bottle sterilising?? made easy??

[Brewmarc]

Just bottled my earliest brew :rofl: what a chore I havnt brewed anything this summer up till now so my bottles were in a bit of a state having been left in the shed:? run 40 bottles through the dishwasher to clean the outside then fully immersed in Brewclean solution overnight then did them again cos the colour of the solution went a horrible brown colour :sick:. Obviously didnt rinse a few bottles after use. :nono: after all this malarkey & nearly 2 hours inspecting the insides rinsing bottling & clearing the whole bombsight up afterwards :cry:finally job done :party: Got me thinking :wha: (Get a corny I can here you cry :rofl: ) Iv read a few posts on here recently with regard to this chore so was wondering weather this would be an easier way :wha: If I rinse the bottles out after use spray some Videne solution (been reading a bit about this stuff :geek: ) into the bottles & then cap with those cheap plastic bottle caps, when its time to bottle could I just drain & fill with the beer? how much videne solution would I need to make up for a 40 bottle batch? & Would this work

: Marc

 

[Aleman]

I don't store bottles damp, Whit I do is rinse after use and when I have a few, they get soaked in very hot oxyclean for 10 minutes before rinsing with hot water and being inverted to drain. . . . when dry they are covered with silver foil and stored. . . . when I want to bottle . . . rinse with a suitable no rinse sanitiser . . . and use.

If I had really mucky bottles to clean then I would use my 'Bottle Blast' bottle rinser to rinse a strong cleaner round them. . . . but it really is much easier to rinse when you open them . . .or possibly the morning after.

 

[mr_spin]

my routine is to rinse well with tap water within a day (ideally/usually straight away) of emptying beer for drinking, store upside down on bottle tree to allow water to drip out, then after a couple of days, cover bottle opening with foil until use. Whilst bottling, dunk bottles in videne solution, empty out and fill with fresh beer. Cap. Job done.

 

[ash]

BUY A CORNY!

In answer to your question about how much Videne solution it would take, I used to use about 1 litre as follows:

1) Fill one bottle with solution using a funnel
2) Fill another bottle the same way
3) After the first bottle has been in contact with solution for 30 seconds tip into another bottle
and so on and so forth.....

 

[Verb77]

I too have been wrestling with this problem of cleaning my bottles. I use 400ml Grolsch bottles, so when I do a 5 gallon brew that usually equates into 50 or so bottles that need cleaning.

After a lot of trial and error I completed my easiest setting up of my bottles to date.

What I did was clean my bottles up as I use them. Wash some in the dish washer and some by hand in the sink (It all depended on what my washing situation was that evening). Then with my bottles being the swing top type, after they had drained I closed the tops a put them back in the crates and under the stairs until ready to use.

On the day they were to be used, I lined them all together in the kitchen, opened them and with my newly purchased hand steam cleaner I filled with water with bottle sterilizing fluid in I gave each bottle a 10 second blast of steam. After letting the steam condense I gave each bottle a little rinse with cold water before filling with beer.

The whole process of getting the bottles out and ready for the beer to go in took less than 20 minutes. :drink:

 

[mr_spin]

On the day they were to be used, I lined them all together in the kitchen, opened them and with my newly purchased hand steam cleaner I filled with water with bottle sterilizing fluid in I gave each bottle a 10 second blast of steam. After letting the steam condense I gave each bottle a little rinse with cold water before filling with beer.

The whole process of getting the bottles out and ready for the beer to go in took less than 20 minutes. :drink:

I like the idea of using the hand steam cleaner to sterilize. Where did you get the cleaner from? :clap:

 

[Verb77]

I like the idea of using the hand steam cleaner to sterilize. Where did you get the cleaner from?

I've had mine a few years and paid about £30. But my partner said she has seen them in B&M for about £12, which makes me think i should buy a back up whilst its this price.

 

[Brewmarc]

I don't store bottles damp, Whit I do is rinse after use and when I have a few, they get soaked in very hot oxyclean for 10 minutes before rinsing with hot water and being inverted to drain. . . . when dry they are covered with silver foil and stored. . . . when I want to bottle . . . rinse with a suitable no rinse sanitiser . . . and use.

If I had really mucky bottles to clean then I would use my 'Bottle Blast' bottle rinser to rinse a strong cleaner round them. . . . but it really is much easier to rinse when you open them . . .or possibly the morning after.

Thanks A much better way. :
So clean bottles dry & store covered :thumb: What no rinse sanitiser would you reccomend? I was only thinking of Videne having read a few posts on here lately. :

 

[Aleman]

I use Videne . . . as I have copper in my automatic bottle rinser so can't use peracetic. If you had one of those pump action rinsers that sit on top of a bottle tree then peracetic would be an ideal choice. . . . . I'd use star san as well . . . but the foaming issue is a PITA as well . . . perhaps saniclean :whistle: :whistle:

 

[Brewmarc]

Thanks Aleman I like theidea of one of those plastic rinsing thingys :thumb: :

 

[Cussword]

I wash & rinse after emptying & invert to dry. The day I want to use, I steam them & my bottle tree to within an inch of their lives. I wouldn't be without a steamer now :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

I use Videne . . . as I have copper in my automatic bottle rinser so can't use peracetic.

I take it you cannot use peracetic with copper because of the acid dissolving the copper? Now that wouldn't be a good idea :nono: :nono:

:

AG

 

[Aleman]

I use Videne . . . as I have copper in my automatic bottle rinser so can't use peracetic.

I take it you cannot use peracetic with copper because of the acid dissolving the copper? Now that wouldn't be a good idea :nono: :nono:

Actually that's not really it . . . The problem is that the copper catalyses (Speeds Up) the breakdown of Hydrogen peroxide which is the biocide in peracetic acid. . . Then the Acetic Acid eats the sh*t out of the copper . . . and you get this really nice gungy green copper acetate sludge blocking everything up . . . still at least the coppers clean :whistle: :whistle: :whistle:

Starsan and saniclean are also not recommended for soft metals as the phosphoric acid they contain does very similar . . . but I find it to be nowhere near as bad as peracetic

 

[graysalchemy]

NICE :mrgreen: :mrgreen: