Cleaning Bottles

[aneray]

I have about 40 Grolsh bottles which I bought from a car boot sale years ago. I have just tried to clean a few out with no success. I have even gone to the lengths of adding a handfull of fish tank gravel to the hot soapy water in each bottle and giving it a good swirl around in the hope that I can remove the c##p from the bottom of each one. Now I am just about ready to either hang myself or hold my breath till I pass out !!!. I am wondering if any of you experienced brewers have a better solution.

Thanks

Neil :x :x

 

[corby_brewer]

you could always try bleach, leave the bottle to soak overnight and then give them a good rinse.

 

[aneray]

davesiv

thanks for that, will try it now.

 

[theboytony]

I got a few old demijons that hadn't been used in years and had turned green, filled them with bleach and water and left them a couple of days. Then a bit of scrubbing with a bottle brush and they came out perfect

 

[aneray]

theboytony

Thanks mate, just bought some domestos. That should do the trick !!

 

[aneray]

Thanks for your advice guys, the bleach is working a treat.

While opening one of the last bottles to be cleaned I noticed a hissing noise. Realising that it had some sort of brew in it I poured it into a glass and thought that I had to give it a try. It was a very strong stout with I think the addition of black treacle. I bought the bottles at least eight years ago, and the guy at the carboot said they were in his garage for at least four years, this must be a record.

Cheers

Neil

 

[Muddydisco]

Result :thumb: :

 

[Aleman]

Beats my 97 imperial stout by a couple of years :clap:

 

[Wez]

I have some bottles which have lasted almost 3 months now :thumb:

 

[commsbiff]

On the subject of cleaning bottles, I was wondering of I could do something with my Magners/Bulmers bottles. At the moment I'm getting bored of the sanitisation process and don't want to become too lax so that I risk infection.

I was wondering if the bottles would cope with boiling temperatures. My plan would be to up-end the bottles in a milk crate, and put the crate inside an up-turned plastic box. I would then feed steam in from my (multi-purpose) wallpaper steamer for approximately 5-10 minutes.

What do you think? :wha:

 

[aneray]

Thats not as silly as you think. On E bay somewhere there is a bottle steamer made out of copper pipe. It has six copper pipes sticking up with all their ends capped off. Each pipe has several small holes drilled into it, so when a steam wallpaper stripper is attatched and six bottles are placed on each tube, they all get a good boiling steam clean.

I have a picture of it on my computer for future reference but am yet to work out how to post it on here.

Cheers

Neil

 

[commsbiff]

The copper pipe idea sounds better than mine. Hmm - now to make one for 20/40 bottles :twisted:

 

[aneray]

Here is a link to a picture of the bottle steamer (if it works !!)

Cheers

Neil

 

[megajester]

I read that " Persistent stains can be removed by dropping a length of fine brass chain into the container with a little water and shake vigourously"

 

[commsbiff]

uncooked rice does the same abrasive job - it's also great for DJs where the brush just won't reach. :thumb:

 

[grinchy]

mine go in the dishwasher..... come out all sparkly clean and very hot, so kills off any germs. Never had a problem yet!

 

[commsbiff]

How many do you get in the dishwasher?

 

[corby_brewer]

i can get 32 in ours.

 

[aneray]

Wez

Thanks for sorting out that picture link. I will get around to learning how to post one but brewing is my main priority at the moment.

Cheers

Neil :thumb: :thumb:

 

[grinchy]

depends on bottle size, but anywhere from 26 to 30, and i can still put pans and cups in!