is there an easy way to clean bottles

[mm707]

hi,

Just pondering bottling my latest brew. I use about 50 - 60 previously rinsed bottles, fill them with water then add baby bottle sterilizer tablets. After half an hour I empty each one and then rinse again. It's a complete pain of a job.

Am I overdoing this ? , do they need rinsing out again after the sterlizer has been in them ?

many thanks

 

[Grumpydev]

Use a no rinse sanitiser and a "bottle rinser" (every home brew shop sells them) - the rinsers also attach to a bottle tree for draining too.

If you're going to order the drainer online though, bear in mind they are pretty damn big - took me by surprise when I saw one "in the flesh" :)

 

[Coups]

I try and bottle a brew every 4 weeks, and i do feel your pain my worst part is cleaning and sterilising 40 bottles-ish.

Here what i do; im in charge of cleaning the bathrooms in our house so when ive cleaned the bathroom with the bath in it, i fill it with luke warm water (not full but enough to allow the water to flow into the bottles and sink) then add 2-3 teaspoons of my sanitiser/cleaner. I usually do a batch of twenty bottles at a time. Put them under the water and try and get them all full. Leave to self clean for 10-15 mins then emtpy out, then throw the other 20 in. Whilst the other 20 are self cleaning, i use a little bit of water in each bottle, hand over the top and shake. Repeat twice then leave to dry. Same applies to the bottles in the bath. Never had an issue but it does still take about 30mins.

Hope thats helps.

 

[Bounce]

As Grumpydev says, the combination of a bottle tree, Star San and a vinator (a.k.a bottle rinser) makes the whole bottle sanitising process a doddle.

I also use a Bottle Blaster attached to the kitchen tap for cleaning out the bottles with water before I start sanitising.

 

[Fil]

Bottle Prep and filling is a major pita, +1 to the above advise no rinse sanitiser and a bottle tree are the best tools for the job,

if brewing traditional beers then a pressure barrel if you have space is a lot easier, just one thing to clean and sanitise, if your tastes are for lagers and more conditioned brews pressure barrels may not be upto maintaining the pressure needed condition those beers and turn out flatter versions.

real kegs cost an arm and a leg as you need the whole system, gas, temp control line and taps, but do give you the capacity to serve up beer at almost any level of condition.

so if your after brewing high conditioned beers then bottles are the only budget option, slinging in a few 2l pet bottles per batch will cut down the number of smaller bottles needed too and come in handy when you have a few folk round, you do need a big jug to decant out in one tho. you cant pour more than once from a bottle without pouring out sediment..

 

[MyQul]

I just rinse out bottles once I've poured a beer then drain. On bottling day I sanitise with starsan. Have just ordered a bottle rinser to use with the starsan on bottling day to make things easier.

 

[DoctorMick]

Use a no rinse sanitiser and a "bottle rinser" (every home brew shop sells them) - the rinsers also attach to a bottle tree for draining too.

If you're going to order the drainer online though, bear in mind they are pretty damn big - took me by surprise when I saw one "in the flesh" :)

Spot on, Usig the above has saved me about an hour on bottling day.

 

[GHW]

My starsan technique was to put 5L Of starsan mix in a spare fv, fill 5 or 6 bottles at a time. By the time you have filled the 5th or 6th, the starsan has been in the first one long enough, tip that into a new bottle and repeat until they're all done. Without any special equipment beyond a jug and funnel I got 45 500mls done in about an hour. Was still tedious mind.

 

[Brewski]

I have just collected 45 bottles for my first brew - some from pubs, all with labels so no shortcuts for me.

I plan on soaking them all overnight in a large tub full of Oxy & water to remove the labels and give them a really good clean (I've already experimented with a couple of bottles and it worked a treat), and then thoroughly rinse each one individually, possibly with hot water. Ho-hum.

On bottling day I'll be using Starsan in a humidifier spray-thing to spray inside all the bottles and leaving them to drain before filling them with beer. I don't have a bottle tree-thing so I'm currently trying to think of a Heath-Robinson alternative.

 

[Ale]

I use the bath method as well. Clean the bath, fill it with warm water and sanitizer. Then chuck all the bottles and caps in and make sure they are completely full of water with no air. Churn them around a bit and leave them for 10-15 mins. Then pull the plug and run the tap. Rinse each one once or twice and leave to dry, which can be in the (now sterilized) bath overnight. Then I thought, sod that, I'll just use a pressure barrel in future.

