Sterilizing the bottles
Hey Guys,
Personally, I firstly give them a go in the dishwasher to remove any muck and label remains, then they get soaked about 15 at a time in a fermentation bin filled with a strong hot water/ Sterilizer mix for about an hour then a good scrub with a bottle brush, then rinsed three or four times with cold water. You could invest in a bottle tree which holds about 80 bottles upside down to drain. Germs fall down so they should stay clean for quite a while.
Hello,
I'm a newbie so feel free to ignore my advice, but I've just got back from my local home brew shop after buying 3 dozen swing top (grolsh style) bottles.
I was going to go with barreling because I felt that sterilizing all those bottles would be a real chore but the lady at the shop suggested that all I need do is wash them with a bit of fairy liquid and then use hot water to sterilize them.
Sounds easy although I have a couple of reservations with this advice. 1. I fear the detergent may spoil the beer if its not rinsed well. and 2. Not convinced hot water alone will be enough.
Hey cade,
Hot water alone will not sterilize them. If you're lucky there will be no infection, but how will you feel if you ruin a full batch of beer? I use baby bottle sterilizer solution after the bottles are clean and just funnel from one to the next ensuring the entire bottle interior is touched by the solution including the top where the cap will sit.
only washing with hot water is not adviced so you should rinse these with some carbonates and detergents too!
The first thing to remember before sterilizing your beer bottles is to clean the bottles with a cleaning solution. Improperly cleaned bottles,will shield bacteria from coming into contact with sterilizing agents. Beer taste will not be affected if all cleaning,rinsing,and sterilizing procedures are done correcrly.
I use a method from one of Charlie Papazian's books. I let the bottles soak in a large, closed plastic tub with a chlorine solution. Then I pull them out, dump them out and put foil over the openings. Then when you're ready to use them, just rinse them out and they're good to go.
This may sound silly, but when rinsing, would it be OK to use tap water?
The reason I am wondering is that our tap water is really hard water - it typically leaves sediments on our glasses. I'd hate to do the sanitation just to ruin it with bad tap water.
To sterilize, I just use a tablespoon of bleach diluted in half a gallon of water. I fill up all the bottles in the sink and let them sit for around 15 minutes. Then, I rinse with tap water until I can't smell the bleach. Last, I let them air dry. I'm strongly considering getting a tree. So far, I've just been using a dishdrying rack. I haven't had any problems yet!
If you're willing to spend just a little more money, there's commercially available cleanser available that obviates the necessity of rinsing.
Also, you can get jet attachments for your sink, so that the water angles better into the bottles.
I sterilize my beer bottles in the dishwasher. I just put the bottles upside down on the pins on the bottom rack. I use NO SOAP. I just set the dishwasher on the highest heat, and set it to dry to heat dry the bottles. I've been doing this for 7 years, without a single infection.
I was thinking about doing that - I get a little nervous since our local water has quite a few sediments in it, but I would think that this would be a great way to sterilize your bottles, especially if you can use a drying function at the end.
I'm still trying to figure out why you guys are sterilizing. No commercial brewer does that I know of. Do you mean sanitizing? Completely different. Sure, if you need hospital operating room conditions, then yes, go for it. Otherwise, all you need to get bottles clean is a bucket full of water and some Straight A to let them soak for a minute or so, then another bucket with water and Star San, let the bottles soak for about 30 seconds, and your done.
Notes about dishwasher: not a great idea. Remember, the jets in the dishwasher are rotating fast, and the neck of a bottle is narrow. They are not designed for that, and I have read over and over about bad results from using this. Get some buckets as I described with the appropriate cleaner, and soak several bottles at once. Dishwashers will not get the INSIDE clean enough.
Yes webby you can rinse with tap water. I did it all the time. I even brew with it. In the past I used a water filter with my mash water, but rarely do than now. If you are fine with drinking that water, then you can brew with it.
I'm still trying to figure out why we are *sterilizing* bottles and not *sanitizing* them.
Instead of changing the flat tire, replace the whole wheel. It's kind of overkill, ya know?
It's just a slip. So easy to type "sterilize" when you mean "sanitize". I did it too, in another thread. Most likely, no one is trying to do more than is necessary.
I simply sanitize with an iodine and water solution. When I am ready to use the equipment or bottles, I just shake the liquid off, and give it a moment to dry. No need to rinse, so no worry about the quality of tap water.
I have use the dishwasher method for years and have never had a problem. You need to use the heated dry, no soap, no rinsing agent, like Jet Dry, and the bottles must be clean before you start.
I would not recommend putting a bottle with a label still on it in the dishwasher. You will get little pieces of label all over your bottles, inside and out, and if you used the heated dry, it will be baked on.
For label removing, I usually soak them over night in a wash tub with some TSP (Tri Sodium Phosphate) added to the water. Most of the labels come right off, the others can be scrubbed with a green scrubbie. Make sure to rinse the bottles, then you can sanitize as you see fit.
Wouldn't hitting them hard with a bottle brush and soaking them in some hot bleach water and a good rinse take care of it?
Just asking.
Marv.
My advice would be to purchase a gallon of Sani-Clean (Five Star Chemicals), a no-rinse food grade sanitizer. Always use a bottle brush and try to expand your complete homebrew bottle line with exclusively grolsh style ceramic-top bottles. I have a two compartment sink with a main water line and secondary filtered water line. I set up my bottle washer on the main line with hot tap water, rinse the bottle and scrub with a bottle brush with a couple of sprays of saniclean, then rinse with filtered water. Use filtered water when diluting the Saniclean and you will rarely have a problem with your bottling.
Cheers,
Tim
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