Bottle Sterilizing

[TryPA]

Hi folks, another couple of rookie homebrewer questions for you.

I am about to bottle my very first homebrew on Weds. I have two sorts of bottles, 20 x PET screw tops and about another 20 of 'reclaimed' glass bottles that I have washed and removed labels etc.

What do you suggest are the best way to sterilise my bottles? in terms of equipment I have a large secondary bucket, a steam cleaner that fires a jet of hire pressure steam (pic attached), a dishwasher, an oven and a pot of VWP...

PS, I also have about 5 different sorts of sugar (my wife is a baker) and was thinking of trying a few of each (demerera, soft brown, white granulated and some others). Are there any particular favourites?

 

[Maffa]

Hi there,

First up, I would ditch the steam cleaner, the dishwasher and the oven technique for the PET bottles, but that goes without saying :grin: For those I would go with the VWP.

The glass bottles on the other hand is really a question of preference/trial and error. Personally I've never used the oven to sterilise, but some postsers on here have and I dont think there have been any issues.
I have used the dishwasher before on its hottest setting (mine is about 80C) and not had any probs either, but you cant get a whole batch of bottles in one cycle.
I'm quite interested in the steam cleaner as I have one but not even thought of it, go ahead try it and post your results.

So to sum it up, the safest but the longest method is the good old VWP. Some people with have other opinions on dishwasher and oven or steam cleaner, but whatever works for you - as long as you can guarantee sterilisation. Do a few of each and see if anything fails.

 

[proost]

Hi folks, another couple of rookie homebrewer questions for you.

I am about to bottle my very first homebrew on Weds. I have two sorts of bottles, 20 x PET screw tops and about another 20 of 'reclaimed' glass bottles that I have washed and removed labels etc.

What do you suggest are the best way to sterilise my bottles? in terms of equipment I have a large secondary bucket, a steam cleaner that fires a jet of hire pressure steam (pic attached), a dishwasher, an oven and a pot of VWP...

PS, I also have about 5 different sorts of sugar (my wife is a baker) and was thinking of trying a few of each (demerera, soft brown, white granulated and some others). Are there any particular favourites?

If I have been given any glass bottles by anyone, I first rinse them out in hot water and then soak them to get the labels off. I then just stick them all in a spare FV with a strong bleach solution, I use about two cups, make sure you get bleach with no smell to it, and leave them overnight. Next day I rinse them in cold water and let them drain dry. Just before I store them I give them all 3 squirts with Starsan and swill them around.
To sterilize bottles I have just drank from, I immediately rinse them out, let them dry and squirt with Starsan as above.
As to sugar I have only ever used Brewing Sugar or Tescos Golden Sugar.

Hope this helps.

:thumb:

 

[TryPA]

Thanks!

yes I will VWP the PET bottles, but one question. When they are rinsed, do I need to use boiled water or is just tap water ok, worried I'd be undoing all my good work using untreated water?

I think am going to split the glass bottles between the dishwasher and the oven and mark each accordingly, to see what happens.

One question for you. Should I just run the dishwasher at its hottest setting with no detergent, I've seen a couple of people online who have put VWP in the washer itself.

Star San seems a popular product, but it's probably too late to get any for tomorrow. I will see if I can get hold of some for my next batch. I like the idea of no rinsing!

 

[TryPA]

On the steam cleaner, I think it might be useful to have it on and ready so I can give the caps, edges of bottles and siphon a quick blast of hot steam just before use, but probably more for peace of mind than anything.

But I will try a couple of bottles with just a normal wash and blast from the steam cleaner to see if that works and post result as you suggest.

 

[Maffa]

Tap water to rinse is just fine, you're never ever going to be surgical sterile, its just a process to kill as many nasties as possible.

With the dishwasher, make sure they are clean first and put them on the highest temperature setting with a spoonfull of VWP instead of detergent. It should even clean the dishwasher!

You should start to fill your bottles with beer as soon as possible though.

 

[Andysbrew]

I fill a washing up bowl full of hot water and add a couple of teaspoons of oxi clean, leave to soak an hour scrub labels off, give a good shake, rinse out with plenty hot water then onto draining board, then on bottling day I use my bottle washer with no rinse steriliser and put bottles onto my bottle tree........easy peasy!

