Cleaning bottles

[samnorfolk]

Can someone run through how they actually clean and sterilise their bootless for beer? I use StarSan to sterilise but how do you clean the bottles beforehand?

Cheers

 

[Cwrw666]

Every time I drink a bottle of homebrew i wash the bottle out to get rid of the yeast ( just shaking with a bit of water inside a few times), and use a bottle brush to clean the inside sides of the bottle - if you don't use a brush then dead yeast deposits will build up on the inside walls of the bottle. Then at bottling time I rinse out all the bottles with boiling water (carefully! - ie. fill them really slowly or they'll crack) - and that's it. No cleaning agents, no starsan, no nuffing.:lol: Works for me.

 

[Rincon]

i do more or less the same as Cwrw666, as soon as i finish a beer i wash out the bottle, give it a shake to make sure its clean inside.

When it comes to bottling i might give it a quick rinse just to make sure but only if its been standing a long time.

Then sterilise as normal (which is still the bit i hate the most about the whole brewing process)

 

[Racinsnake]

Petty much the same, rinse the yeast out after pouring but I'm a VWP man.
Swill out with VWP solution rinse twice stand to dry, then bottle.

 

[wheazy_joe]

Like the other guys I rinse the bottle out straight after I pour it (even before I take a drink of the beer, takes great willpower that does!). Basically half fill with hot water, hand over the top and give it a good shake. Repeat three to four times and a final all over rinse with cold water.

Bottles are then put away in a box until they are ready to get refilled.

On bottling day I will give the bottles a quick rinse with tap water to remove any dust etc. then double dunk and empty with no rinse solution and straight to bottle tree to drip.

Hope this helps

 

[ManseMasher]

^ +1 ^ to what wheazy_joe says. That's all mine get too.

 

[RZH]

Pour the beer.
Fill with hot water and shake to remove any stubborn yeast deposits.
Soak them in hot water (to remove labels 'cause I like to make my own).
Dishwasher (no cleaning products, just a hot rinse cycle). This seems to get them really clean.
Put in plastic storage boxes.

On bottling day I fill my bottling bucket with Star San solution.
I fill each bottle with it and keep it in there until immediately before filling with beer. I then pour the Star San back into my storage container ready to reuse and get the beer straight in.

 

[LarryF]

I rinse and shake them when drinking them to remove the yeast, on the day fill with Oxy and warm water and a quick brush, then a rinse with milton and a rinse with water and they're good to go.

 

[Leon103]

I was after every use and put back on the shelve in the garage. Before refilling I leave soak in very hot water, swill out and then steralise.

 

[Labowner]

Steep in hot water with oxy for a half hour or so (longer if they need labels off) bottle brush and rinse well day before bottling. Then just before bottling rinse with star san.
Only done one brew but that's the method I followed and intend to keep ;-)

Edit: Forgot to add I rinse/shake the bottles with water immediately after pouring to remove sediment/yeast. (that night anyway)

 

[Fore]

Rinse well after emptying. Store upside down. Before bottling, brush, with Oxi-clean solution. Rinse well. Starsan.

 

[Fil]

fwiw i use ex brewbuckets and trubs and fill the bottles with a warn oxy solution to soak for 10-15 mins before rinsing 2-3 x under the tap and standing upside down in clean crates.

to sanitise with starsan i use a trigger spray bottle 2-3 x squirts with it set to spray mist and i let any liquid run out before sitting upright in the crate with either its own stopper (grolsh flip tops) or a sanitised cap sat on its top, if lumping about use sanitised foil to cap em as the crown caps will just fall off.