what is the best way to prepare/clean bottles before bottleing my brew ?

[Personal91]

what is the best way to prepare/clean bottles before bottleing my brew ?

i have a few put aside from bottles of beer/cider that i have drank but will speak to my neighbour and ask him to some aside aswell as i dont see the point in paying for bottles when they are simply put outside for the recycle, waste not want not :grin:

some people say you can just add hot water and others have said detergents etc

 

[chuffer]

Have you got a bottle brush? I use one with a bowl full of warm water (with mild, scentless washing liquid in), give them a scrub and a rinse then leave to dry. On bottling day I dip each bottle into a bowl of sanitizer (Star San) and rinse with boiled water shortly before filling

 

[Leon103]

I was with oxi clean, rinse well. I then use starsan in a bottle rinser and let them dry on a bottle tree

 

[Personal91]

Have you got a bottle brush? I use one with a bowl full of warm water (with mild, scentless washing liquid in), give them a scrub and a rinse then leave to dry. On bottling day I dip each bottle into a bowl of sanitizer (Star San) and rinse with boiled water shortly before filling

i have yet to get 1, i saw a bottle brush online at wilko after being told about theyre mexican tin being on sale for 8 squid, so i know what else to get from there now :)

 

[Personal91]

I was with oxi clean, rinse well. I then use starsan in a bottle rinser and let them dry on a bottle tree

does the starsan need rinsing out again after you use it + are bottles trees any good as the 1's iv seen online look a little flimsy - iv got 3 cats and the next door neighbours cat that like to do the circuit at home

 

[MickDundee]

There's no "e" in bottling, although one might make the process less tedious!

 

[chuffer]

does the starsan need rinsing out again after you use it

In theory no as long as the bottles are fully emptied of it and it's dried, but I do anyway tbh with boiled water

 

[Cqr]

I used starsan from the start of my brewing
I never let bottles/demijohns/ FV dry after starsan ing them
As my bottles fill with beer etc, the starsan bubbles get pushed out the top
You only need 30 seconds contact time with starsan

 

[DoctorMick]

Once I've finished a bottle I just rinse it a few times with warm water to clean, never done any more than that and never had a problem. Before bottling I use starsan with a bottle tree but I never worry about it drying and don't worry if there is a bit left in the bottle. I'm lazy but I've never had any problems.

 

[Leon103]

does the starsan need rinsing out again after you use it + are bottles trees any good as the 1's iv seen online look a little flimsy - iv got 3 cats and the next door neighbours cat that like to do the circuit at home

No it doesn't.

I love my bottling tree and couldn't think of bottling without it. It's pretty sturdy. I wouldn't imagine your bottles being sterile if the cats were around them.

 

[Robin54]

No it doesn't.

I love my bottling tree and couldn't think of bottling without it. It's pretty sturdy. I wouldn't imagine your bottles being sterile if the cats were around them.

Puuuuurrrr...fect

 

[Dutto]

After use, I always rinse out a bottle with tap water and put it on a bottle tree that holds 45 bottles. When the bottle tree is full I empty it and put the bottles in temporary store (big plastic boxes with lids).

At bottling time I recover the dry bottles, rinse them out with tap water, check that there is nothing inside (if there is I use a bottle brush to get rid of it) and put them back in the plastic box along with 10 litres of OxiChem/water mixture, and the bottle caps or flip-tops and a syphon.

I then wipe down the bottle tree with a paper kitchen towel soaked in OxiChem mixture, rinse out the bottles and put them on the bottle tree to drain; starting at the top so that the liquid draining out of the bottles isn't wetting any bottles further down.

Whilst the bottles are draining I take the syphon out of the OxiChem, use it to transfer the brew from the FV to a bottling bucket (actually a second FV), stir in the priming sugar (suitably dissolved in boiled water), clean and re-sterilise the syphon and move it to the bottling bucket.

By this time the bottles are fully drained and I lift them off nine at a time, fill them, cap them, wipe them down and put them in a nice warm place to condition for a few days before stacking them on the shelves.

AND ALL OF THE ABOVE IS WHY I LOVE MY KING-KEG AND MINI-KEGS! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

With regard to "waste not - want not" and saving bottles I am in the process of getting rid of a few dozen capped bottles because they are of different heights and changing the height of the bench-capper almost turns a "chore" into a "punishment"!

 

[BeerisGOD]

I think this is all I need to do to. as I clean the bottles well. I put a teaspoon of bleach in each one I use and fill with water. give it a shake and leave on the side till morning when I rinse them out thoroughly.
I sterilize again on bottling day then submerge them in sanitize just before bottling.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
I use WizzOxi to clean bottles. I also have BPW - similar results but much more expensive.
For "clean" bottles I pour the Oxi solution into a bottle and agitate, pour out and rinse thouroughly. For "dirty" bottles I soak in Oxi solution for 30 minutes.
I sanitise just before bottling, treating each bottle with a no-rinse sanitiser just prior to filling rather than sanitising a batch of bottles.

 

[Covrich]

Rinse your bottles are you poured your pint so they are clean come bottling day.. 20 seconds a pint on drinking day saves you a lot of time on bottling day.. then you can just sanitise the bottles, star san and stick on the tree or fill , you're away.

Have a spray bottle of star san too just being able to quickly spray a surface or inside a FV makes things so quick and easy

 

[Personal91]

No it doesn't.

I love my bottling tree and couldn't think of bottling without it. It's pretty sturdy. I wouldn't imagine your bottles being sterile if the cats were around them.

as i said i have never bottled yet so not a problem i have encoutered and what i ment was i was worried that theyd possibly go crashing into the tree or deciding it knock it over, because they can

 

[Personal91]

thank you all for all the help, i feel alot more prepared and think i will have a cleaning session before the great day of bottling to make it easier and less hassel. if anyones in and around london i wouldnt mind trading brews in the future etc

 

[Pope]

On bottling day, I rinse them out with tap water and rinse them on bottling tree. I then put them in the fan oven for 40 minutes at 120°C.

This probably takes longer than sanitising each bottle individually, but the idea of doing that makes me suicidal.

 

[Crymlyn]

Hi!
I use WizzOxi to clean bottles. I also have BPW - similar results but much more expensive.
For "clean" bottles I pour the Oxi solution into a bottle and agitate, pour out and rinse thouroughly. For "dirty" bottles I soak in Oxi solution for 30 minutes.
I sanitise just before bottling, treating each bottle with a no-rinse sanitiser just prior to filling rather than sanitising a batch of bottles.

hi how much wizzoxi per pint of water please
just starting brewing after many years
collecting every bottle I can at the moment before I make my first brew
its a wilko cerveza Mexican so don't want to keg it

 

[Bigcol49]

hi how much wizzoxi per pint of water please

Hi!
I would put a couple of scoops in 2 litres of hot water. Fill the bottle to about 1/3 capacity and give it a good shake. You can re-use the solution.
Colin