 

[MisterFister]

I think I'm with Andysbrew on this one, Hot water and oxi clean, tehn a no rinse sanitiser like videne (normally available from the chemists with 24hours notice) or starsan. Heat sanitation works for a lot of things but has to be done correctly, so bottles are a big no no unless you have an industrial autoclave. >>>This is a good link on heat sterilsation<<<<. If you are going to do them in the oven (glass only of course) then something like 180C for 3 hours is required.

I never fail to have a quiet chuckle at the suggestion of a dishwasher using VWP :) really the number of jets you have in your spinning arms, and the diameter of the opening of a bottle, the odds of the inside of the bottle being cleaned is better than England's chance of getting out of the group stage of the world cup. Then add into the fact that at temperatures over 40C the active sanitising ingredient (chlorine) in VWP is driven out of solution and becomes useless. Yes, you may have rinsed the inside of the bottle well enough and the steam may well do the rest, to not show any issues in 2 months, but it is a numbers game and eventually you will get an infection.

I'm not a over particularly of chemical methods, but using the right chemicals and doing the bottles in small batches, does not require the use of the bath and several hours to clean and sanitise the bottles, especially if you squirt some no rinse sanitiser in and cap them with plastic caps or tinfoil. on bottling day remove the cap tip out the sanitiser and bottle . . . job jobbed.

 

[Hopping_Mad]

No rinse steriliser with my bottle washer, no messing!

Forget steam, might not get in all nooks and crannies.

Oven for glass bottles a possibility, but you have to warm up and cool slowly and get to a very high temp. Bottles with flaws have a higher chance of breaking when capping. I did it for my jam and chutney jars for ages but will be using no rinse steriliser for that too in future.

I'd do VWP for first few times. If you get hooked buy a bottle washer and no rinse - it's a doddle! I struggled rinsing with tap water as ours is almost as chlorine filled as the VWP!!! I made a batch with a Campden tablet for rinsing.

 

[joe 90]

I steep the bottles overnight in the bath with oxi cleaner the night before bottling then rinse them out with cold water and place in the dishwasher for the eleven minute cycle with no tablet it works for me every time:thumb:

 

[FatCol]

No rinse steriliser with my bottle washer, no messing!

Forget steam, might not get in all nooks and crannies.

Oven for glass bottles a possibility, but you have to warm up and cool slowly and get to a very high temp. Bottles with flaws have a higher chance of breaking when capping. I did it for my jam and chutney jars for ages but will be using no rinse steriliser for that too in future.

I'd do VWP for first few times. If you get hooked buy a bottle washer and no rinse - it's a doddle! I struggled rinsing with tap water as ours is almost as chlorine filled as the VWP!!! I made a batch with a Campden tablet for rinsing.

THIS!

However, if you want to use an Avinator for PET bottles, you will need to find/make a washer to fit over the pump shaft - I cut out the centre of an old CD and it does the trick perfectly. I use Starsan no rinse sanitiser, it's as cheap as chips and with the bottle tree and rinser it makes bottling a relatively painless experience. The total investment for a bottle tree, Rinser and large Starsan is about £50, but if you are going to be bottling regularly, you will be glad to make the investment.

FatCol :

 

[mcc111]

It's worth looking at some old discussions on this subject. About 6 months ago, this was debated in some detail. The general consensus is that steam cleaners do not get hot enough for long enough to sterilise properly. You'll be fine 9 times out of 10, but do you really want to have to throw out a whole batch to save a bit of time (hours of work and months of waiting to save half an hour)? VWP will do the job but it's a pain. If you've got glass bottles, it's well worth just shoving them in the dishwasher after use - whatever bottles you have make sure they're washed out immediately after use. Then, when you're going to bottle, use starsan. Also, invest in a bottle washer. You'll save time and you'll get perfect results every batch.

 

[mfj197]

THIS!
The total investment for a bottle tree, Rinser and large Starsan is about £50, but if you are going to be bottling regularly, you will be glad to make the investment.

FatCol :

You can also do without the bottle tree if required. Simply leave each bottle draining on the rinser prong whilst filling the preceding bottle. I end up sterilising with my right hand and filling with my left. Only possible with a bottle filling valve of course ...

Michael

 

[Chris2304]

I much prefer bottles to a keg, but filling them is a right faff.

I've found the old adage 'many hand make light work' works a treat. Rope in the wife, children, neighbour, burglar or whoever and it makes the whole process a lot less painful.

This is especially true when you are starting out and don't have all the kit.