New easy and fast way to sanitize bottles?

[BrewerofBeers]

I'm probably not the first one to do this at the homebrew scale, but I had an idea to get a cheap steam cleaner with an extension on the nozzle that fits into the mouth of the bottle. I just moved the wand with the extension from bottle to bottle. Sure enough, the steam rapidly heated the bottle and blew off old krausen slime as well as any other sediment. You know it's sanitizing because the bottle gets super hot. It used minimal water, probably less than a cup for dozens of bottles. It was very quick and easy, and didn't make a mess. The steam cleaner is just a cheap one made overseas.

Anyone else do this? I recommend it. Plus, when you think about it, a steam cleaner can be used for tons of other things, even steamed milk. It's kinda fun to use so maybe you'll get inspired to clean some floor tiles or your car engine.

 

[day_trippr]

I'd be concerned about heat stressing the bottles especially if they're the thin-wall non-returnables (which is pretty much all of them these days)...

 

[IslandLizard]

[...] the steam rapidly heated the bottle and blew off old krausen slime as well as any other sediment.

So those bottles aren't clean yet...

Shouldn't the bottles be "**** & Span" clean, before you sanitize them?
Or do you do both (cleaning and sanitizing) all in one steam treatment?

 

[BrewerofBeers]

I like your term Steam Treatment. Yeah, the steam treatment actually cleaned them from start to finish in seconds. It began as an experiment, but I saved 45 minutes off the bottling process on Saturday. And who knows how much $ in supplies.

Super easy. Just spread them out, or leave them in the boxes like I did, and go from one to the next. Just don't let them get too hot, and do move the wand around and up and down in the bottle so as not to heat them unevenly and stress them. Get the mouth too. Only takes a little time and the outside of the bottle begins to warm as an indicator, so you get the hang of it pretty quick. Pour out the drops before filling.

I'm not saying it's perfect but was wondering if others had experience doing this. I've cleaned and sanitized bottles in all sorts of ways for over 5 years but this took the cake.

 

[BrewZer]

Let us know how this batch matures. The CDC says you need steam and pressure for minimum time frames depending on the temperature of the steam.

 

[oakbarn]

You need a minimum of 3 minutes to sterlize with steam. It is great for cleaning, but I would still use star san which is just another small step to sanitize. I steam clean my fermentors but alsways use Star San to sanitize.

 

[JC Mendyka]

What make and model steam cleaner did you buy?

 

[BrewerofBeers]

It's not hospital grade sterilization. However neither is star-san. Anyway, a steam cleaner can heat the bottles to over 200F. I quickly went back and measured them with an infrared gun and heated them more as needed. I really think it's gonna work although very valid concerns raised. There should only be prior yeast in the bottles -- not extremophiles that can survive a steam treatment.

• Pyrolobus fumarii: Isolated from hydrothermal vents, it can survive up to 113°C (235°F).
• Geogemma barossii (Strain 121): This archaeon can double its population in an autoclave at 121°C (250°F).
• Methanopyrus kandleri: This hyperthermophile can survive temperatures up to 122°C (251.6°F).

 

[sibelman]

I'm confused about the cleaning aspect. Are the bottles upside down so that the (apparently minimal) moisture somehow carries all the (sanitized) debris out?

 

[DuncB]

Steaming is not the same as steam sterilising.
Much the same as PBW is not a sanitizer and Starsan is not a cleaner.
The hygiene cycle on a dishwasher is probably more aseptic.
But it's an elegant idea.

 

[kevin58]

You don't need to sterilize any of your equipment including bottles. You only need to sanitize.

 

[mac_1103]

Rinse bottles. Scrub or toss any that have stubborn gunk. Put foil on tops. Stick in oven. Set oven for 250F and turn on. Wait 30 minutes and turn off. Wait until cool and remove bottles from oven. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

 

[homebeerbrewer]

Like @day_trippr said, I'd be concerned about heat stress. Every time you heat and cool a bottle, it stresses the glass. There is no way to heat and cool evenly, and that's where the stress comes from. Then, you add pressure to the inside from the carbonation, and you have a potential bottle bomb. Beer bottles are not as lethal as glass carboys, but they can still cause serious injury.

 

[BrewerofBeers]

The reason why this is going to work in my case is because I am keeping these bottles at 175-180F for around 5 minutes by heating them no faster than they would air cool. It seems to happen slow enough to stay in control. You can control the temperature and flow of the steam.

I am not relying on the steam or pressure, but wet heat. Remember that meat must reach something like 145-165F depending on the type, so 175+ for several minutes is pretty good.

An accepted practice is submerging bottles in boiling water which is 212F. Less than that, when done properly, should be fine for the glass. I wouldn't want to use really cheap bottles.

I am not saying I cleaned dirty bottles to use. I did that as an experiment and it would probably work but you would obviously need to rinse them and thoroughly clean them.

 

[mac_1103]

I am not saying I cleaned dirty bottles to use.

Sorry, but it read like that's exactly what you were saying.

I am keeping these bottles at 175-180F for around 5 minutes by heating them no faster than they would air cool.

I am not relying on steam or pressure, but wet heat. Remember that meat must reach something like 145-165F depending on the type, so 175+ for several minutes is pretty good.

I don't think anyone doubts that it works. I'm just not seeing the advantage over other equally simple methods.

 

[BrewerofBeers]

I think steam cleaning is totally viable for these bottles as I mentioned. But for this I only tested a few old bottles for fun.

 

[sibelman]

you would obviously need to rinse them and thoroughly clean them.

blew off old krausen slime as well as any other sediment.

Sanitizing must occur after or simultaneously with cleaning, I take it that you saw considerable cleaning taking place in your steam test. So this led me to think you viewed the steam process as potentially hadnling both cleaning and sanitizing.

If other cleaning is needed, then it seems that steam sanitizing should be seen as a possible alternative to a rinse with a sanitizer such as StarSan, or a heat method - presumably dishwasher or oven.

If, on the other hand, a "cheap steam cleaner with an extension on the nozzle" could really completely clean as well as sanitize, as seemingly suggested in your original post, it could be a major bottling time saver.

 

[DuncB]

You don't need to sterilize any of your equipment including bottles. You only need to sanitize.

Try making a yeast starter from a slant without sterilising.

Agreed sanitise is enough in most cases, but you can't sanitize until equipment is clean.

 

[BrewerofBeers]

I think you could both clean and sanitize very quickly with this method, but having the bottle upside down might be necessary to simultaneously flush it.

 

[kevin58]

Try making a yeast starter from a slant without sterilising.

Agreed sanitise is enough in most cases, but you can't sanitize until equipment is clean.

The OP is about cleaning bottles before filling with beer. Not yeast slants.

 

[day_trippr]

That response was to "You don't need to sterilize any of your equipment including bottles. You only need to sanitize."
Seems both accurate and appropriate...

Cheers!