Dishwasher

[vince g]

Evening all. So being a returning brewer, I've actually not done any brewing (other than cider) in our new house, which we've been in for 10 years now. The new house had an inbuilt dishwasher which we have just replaced as it's finally given up the ghost.

My first beer brew in the "new" house is ready for bottling. It's a Brewferm Tripel kit, so fairly simple stuff but my old notebook said it was good when I did it all those years ago and I love Tripel so I thought I'd re-start with that.

It's being bottled in 33cl stubby bottles. I thought using the dishwasher would be the best way of cleaning them thoroughly, but does the inside of a bottle get a good clean in a dishwasher? Also, I presume I shouldn't use any detergent? Probably a daft question but any advice would be gratefully received.

 

[DocAnna]

Generally it's the rinse aid that's the problem rather than the detergent, which gives that 'fresh' smell and 'urggh' taste on contact. Though on glass it may be neither. The main benefit from the dishwasher is the temperature. The cleaning efficacy through the neck of the bottles will be limited but the sustained temperature will effectively mean the bottles are able to be use direct from the dishwasher- cover with a bit of foil or the whole lot in a box/crate with a bit of clingfilm till using. The dishwasher can't manage a lot of bottles so you are probably better washing with plain washing up liquid then either rinsing with plain tapwater or starsan.

 

[Larse]

Dishwasher is pretty ineffective for washing inside bottles. You can get attachments that spray inside the bottle, but they're expensive. My tried and trusted system was to immerse the bottles in a bin (fermenting or even bigger) filled with a weak bleach solution. Leave overnight, rinse in another bin full of clean water and then sterilise when you're going to use them.

I say this as having tried the dishwasher method, checked inside a couple of bottles, saw they weren't clean and binned them in the bleach solution. Lots of unsavoury stuff floated to the top.

 

[vince g]

OK thanks both of you. I might do a mix of both suggestions: soak the bottles in a sterilising solution in a bin first, rinse them, then put them through a quick high temperature cycle in the dishwasher with the rinse aid disabled, abort the programme half way through and leave in the hot dishwasher to dry.

 

[Larse]

OK thanks both of you. I might do a mix of both suggestions: soak the bottles in a sterilising solution in a bin first, rinse them, then put them through a quick high temperature cycle in the dishwasher with the rinse aid disabled, abort the programme half way through and leave in the hot dishwasher to dry.

Not a sterilising solution, a cleaner. Bleach is what I use since it's cheap and easy to come by, but you can use other cleaners like Chemclean or even an oxi cleaner (make sure it has no perfumes).

I only sterilise just before use.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I would make sure the bottles are physically clean of crud with hot water and bottle brush.
Then into hot pbw to soak, further scrub if needed.
ONLY once clean can you think about sanitise / sterilise.
That's either chemicals starsan/ equivalent shake and drain, some dishwashers have a medical / health cycle this is normally hotter and the heat / steam will sanitise pretty well. You can also put the bottles in the oven to sanitise / sterilise.

I just shake with starsan and then invert to drain on the old dishwasher drying rack and then fill them.