Sterilising bottles

[MmmBeer]

I remember taking a few lectures on sterilisation whilst at uni, 30 odd years ago. I don't remember much of it, but the basic premise was, assume nothing gets killed below 100°C and the percentage killed per minute rose for every 10°C that it as taken above 100°C, so 110° for several hours or 200°C for a few minutes would achieve the same result. Commercial sterilisation tends to take place at 170°C, but the length of time depends on what proportion of the bacteria etc. you need to destroy.

In home brewing, yeast is able to overpower tiny colonies of other contaminants, which is why we sanitise rather than sterilise. MyQul's suggestion seems reasonable if you can't get a chemical sanitiser.

 

[Llamaman]

My method:
I have a plastic squirty bottle (the kind you use for watering plants) which I fill with Starsan solution.
A few squirts inside coats the entire bottle. I let them sit for a short while (whilst I do the other bottles), then going back to the first bottle, drain the Starsan out into a glass (*). The bottle goes upside down in a FastRack to drain.
A bottle of starsan looks pricey but it lasts for ages as you hardly use any at a time. I make up 2L of solution at a time with Tesco Ashbeck. Half goes into the sprayer, the other into a large glass jar (previously held fancy chickpeas) that I use to sterilise spoons, thermomenters etc.

Obviously the bottles need to be clean first, but you can save time by making sure they are clean before bottling day. I acheive this by only using bottles I've drunk myself (So I know they've only had beer in!), and rinsing bottles out immediately so there is no yeast or foam residue to dry inside. They are dried upside down and then capped with plastic closures or cling film (or the cap put back on for PET bottles) to prevent dust getting in.

(*) The glass full of Starsan can then be used to sterilise bottle caps. Waste not, want not...

 

[joe 90]

steep them in oxi then into the dishwasher at the running man setting it only takes about 11 minutes and the jobs done been doing this for years and had no problems

 

[An Ankoù]

Just as important. Make sure you've washed every last vestige of soap from inside the bottles.

 

[gingerneil]

I have one of those squirty bottle rinser things that I use with Brewsafe no rinse. Make up about a pint of that, pour some through the bottling stick, half into the bottle squirter and then work my way round the batch of bottles. A few pumps into each, and then left upright. Once the last is done I start again with the first just giving it a shake upside down to get any excess out. The remains of the brewsafe are then used for the caps - just chuck them in while I'm bottling, taken them out and let dry for a few mins before capping. Worked fine so far for me, and pretty quick.

 

[user 18729]

PBW, rinse, Starsan and cap. Then on brew day I just whip the bottle caps off, drain out any Starsan and fill

 

[MrL73]

Simply rinse the bottle once I've poured it out, and then on bottling day blast it with Starsan using one of those ferrari pump things and leave drain on a bottle rack. Served me well for what must be 20 odd cycles so far.

 

[GhostShip]

Simply rinse the bottle once I've poured it out, and then on bottling day blast it with Starsan using one of those ferrari pump things and leave drain on a bottle rack. Served me well for what must be 20 odd cycles so far.

Exactly what I do - no problems so far.