Bottle washing hacks

[Beer Please]

So, it can’t just be me that thinks the bottle washing/sterilising part of brewing is tedious…Theres just so much faffing about and never enough space for bottles!
Currently wash the bottles in Chemsan Foaming No rinse sanatiser and then rinse out with water. A bit belt a braces I know but a bit anal about it .
A bottle tree will speed things up but just wondering how other members go about it.
cheers

 

[trummy]

Fill the bottles with water then add a little VWP - leave an hour and rinse - I have no more room for more equipment.
Saving as many flip tops as I can and I use recycled pop bottles, its the capping that I find a pain

 

[MickDundee]

Rinse them as soon as you’ve drank them, then on bottling day stick them in the dishwasher without any detergent.

 

[Harbey]

Biggest tip from me would be to give the bottles a good rinse immediately after pouring. Get all the yeasty stuff out and then just store them with a loose cap or a bit of tin foil over the top. Sanitise on bottling day with a no rinse solution and your good to go. I would also say investing in a bottle tree is money very well spent.

 

[crowcrow]

Move to corny kegs, made my life so much easier - love it - washing once every 35 pints is simple compared to bottling.

 

[Begbie]

+1 for a bottling tree, and no need to rinse after Chemsan - just hang the bottle on the tree and let it drain.

 

[Agentgonzo]

I find that just rinsing after use isn't quite sufficient. I can still see a small amount of debris (probably yeast) clinging to the inside of the bottle. I need a few scrubs with a bottle brush as well as rinsing after use. Then I let them drain and store in a cupboard.

Rinse out with starsan just before filling

 

[The Baron]

I think most brewers do the rinse out as soon as poured so that they are reasonably clean.
This makes it a simple rinse out then I use the bottle washer that squirts starsan up into the bottle and drain on a bottle tree.
Ps I use Cornies too now so my bottle washing equipment is virtually redundant. I only need to use 2 or 3 bottles for any possible leftover after kegging so just wash and sanitise manually for those few bottles

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I pretty much do as above, rinsing after use then chemsan prior to filling, draining on a bottle tree. There's little point rinsing tbh after using the chemsan, so don't bother with that.
For what it's worth, I went to kegging mainly as I hated dealing with bottles, now I am part kegging, part bottling as I actually find cleaning kegs a bit annoying, but that's probably because I missed something.
I love kegging, but I also love having 40 bottles neatly lined up with their shiny new caps on. Don't know why, but that's the most satisfying part of brewing for me. Probably says something about the quality of my beer

 

[Agentgonzo]

I used to keg the beer (plastic, not corny) but never wanted to get into CO2 dispensing. ASA result, I just can't get through a keg quick enough before it starts to go off, so bottles are my only real option

 

[MrRook]

I rinse the neck of of each bottle after use, then swish soapy water in it at dish washing time and rinse the bejabbers out of it again and place it in here. On bottling day a quick dose of starsan and I'm ready to go.

 

[Nicks90]

Where did you get those bottle trays?
They are awesome!!!!!!!

 

[Nottsbeer]

I do as previous posters note....rinse after drinking, put old cap back on then no-rinse squirt before bottling. I haven't bought a bottling tree yet....you can use the dishwasher tray if empty. Best purchase was a bench based capper, very quick and handles different sized bottle necks.

 

[MrRook]

Where did you get those bottle trays?
They are awesome!!!!!!!

There called FastRacks. I got them from Morebeer. I have no idea if they ship international or if any shops in your neck of the woods import them. I only have two which cover my three gallon batch needs.

 

[RichardM]

So, it can’t just be me that thinks the bottle washing/sterilising part of brewing is tedious…Theres just so much faffing about and never enough space for bottles!
Currently wash the bottles in Chemsan Foaming No rinse sanatiser and then rinse out with water. A bit belt a braces I know but a bit anal about it .
A bottle tree will speed things up but just wondering how other members go about it.
cheers

The Chemsan is for sanitising, not washing. You need to wash/rinse the bottles after use. You may be able to just rinse them or you may need to use a bottle brush and a cleaner, depending on what state they are in.

Then when you are ready to bottle your next batch use the Chemsan to sanitise them and don't waste your time (and water) rinsing them.

 

[DuncR]

I use swing type bottles (as used for grolsch) for the last few pints after kegging? Anyone have any issues/ideas with respect to these types of bottles?

 

[roboto]

I use swing type bottles (as used for grolsch) for the last few pints after kegging? Anyone have any issues/ideas with respect to these types of bottles?

No issues so far. I love how easy they are to seal compared to having to cap a bottle (although having a good quality capper helps a lot in that regard).

If they're clean I just add a little chemsan, close and shake. Then pour them out just before filling.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Swing tops are great. I use them all the time

 

[Clint]

I'm bottling tomorrow. I just scrubbed out about 50 bottles and put the syphon etc in an oxi bath.
So tedious.

 

[Nottsbeer]

There called FastRacks. I got them from Morebeer. I have no idea if they ship international or if any shops in your neck of the woods import them. I only have two which cover my three gallon batch needs.

They look good. Found them on Amazon FASTFERMENT FRBB-24 FastRack Beer Bottle Drying Rack, Food Grade BPA Free HDPE Plastics, White : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen