Noob questions - Delabeling, no chill wort, etc

[DubbinFive1Eight]

A few questions if you don't mind answering! I checked with the FAQ as well as a bit of searching here, but the search engine isn't the best (most forums tend to be this way from what I've seen).

1. What's the best way to take labels off old bottles? I've soaked 12 Samuel Adams bottles in hot water for an hour, but the glue is left over and I don't wanna hand ''scrub'' over 100 bottles for the two 5 gal batches of brew I have going lol. I thought about steaming them in the dishwasher, but I dunno if that would clog up the draining system? Dunno... Total noob question, I know...

2. I've read a few things about people moving away from secondary fermentation, as well as NOT chilling the wort when it's finished boiling. What's the purpose of eliminating secondary fermentation (pros, cons), and the same for the no chill wort? Also, if you leave the wort to air cool, how do you keep it sterile?

3. Glass vs. plastic carboys... Is there a real difference? I've read a post describing how some plastic bottles (#7 IIRC) can be bad for your health, but otherwise, are there any advantages to either? I find plastic lighter to handle and cheaper to obtain, but my local brew store trys to convince me glass is far superior.

Alright... I think thats it for now. Hopefully you'll be gentle on me if these questions have been answered a thousand times, but I couldn't find any definitive information!

Thanks in advance

-Chris

 

[krisagon]

1. I soak em in hot water and PBW or OxyClean to loosen the labels up. Then I use a copper scrubbing pad to remove what's left of the labels.

2. Less work, and it doesn't do much, really. There's a guy on here who wins gold medals with beers that sit in primary for a whole month.

3. Eh, whatever. Someone will inevitably chime in about oxygen permeability of plastic. I use glass since it's what I got from craigslist. I also like the taste of soda out of a glass bottle over a plastic bottle, but that may or may not apply to brewing.

4. Good job on numbering the questions, it makes getting answers way more likely!

5. I'm not sure you're ever going to get a "definitive" answer on any of these, especially #2.

 

[krisagon]

Oops, to clarify #2:

2a) Secondary fermentation was a big fad for a while, I don't bother with it.
2b) I DO recommend chilling down the wort. For sanitation and cold break (aka clarity) reasons.

 

[DubbinFive1Eight]

Oops, to clarify #2:

2a) Secondary fermentation was a big fad for a while, I don't bother with it.
2b) I DO recommend chilling down the wort. For sanitation and cold break (aka clarity) reasons.

Thanks for the quick respsonse! I'll keep the numbering in mind lol, I just felt like numbering to make things easier for myself hah.

Craigslist is a good idea though, I'll have to search locally for some glass carboys to try out. The brew shop wants somethin' like 30 bones for one of those things. I'd rather spend the money on a nice brew kettle or other equipment.

 

[bovineblitz]

1 - I take labels off by leaving the bottles in a cooler filled with oxyclean water for a week (often much longer), the labels come right off. I put on gloves and use a butter knife to help get the labels off, then rinse 3-5x in the bathtub (I take the shower head off and shove some tubing into the pipe, works great for rinsing)

2 - basically it's been shown that secondary isn't necessary and there can even be benefits from leaving the beer on the trub for a month or so. Racking to secondary too early can cause problems, but leaving it in primary or racking to secondary at the proper time are both perfectly fine. The old way of thinking was that a secondary will result in a clearer beer but the new thought is that it doesn't really matter when it comes to clarity.

That is my understanding, and it's a ridiculous debate people are having lately, so let's not open that can of worms. Do what works for you, just don't rack too early no matter what you do.

3 - doesn't really matter. I prefer plastic because it's easier to deal with, lighter, not much harder to clean, and cannot shatter and slice your veins open. Glass only is kind of an old school way of looking at it and some people stick to what they know, but the current perception is that it doesn't really matter... so again, do what works for you.

 

[DubbinFive1Eight]

Thanks for the response!

So what happens if you DO rack too early to secondary? Just wondering what can happen...

 

[krisagon]

Racking during active fermentation separates hungry yeast from their food source.
It leaves a lot of uneaten sugars, and off-flavor compounds in the beer.

Believe it or not, yeast are our best friends when it comes to cleaning up bad flavors.

 

[DubbinFive1Eight]

Racking during active fermentation separates hungry yeast from their food source.
It leaves a lot of uneaten sugars, and off-flavor compounds in the beer.

Believe it or not, yeast are our best friends when it comes to cleaning up bad flavors.

Can extended time in the secondary fermenter correct this? I believe I racked my blond ale too soon.... I followed the directions from the box, obviously not a good idea in some cases hah... But after a week, I racked it to secondary, and even now, 6 days later, it still shoots off a few bubbles ever 10 seconds or so... So I assme fermentation is still highly active.

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Quickest label removing solution I've found is this.

I just soak bottles in it for 30 minutes then peel. Then use a wash cloth to get the residue off.

Also the faster you chill down your wort the more hop aroma/flavor you will preserve. That's why hops are added at different points in the boil. 60 minutes for bitterness, less for flavor, less for aroma etc...

 

[FoundlingOfDollar]

Haven't seen an answer to your sanitary no chill question yet. I haven't done it, so I am sure someone can give you more details, but from what I've read here, for no chill they pour the boiling wort into a food safe plastic container that is airtight, squeeze the air out, then screw the top on. The boiling wort sanitizes the container, and the airtight container keeps it clean overnight or for months until you are ready to pitch.