 

[GHW]

Brewski, for draining, I just leant the bottles upside down in the crate I was intending to store them in. There was one calamitous moment when they went over like a domino chain but otherwise it worked ok. There was some starsan liquid in the crate but it dried off ok. Also by the time I had done all 45 all the foam had come out, though from people's experience on here the foam doesn't seem to matter.

The sanitised crate lid worked as a useful tray to put all the sanitised bits and bobs too

 

[Coups]

I use the bath method as well. Clean the bath, fill it with warm water and sanitizer. Then chuck all the bottles and caps in and make sure they are completely full of water with no air. Churn them around a bit and leave them for 10-15 mins. Then pull the plug and run the tap. Rinse each one once or twice and leave to dry, which can be in the (now sterilized) bath overnight. Then I thought, sod that, I'll just use a pressure barrel in future.

Haha I'm thinking the same for half as much hassle

 

[mm707]

Ordering a bottle rinser, meanwhile it's bottles in the bath until then.

Many thanks

 

[Covrich]

I fill my second FV (which also is my bottling bucket) I put 6 bottles in at at a time pulling the 1st one out as i put the last one in.. then leave to dry on the dyring tree and then fill once I have transferred my beer into the now empty and sanitised FV with priming solution in.

Once I consume a bottle I normally run hot water through the tap and shake it (with hand over the top) I even run it through the dish washer upside down which cleans then really good actually (although I do rinse them again after)

 

[mook1979]

Use a no rinse sanitiser and a "bottle rinser" (every home brew shop sells them) - the rinsers also attach to a bottle tree for draining too.

If you're going to order the drainer online though, bear in mind they are pretty damn big - took me by surprise when I saw one "in the flesh" :)

I received my bottle rinser and bottle tree last week. I was as surprised when I saw the base of the bottle tree. Now that I have cleaned a batch of bottle, I regret not ordering it a year ago. I wasted so much time and sanitiser.

 

[mook1979]

I always triple rinse each bottle when I open it(to drink the previous batch), so they do not need to be washed on bottling day. Prior to getting the bottle rinser and bottle tree, I would make up a 6L batch of starsan, pour that into a large plastic tub. One side of the tub would be lifted by placing a random plastic food container from the closest kitchen cupboard. I would then put around 6 bottles into the tub so that the bottom two bottles are submerged in starsan. I would wait a few minutes, then take the bottom bottle, empty it and place it on the side. Another bottle is then placed at the top of the tub. As I remove the next bottle, the rest rolls down and I have a little factory line going which worked fine. I would then give each bottle an upside down shake when I'm bottling to get rid of the last couple of drops of starsan. This process would take just under an hour. It now takes about 15-20 minutes with the new equipment and I can clean all bottles with less than 1L of starsan solution.

 

[Fil]

Once I consume a bottle I normally run hot water through the tap and shake it (with hand over the top) I even run it through the dish washer upside down which cleans then really good actually (although I do rinse them again after)

+100
dried up caked on sediment is a real pita to clean out, though a laundry oxi soak should sort it

if sampling a few with the lads a bucket of water to dunk the empties in helps too..

 

[hambrook]

I acquired 150+ bottles, including 4 cases of old brown Grolsch bottles over xmas. I rinsed them all whilst peeling the labels off. I then blasted them all in a 70 degrees 2 hour dishwasher cycle.

I have discared the original orange Grolsch bottle seals and ordered new black seals. Prior to bottling the next batch I plan to use the rinser and tree (newly arrived) to power some Star San no rinse on bottling day.

Fingers crossed that should do it!

 

[clibit]

Rinse every bottle when I pour it.

Wash these in clean soapy water whenever I wash up. Don't have a dishwasher.

Store in crates with lids.

Use bottle rinser and starsan on bottling day. Takes no time and a small amount of steriliser.

 

[Wolfracer]

Sink full of water with a Milton tablet. Fill bottle with a plastic jug. Put on draining board. Repeat untill db is full. Empty by shaking back into sink. Put to one side. Repeat till all done. Then just a quick pick up and invert to get the last drops out. Job done.
Its as important though to make sure they are clean after you have poured your beer. I swill them.out 3 times straight away, then spray a tiny amount of anti bac kitchen spray in and rinse.