Cleaning/sterilising bottles - dishwasher?

[biggtime]

Morning all,
I'm about to bottle my first full mash beer (and will use the opportunity to give it a try too, as it's been conditioning for about 10 days now - slurp! ). A handy tip I heard from a pro-brewer the other day was to wash the bottles in a dishwasher on its hottest setting (presumably without a cleaning tablet added - the bottles have all been washed, but some time ago) because this removed the need to sterilise. Anyone else heard that? Seems like it would make a painful job a bit more straightforward...

Cheers!

 

[PD]

a dishwasher is very handy to clean bottles








they still need to be steralised before use.

 

[biggtime]

they still need to be steralised before use.

Interesting! This guy felt otherwise, so long as you used them straightaway - and for him it is the day job. But I'm cautious. Don't want to risk the precious brew...

 

[PD]

if they were used straight away after dishwasher you may get away with it 9 times out of 10

 

[biggtime]

Hmmm, that sounds too risky for my liking. May stick to the tried and tested method, in that case.

 

[oldbloke]

Given that my dishwasher sometimes leaves old yeast in bottles as it's tricky to get the squirty bits to go _everywhere_, I wouldn't risk using it for sanitising.
I use mine for an initial clean, then I sanitise and watch the stuff that comes out carefully.

 

[biggtime]

Given that my dishwasher sometimes leaves old yeast in bottles as it's tricky to get the squirty bits to go _everywhere_, I wouldn't risk using it for sanitising.
I use mine for an initial clean, then I sanitise and watch the stuff that comes out carefully.

Just to be clear, I was thinking of using the hot rinse purely for sanitising purposes, not cleaning. The bottles have all been washed already...

 

[winelight]

I wouldn't rely on the dishwasher. I soak bottles, rinse them out, visually inspect them and use a bottle brush if necessary. Then I dishwash them. The dishwasher alone doesn't get all the yeast deposits out, as has been said.

With one batch I tried not sanitising them. Every bottle was perfect, no infection at all.

Usually I do sanitise, but only with a quick rinse of dilute cheap bleach, and then rinse x2.

 

[winelight]

Just to be clear, I was thinking of using the hot rinse purely for sanitising purposes, not cleaning. The bottles have all been washed already...

Yes, that's absolutely fine.

 

[Aleman]

I just think it's a chuffin' expensive way to heat bottles up to what may OR MAY NOT sanitise the bottles sufficiently.

Simple squirt of appropriate no rinse sanitiser and its done . . I clean my bottles immediately after emptying (or the next morning), then put 5ml of starsan into the bottle and cap with a plastic reseal. Shake . . . put away until I'm ready to use, Uncap, tip out the starsan, fill, cap, done.

 

[mattrickl06]

Could you put say a spoonfull of vwp in the dishwasher? i presume that the rinse mode would get rid of any remaining sanitiser??

 

[winelight]

Yes, but I really don't think it's necessary.

 

[winelight]

I clean my bottles immediately after emptying (or the next morning), then put 5ml of starsan into the bottle and cap with a plastic reseal. Shake . . . put away until I'm ready to use, Uncap, tip out the starsan, fill, cap, done.

That sounds easier. If you could buy Starsan in Asda for 35p like you can cheap bleach, that would be what I would do, too! Maybe I should put Starsan on my Christmas list.

 

[mattrickl06]

That is a great idea - what do you use for the plastic reseal?

 

[oldbloke]

That is a great idea - what do you use for the plastic reseal?

I use the reseal lids sold by several homebrew shops, they're pretty cheap and re-usable. Except I have a few wine bottles which apparently have slightly oversized necks and have split the reseal caps. Have marked those bottles Not For Re-Use

But, you know, clingfilm would probably be fine.
When I've emptied a demi and washed it out, I give it a good swirl of VWP then stick wadded up kitchen roll in the neck. When I need it again it'd be pretty safe to rinse and use, but I always VWP again just in case.

 

[biggtime]

I just think it's a chuffin' expensive way to heat bottles up to what may OR MAY NOT sanitise the bottles sufficiently.

Agreed. I'm not a big fan of using energy unnecessarily. But with my current rather basic home setup this seemed like potentially a good time saving option. To be safe I'm going to stay old fashioned on it.