 

[mlg5039]

Chilling fast is best for clarity reasons (search "cold break") and for sanitation reasons.

 

[plaidpaint]

2) Yeah, FoundlingOfDollar has it right, but here's an article that explains it, and why, and some pros and cons.
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?autocom=ineo&showarticle=56

This is what a lot of people do in Australia because it doesn't waste water, which is a much larger concern here than in most of North America. This is what I do, and haven't had any problems. I've even done it without the cube, by just leaving the lid on the brewpot for a bit before you finish the boil, to steam any bugs living on it, then clingwrapping the whole thing to make it airtight (more or less )

 

[conpewter]

I do no-chill. Instead of putting it in a carboy you put it in a plastic (HDPE good plastic) "Cube" that fills completely up with wort. Since the wort is ~200 degrees when it goes into the plastic cube it will heat sanitize the cube. Leave it sealed up until you feel like fermenting it, some have gone months-year before brewing with it.

 

[dandw12786]

For the label question, I soaked them in a mix of water and baking soda. Everything peeled right off! I had lots of trouble with sam adams bottles too. My advice? Dont drink it. Bleh

 

[bovineblitz]

For the label question, I soaked them in a mix of water and baking soda. Everything peeled right off! I had lots of trouble with sam adams bottles too. My advice? Dont drink it. Bleh

Sam Adams bottles are great if you go with the oxyclean method

Troegs are the best.

 

[tnvol]

I just soak them in very hot, soapy water until the labels either come off or are ready to come off and then just use a green scratch pad to scrub off whatever is left. It's a one time thing so I don't mind doing it. Pretty easy stuff.

 

[DubbinFive1Eight]

Thanks for all the info and links guys! Very useful information. I have to say, I have no need for keeping wort yeast-free for an extended period of time, but I'll probably try the no-chill method with a weizen because obviously I wont be too concerned with clarity.

Oh, and agreed, Sam bottles seem to be the worst. I just tried delabeling some Hoegaarden bottles (love em', I think they're cool lookin') and they came off like nothing with water and oxy. I'll have to try the baking soda method too since its probably the cheaper route (and I'm a cheap @ss).

 

[estoppel]

I have found Brooklyn Lager bottles to be the worst. Being Canadian, most of our beer bottles are standard bottles used for all makes of beer (both interbrew and molson, the two largest distributors here) and the labels all tend to come off pretty easily. Imports are the worst.

 

[conpewter]

I do think No-Chill would be good for a weizen. I have not had clarity issues with no-chill at all, but more so because there are not a lot of late-addition hops. If it is a hop-heavy beer you may need to adjust hop additions since they can continue to isomerize at the higher temps as it cools. I don't store it for a long period either, just let it cool down for a day and then areate it and put it in the carboy.

 

[JorgeIsKing]

While we are talking about easy bottles to de-label. I'd like to chime in and say that Smithwicks bottles are, in my experience, the easiest bottles to de-label.

I just soak them in plain water overnight and the next day the labels literally slide off the bottle.

 

[MikeMayhem]

A sink full of soapy water with a few splashes of bleach has been my method for delabeling even the hardest of beer labels. Baking soda works but not quite as well from what i've discovered. Hot soapy bleach water only needs about 90 minutes if not less.

Rogue and Sierra Nevada bottles have been the easiest while Dogfish Head and Great Divide have been the toughest.

 

[sportscrazed2]

last time i did it i put the bottles in my brew kettle and soaked them with water. i would hold them under water and scrape with the long part of screw driver and then flushed it down the toilet when done

 

[finley]

I actually just this last week went and compared several different methods for removing bottle labels to see what worked best (for me). I had found a nice recycling dumpster full of bottles and had raided that and figured I'd compare. I did straight hot water, boiling the bottles for 10 min in clean water, cold water with oxyclean, hot water with oxyclean, and saoking with bleach/water mixture. I didn't try soapy bleach water, will have to try that next.

An hour in a hot water mixed with oxyclean, but cool enough to put your hands in seemed to work best for me. I didn't notice any real difference past an hour of wait time, but no reason not to let it sit overnight. Some bottle labels were a pain, but roughly scrapping them, and throwing them back in for a bit seemed to take care of it. I haven't found anything for McSorley's bottles. They are a weird plastic and a Pain in the Rear.

I actually just got one of the giant tubs from Lowes for something like $5, and combined de-labeling with doing the regular maintenance on my hot water heater (draining it from the bottom). I'll probably do the same thing if I have more bottles to delabel with using the waste water from the wort chiller.

 

[cenla]

Rogue and Sierra Nevada bottles have been the easiest while Dogfish Head and Great Divide have been the toughest.

The labels on the 6 of Rogue Mocha Porter I picked up the other day were falling off before I even tried to remove them. Super easy!

 

[estoppel]

I too have Dogfish Head labels to be pretty easy to remove. Dos Equis are tough though.

 

[elproducto]

Soak bottles in Oxyclean for a couple of days.. labels fall off. Rinse really well, and you have beautiful bottles, no scrubbing required.

 

[AmandaK]

How hard is it to chill? And why wouldn't you? Just stick your pot in an ice bath, or better yet, add a cheap, homemade chiller to your setup. Mine cost $19 to make at Home Depot.

And the benefits are more than just what's been mentioned here. Reduced DMS, reduced risk of infection and improved hop character.
All can be seen here, from Jamil: http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php