorine (1tbsp / gallon). Just pull them out, drain out the water and put them on a bottling tree until you are ready to use them. If you don't have a tree, take a box, put some aluminum foil in the bottom and stand them in the box upside down. The drips will sanitize the foil and they will be sitting there ready to go. No rinsing needed.

 

[dibby33]

I have a tree and love it. just chuck the bottles on and let them drain. I don't even attempt to pour any water out of them, just chuck them on and make a big watery mess. I do this at my cellar door of course!

When bottling just take them straight off the tree. Because they are upside down and the top is partially blocked by the tree stem nothing much should be able to get in. I think a lot of people overdo the santisation here, this is not a bad thing but personally I think a lot is overkill. Of course spending 1hr extra cleaning bottles not to ruin an entire batch is worth it. You just have to find the limit that you want to take it to - your risk factor

 

[JimC]

I bought a tree because bottling is already a pain in the ass and the tree makes it that much easier. I keep a bucket of bleach solution going and every couple days grab all the empties from the dish rack and toss them in. Once the bucket is full, throw them on the tree and forget about it. By the time the tree is full there is likely some beer ready to go into them bottles. Works great for me.

 

[fritz_monroe]

As others have said, use a bottle tree. It makes things really easy.

Keep in mind that aren't trying to sterilize things since as soon as the bottles leave the solution, they are collecting contaminants. You are just trying to make things as clean as possible by using sanitizing solution to reduce "microbial contaminants to insignificant levels."

 

[Whelk]

Also, I just sanitize with Iodophor and rinse 'em, then just shake out as much water as possible and bottle. If I rinse all sediment out of the bottles as I drink them, then it's already clean--really just needs a good sanitizing.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Also, I just sanitize with Iodophor and rinse 'em, then just shake out as much water as possible and bottle. If I rinse all sediment out of the bottles as I drink them, then it's already clean--really just needs a good sanitizing.

That's what I do too. Got some brand new restaurant type dishwasher racks for nothing. Not as compact as a bottling tree but it does the trick.

 

[Melana]

I am OCD about cleaning my bottles as i empty them... and always clean them again in sanitizer that I have on hand from brewing... then dry and store... then i sanitize them AGAIN on bottling day and put on the tree to drip until filling.

 

[jvh261]

I hot water rinse them as I empty them and when I have a group together I let them soak overnight in a full sink of hot water and a bit of Oxy-Clean. This usually removes the labels fairly easily, maybe a little scrubbing with a rough sponge. Then drain and hot water rinse and put them upside down in a foil lined box. I don't own a tree (yet). On bottling day I just fill the dishwasher with the bottles upside down and run it without soap on the hottest setting and heated dry. No problems yet.

I have 5gal of Dunkelweizen and 5gal of Dortmunder to bottle this weekend.

 

[usnsti]

I think putting them on a tree is fine. If you really want to be sure, or you are leaving them for a longer period than a few weeks, maybe you could just cap the empties? Caps are cheap and it would guarantee nothing getting in the bottle in between brews. Probably too much work but hey it's just an idea.

 

[dibby33]

I think putting them on a tree is fine. If you really want to be sure, or you are leaving them for a longer period than a few weeks, maybe you could just cap the empties? Caps are cheap and it would guarantee nothing getting in the bottle in between brews. Probably too much work but hey it's just an idea.

I have just done that! Had two barrels filled with sterilisation solution so filled them up with bottles, then two hours later capped! I think this is the way to go. Much easier at bottling time.

 

[psychogenius]

a nice way to clean them once and insure that they will stay clean for quite a while is to clean them with bleach or oxyclean, wash them out, then put a bit of aluminum foil over the top and then bake them in the oven at about 300 for an hour

when heated, the water will steam out and sanitize the inside. as it cools the aluminum foil will form a bit of a seal on the bottle top preventing stuff from getting in.

quick, easy, and fairly uninvolved.

 

[Rook]

I'm lazy, and I'll probably be this way until I get burned by doing so. I've bottled three batches this way with no funky bottles yet.

I clean the bottles after I am done drinking them, but on bottling day, I put them all in the dish washer on high-temp wash, with heated dry. bottles get smoking hot and I leave them to cool in the dishwasher which is now a sanitized container. I leave them upside down in the dishwasher and bottle on the door. Much easier than soaking, etc.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I'm lazy, and I'll probably be this way until I get burned by doing so. I've bottled three batches this way with no funky bottles yet.

I clean the bottles after I am done drinking them, but on bottling day, I put them all in the dish washer on high-temp wash, with heated dry. bottles get smoking hot and I leave them to cool in the dishwasher which is now a sanitized container. I leave them upside down in the dishwasher and bottle on the door. Much easier than soaking, etc.

this is how i do it. dishwasher's are the biggity bomb (man, i can tell i'm getting a buzz when i start typing like that). this place is the first time I've ever had one...so nice. sure, it cleans dishes, but it SANITIZES BOTTLES!!!! :rockin:

 

[usnsti]

I'm lazy, and I'll probably be this way until I get burned by doing so. I've bottled three batches this way with no funky bottles yet.

I clean the bottles after I am done drinking them, but on bottling day, I put them all in the dish washer on high-temp wash, with heated dry. bottles get smoking hot and I leave them to cool in the dishwasher which is now a sanitized container. I leave them upside down in the dishwasher and bottle on the door. Much easier than soaking, etc.

The dishwasher thing works GREAT. I sanitize everything in there. mine gets f'n hot in the dry cycle too.

 

[Poppy360]

What if you don't have a dishwasher...

