Sterilising 30 bottles

[Beerbellybob]

Hello fellow brewers I'm bk to pester you with more annoying novice questions
I was gunna keg my bitter but I was givin a load of Adnams and hobgoblin bottles and my fiancée has kindly brought me some caps and a capper despite the fact she hates having all my kit laying around anyway has anyone got a decent strategy for removing labels and sterilising all of this would be a big help

 

[wilsoa1111]

soak it all in a big bucket overnight with cleaning solution apparently helps.... but basically a pain

might also want to check ur caps work on all the bottle types, some brewerys can be a PITA

 

[fbsf]

It's not so much the caps, but the capper. The twin-handled cappers don't work well on non-standard bottles (i.e. the ones with either a very short or enlarged bulge under the cap-lip).

Unfortunately Wychwood bottles have an enlarged bulge (Ahem!) which causes issues with the twin-handled cappers.

Bench cappers should have no such issues though.

Getting labels off can be simple or a right PITA depending on whose bottles they are.

San Miguel labels fly off at the merest hint of hot water, whereas Bath Ales and Thwaites are almost impossible to remove completely. If you have problems with the adhesive once the label has come off, a metal scourer and WD-40 normally does the trick, wash in soapy water afterwards.

 

[alster]

Hello fellow brewers I'm bk to pester you with more annoying novice questions
I was gunna keg my bitter but I was givin a load of Adnams and hobgoblin bottles and my fiancée has kindly brought me some caps and a capper despite the fact she hates having all my kit laying around anyway has anyone got a decent strategy for removing labels and sterilising all of this would be a big help

Paper labels, In the bath with hot soapy water allow to soak for half an hour to an hour scrape labels off with knife(be careful) paper into a bucket, put bottle back into bath, when finished scraping all labels off get any remaining bits off your soaking bottles with green scourer, rinse, sterilise, rinse again, drain, ready to use, rinse the bath out so you don't get bollocked.

Pastic/foil stickers, peel stickers, paint residue with vegetable oil, allow to soak in for an hour or two, large bucket of hot water, squirt neat washing up liquid onto residue wash in bucket with green scourer, rinse, sterilise, rinse again, drain, ready to use.

When bottling do a couple of 500ish ml plastic coke/pop type bottles, you can feel your plastic bottles firm as pressure builds inside, this way you know your bottles are carbonating. You can only guess with glass. Though I prefer a glass bottle generally.

Don't forget the delabeling/washing is only such a ball ache the first time, if you wash your bottles out with a little warm soapy water after drinking your brew, they're ready to sterilise straight away next time.

Bottling has quite a few advantages, its more easily transportable, providing your caps seal properly every bottle is fresh when opened, its much easier to put a few bottles aside to see how it improves given a month or two, its easier to give some to a friend or swap samples with another homebrewer.

I'm no expert only a novice myself but these are some of my thoughts, non of them original all pinched off here or from other homebrewers at work.

 

[Maffa]

I tend to sterilise my bottles in the bath, you can do the whole lot together and I have also found it takes limescale off which the Mrs was very pleased with.

 

[Beerbellybob]

Thanks I found but hobgoblin ones a pain when practising but have found rotating the bottle and pressing down again seals the lid nicely can I use a sink filled with steriliser more than once to do multiple batches of bottles ?

 

[rpt]

Use a no-rinse steriliser. Saves having to rinse several times. Bottle squirter and tree make it easier too.

 

[alster]

Use a no-rinse steriliser. Saves having to rinse several times. Bottle squirter and tree make it easier too.

Good advice I think that will be my next step.

 

[BreadMurderer]

I'm going to try no-rinse sanitisers once my VWP runs out. All I do is fill up the bath with warm water and a dose of the VWP, get all the bottles in there and make sure they have filled with the solution. Then I leave for at least 10 minutes. Clean them with a bottle brush, and by this point most of the labels come off easy peasy (some don't come off at all, I'm looking at you Dark Island and crew!). Drain bath and clean each bottle a few times with warm water. Job done.

 

[rpt]

I'm going to try no-rinse sanitisers once my VWP runs out. All I do is fill up the bath with warm water and a dose of the VWP, get all the bottles in there and make sure they have filled with the solution. Then I leave for at least 10 minutes. Clean them with a bottle brush, and by this point most of the labels come off easy peasy (some don't come off at all, I'm looking at you Dark Island and crew!). Drain bath and clean each bottle a few times with warm water. Job done.

But that's delabelling and cleaning, not sanitising. You should only sanitise a clean bottle.