Sanitizing Grolsh style rubber gaskets

[ChuckinWA]

Hey Guys,
I'm lucky enough to have a number of cases of flip top bottles from travels to Germany over the last few years. I haven't used these for homebrew yet, but plan to in the near future. I was thinking the easiest way to sanitize the bottles would be to run them through the dishwasher heat cycle then cap them up. But what about the rubber gaskets - can they take the heat or should I remove them and stick them in a solution of Idophor separately?

Speaking of Idophor, another question: The bottle says to let things soak for a few minutes, then let air dry. But, let's face it, who has time for that on brewday? Is it OK to just shake most of the solution off of the equipment? I've only made a couple of batches of beer so far and this is what I've been doing. I can't say any of my batches were the best beer I've ever had, and I'm wondering if trace amounts of Idophor have impaired my beer somehow. Thanks!

 

[Neomich]

I use the dishwasher for my flip tops with no problems. I don't use Iodophor so can't really advise about that.

 

[Ksosh]

To answer your second question first: Idophor, in the correct concentration, will not harm you if you bottle 'wet'. Even in heavier concentrations, it won't kill you, so go ahead and shake off the excess and go about your bottling.

For swing caps, I take the entire fliptop off, run the bottle through the dishwasher, soak in sanitizer the day of bottling, and reattach the flip tops just before bottling. I hand wash the flip top part in soap/water and rinse very well, and then soak for a couple minutes in sanitizer the day of. Be careful leaving the tops in water/sanitizer for days on end, as they might rust/oxidize/whatever. The gaskets (which I remove from the flip top) I hand wash as well, rinse very well, and again soak in sanitizer the day of. I wouldn't run them through the dishwasher myself. If you see any gaskets that are cracked, replace them.

 

[chriscraig]

I realize this is an old post, but nobody commented on the OPs idea of sanitizing the bottles and then capping them until bottle day. This is exactly what I'm doing right now. I can't see why it wouldn't work.

Any thoughts?

 

[DanPoch]

Sanitizing the bottle and then caping it 'till brewday should work. There are a couple things to keep in mind.

1) Sanitize the bottle around the cap before opening it as a precaution. When you open it the flip-top will contact the exterior of the bottle. I'd have a container of sanitizer on hand and just dip the top of the bottles in there prior to opening and filling.

2) use only a rinse-free sanitizer because what is in the capped bottle will not evaporate. As mentioned before the amount of Iodophor used to sanitize if not a problem, neither is star-san.

3) I wouldn't store them for a long time because the rubber washer will compress, but this last one may just be me being overly cautious

 

[chriscraig]

That's kind of what I thought. I cleaned them with a bleach/water solution and then rinsed them throughly. Then I used the sanitize cycle on my dishwasher while soaking the rubber seals in bleach/water. Once the bottles were done, I rinsed the rubber seals and capped the bottles. This was just the other day. I'm bottling tonight, so I don't expect any problems.

 

[Malintent]

That's kind of what I thought. I cleaned them with a bleach/water solution and then rinsed them throughly. Then I used the sanitize cycle on my dishwasher while soaking the rubber seals in bleach/water. Once the bottles were done, I rinsed the rubber seals and capped the bottles. This was just the other day. I'm bottling tonight, so I don't expect any problems.

I wouldn't expect any problems either, but bleach is a bad idea, generally. Since you need to rinse the hell out of anything that touched even a very dilute bleach solution, your materials are only as sanitary as your tap water.. .so then what was the point of the bleach and rinsing?

the absolutely only thing I would ever use any bleach for is a first time washing of something really gross I want to use as equipment.. just to get the initial grime off. like a used soda keg's dip tube, for example.

 

[DanPoch]

Good point about the bleach, Malintent. Personally, I wouldn't use bleach on any metal, even in weak concentrations. Bleach is corrosive and will cause pitting in the metal as well as strip of the oxidation layer that is preventing the metal from rusting.

A strong Oxy-clean solution works wonders in soda kegs IMHO.

 

[Malintent]

Good point about the bleach, Malintent. Personally, I wouldn't use bleach on any metal, even in weak concentrations. Bleach is corrosive and will cause pitting in the metal as well as strip of the oxidation layer that is preventing the metal from rusting.

A strong Oxy-clean solution works wonders in soda kegs IMHO.

I would have totally agreed with you up until last month when I got a root beer corroded soda keg from an online dealer. The corrosive nature of the bleach is exactly what I needed, heh.

But, you are totally correct about the metallurgy you mentioned... bleach should only be used with great care.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I have 6 cases of flippies from Germany. I store the bottles without the gaskets. This way there's no pressure on the wire cages and/or the gaskets.

After I pour a brew into a glass I'll rinse the bottle out and remove the gasket then rinse it. I store the "used" gaskets in a bag until I get a large number of them, say 50. Then I'll boil up some water and set them in there for a couple of minutes to get off any unseen gunk. Afterwards I'll strain out the water and place them on a towel to dry. Then they go back into a "cleaned" bag for the next time.