 

[DeathBrewer]

clean and rinse out really well, and use your oven. that's what my friends used to do. then hang the bottles upside down until they cool. just don't let them shatter.

don't know the details on temp and stuff, sorry never did it myself

 

[spiderman6969]

this is how i do it. dishwasher's are the biggity bomb (man, i can tell i'm getting a buzz when i start typing like that). this place is the first time I've ever had one...so nice. sure, it cleans dishes, but it SANITIZES BOTTLES!!!! :rockin:

when you do this are you putting any dish washing liquid in there or do you just run the dishwasher?

 

[BlindLemonLars]

when you do this are you putting any dish washing liquid in there or do you just run the dishwasher?

No. Start with bottles that are already clean, and don't use any detergent or rinse agent. If your dishwasher has it, use the high heat sterilize setting. Mine says "steri-san cycle" or something like that.

Be sure to let the bottles cool (with the door shut) before bottling.

 

[Turkeyfoot Jr.]

I'm fairly good about rinsing my bottles as I use them so I don't ever have to worry about gunk building up. At the end of an evening, or sometimes as I'm drinking them, I rinse them a couple times with hot water and then fill with water and let sit on the counter till morning. In the morning I peel off the labels, dump the water, rinse one more time and then sit on the counter to dry. Once they're dry they go back into the box I bought them in originally and back into the basement until bottling day. On bottling day I have a big tub that I fill with a bleach solution and let the bottles soak in that for a bit then pull, rinse and stick on my tree.

A side note on labels. I'm not sure what everyone else uses but I've found that Avery labels are my best bet. They're designed to be removable, I can print what I want to them on my computer and best of all, I can get 250 of them for about $5. The 250 I'm referring to are about 1.5" tall and 3" wide, enough room to easily fit the name, brew date and bottled date. I can get the Avery number for them when I get home if anyone's interested.

 

[Brewer3401]

Don't rinse with water - it's not sanitary.

I use iodophor, then after a quick drain take a piece of 3" x 3" aluminum foil (that's been floating in iodophor solution) and put on top and crimp down.
I wouldn't suggest this for long term storage. I like to get ALL of my bottles sanitized, then start bottling.

 

[the_Roqk]

After drinking the brew I rinse the bottles out and let them drip dry on the drain board. Then I take them to a rubbermaid bin and store till bottling day. When bottling day arrives I place them in my dishwasher and run the cycle on light wash (no detergent) and sanitize on hot dry. I usually run the dishwasher about 2 hours before I brew. This gives me enough time for the bottles to dry and cool down. So far no problems.

 

[Captain Tex]

Don't rinse with water - it's not sanitary.

There's bacteria in tap water?

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I am OCD about cleaning my bottles as i empty them... and always clean them again in sanitizer that I have on hand from brewing... then dry and store... then i sanitize them AGAIN on bottling day and put on the tree to drip until filling.

I do the same thing - I instinctively clean out every bottle after I've poured it into a mug and I store them in my basement. Then when it's time to bottle I sanitize all of them and let them sit on the bottling tree for 30 min or so.

I even have everyone in our monthly poker game trained to wash out their BMC bottles and leave them on the counter for me. According to Man-Law once their BMC hits my fridge they can't take it home - but I wish that they would. I either let SWMBO have it or I dump it out just so I can use the bottle.

Is it bad when you value a Budweiser Select bottle more than you value what's *IN* the Budweiser Select bottle? :cross:

 

[jim82000]

My dishwasher has an automatic Jet-Dry dispenser, as I imagine a lot of yours do as well. Has rinse-aid like Jet-Dry ever been suspected of causing bottle problems?

 

[megavites]

I'm like others. Rinse bottle twice at the end of the night.
On bottling day, I fill my bottling bucket with a Star San mix, fill each bottle
1/4 of the way, shake to distribute and let sit for 20min or so. Then dump and
fill. No issues yet.

 

[ajf]

My dishwasher has an automatic Jet-Dry dispenser, as I imagine a lot of yours do as well. Has rinse-aid like Jet-Dry ever been suspected of causing bottle problems?

Yes.
Has it ever been proven? I'm not so sure.

-a.

 

[Buford]

If I need to keep bottles sanitized before using, I dunk them in StarSan, let them sit for a few moments, drain, and cover the top with a square of aluminum foil that has also been dunked in StarSan. I did that when I needed to chill a batch of empty bottles before filling off of a keg so they'd be ready to use the moment they came out of the fridge.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Yes.
Has it ever been proven? I'm not so sure.

-a.

Any soap residue on your bottles and glasses will effect your head retention.

FWIW, all my bottles are cleaned before storing.

Prior to bottling spray my bottle tree down with iodophor then use iodophor with the bottle sprayer (the type that stores on the racking tree) and let them rinse on the tree.

 

[FatMonsters]

On bottling day I fill my bottling bucket almost to the top with sanitizing solution, I use One Step and then fill all the bottles. This leaves me about 1/3 full bottling bucket. I let the bottles sit for at least 20 minutes with the sanitizing solution. If I use my flip top bottles, I close the top while they sit and flip them upside after 10 minutes. Shake bottle, drain and turn upside down in crate to drain. I don't have a tree. I never heard of the laying foil with a little sanitizer down first. Boy oh boy, learn something new everyday on here! Thanks, I think I'm going to try this! Especially when I use bottles I have to cap...

After the bottles have been drank, they get a hot water flush and drain before I store them in the basement. Flip top bottles I close the top, regular bottles get flipped upside down in the crate...