# Cleaning Bottles?



## sid

Hi all.

I was wondering how many of you here don't steralize your bottles for your home brew. 
I personaly clean my bottles out with bottle wash and brush and then stand a small amount of steralizer in each bottle and leave for an hour or two, then rinse out twice and there are ready to go. This is with plastic bottles. For glass I wash them, then cover the tops with foil and leave them in an oven for 1 hour at 170F.

I know people that Just wash the plastic bottles (bottle wash) and don't use any steralizer on them. I have another mate that just used to rinse out the glass bottles and use them again. I have never noticed any difference between the beers, certainly no infections at all.

Makes you wonder how much cleaning is needed sometimes.


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## Barramundi

there no such thing as too much cleaning ,,,


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## Gavo

Barramundi said:


> there no such thing as too much cleaning ,,,


+1 here. I rinse all of my bottles as they are used then rinse and sanitize on bottling day also. No sense on risking a brew to a few minutes of extra work.


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## Adamt

I never bother to sterilise my bottles, I sanitise.

Especially using glass bottles, you're silly not to at least sanitise, one little nasty is all it takes and you have a beer powered grenade.

Eventually one of your mates will get caught out, it may just be a bad bottle, they may be lucky to detect it early, or they may cop a barrage of flying shards of glass. Wayne Carey eat your heart out.


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## buttersd70

Rinse with water when emptied (unless I forget, then it needs a bloody good soak. If that happens, i wash with either percarbonate or pink stain), then no-rinsed when bottled. Use a no-rinse of some sort, whatever takes your fancy. Rinsing defeats the purpose of sanatising, anyway.

The one and only exception I have to this is when I bottle out of the keg to take beer out. If it's going to be consumed within a day or 2 after bottling, I just rinse.


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## rwmingis

buttersd70 said:


> Rinse with water when emptied (unless I forget, then it needs a bloody good soak. If that happens, i wash with either percarbonate or pink stain), then no-rinsed when bottled. Use a no-rinse of some sort, whatever takes your fancy. Rinsing defeats the purpose of sanatising, anyway.



+1 for the rinse after use. If you get a furry patch growing on a bottle it's hard to clean, and if you brush it, you risk just sharing it with other bottles you brush. I rinse after each use. I also use that bottle and carboy jet washer from the US (great time saver) and blast each bottle with hot tap water. Then I I put a swig or two of Iodaphor solution in each bottle (really helpful to use a small funnel here) and shake the shyte out of it. I know Iodaphor is no rinse, but I don't want to wait for it to drip dry, so i fill my HLT with boiling water and rinse each bottle out with boiling water one last time. No brushing required, and doesn't take too long and good results.


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## Osangar

I always wash my bottles after use at sink. 

Then on bottle day, I dip and shake in some pink stuff mixed in a bucket and then wash out with water using the little bottle attachment to the tap. 

Then give it a squirt or three with the no rinse sanitiser using the bottle tree attachment.

Works a treat, so far so good.


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## BungalowBill

I use neopink and rinse, until i can get to the local HBS which is 50 od klms away till I can get some no rinse stuff that will do the lot kegs bottles and all.


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## kevo

What sort of cantact time does the pink sanitiser need?

Is the pink sanitiser at Big W the same as the sterophos(?) available at HBS?


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## sid

I use sodium meta bisulphate for my steralizing, i noticed on the container it says not to rinse, but there is one hell of stink from this stuff, so I have always rinsed out after. 
Is not rinsing safe with this stuff, that is it wont affect my beer?


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## wambesi

Brewing Bob said:


> +1 for the rinse after use. If you get a furry patch growing on a bottle it's hard to clean, and if you brush it, you risk just sharing it with other bottles you brush. I rinse after each use. I also use that bottle and carboy jet washer from the US (great time saver) and blast each bottle with hot tap water. Then I I put a swig or two of Iodaphor solution in each bottle (really helpful to use a small funnel here) and shake the shyte out of it. I know Iodaphor is no rinse, but I don't want to wait for it to drip dry, so i fill my HLT with boiling water and rinse each bottle out with boiling water one last time. No brushing required, and doesn't take too long and good results.



Similar to my methods, after finishing bottle quick rinse a few times with hot water to clean the bottle and let dry.
Once dry it gets stored out in the brewing cupboard until bottling time, then it gets a shot of iodophor, shake the hell out of it, drip dry and then filled 10mins or so later (when I get to it).


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## Effect

would using starsan work?

Coopers PET bottles we are talking about here, could I rinse after use and give a little soak with starsan and no rinse before bottling? Would that be sufficient?


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## wambesi

Phillip said:


> would using starsan work?
> 
> Coopers PET bottles we are talking about here, could I rinse after use and give a little soak with starsan and no rinse before bottling? Would that be sufficient?



Sure I do the same procedures for PET and glass.
Starsan is no rinse too I'm pretty sure when mixed right so no need to rinse after and soak for long either.


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## fraser_john

Starsan is an excellent product and you can save and re-use it over and over again! Just make sure that the bottles are absolutely clean, if not, the starsan will not be re-usable as it goes a bit funky after a while.


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## Peaka

I normally just rinse with hot water after drinking the contents then drain and put the lid back on. I then rinse again with hot water before filling the bottles again...I have also skipped that step before as well and the beer has still been normal.
So the only thing I sterilise is the fermenter before I use it.


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## raven19

+1 for rinse at sink straight after use.
Then on brewday I sanitise then rinse in hot water, then bottle the beer.
Cheers.


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## Pollux

I normally pour the beer into a glass and then in an act of laziness just throw some tap water in (roughly 3-4cms worth) and then they sit on the windowsill until the morning when I shake to loosen the yeast, rinse and then rinse again...

On bottling day I use the no-rinse that is made up in my bulk priming carboy to sanitise and then I fill...

Works for me.


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## wambesi

Pollux said:


> I normally pour the beer into a glass and then in an act of laziness just throw some tap water in (roughly 3-4cms worth) and then they sit on the windowsill until the morning when I shake to loosen the yeast, rinse and then rinse again...



Must admit this happens more often than not with me too, I usually get to them unless the other half gets sick of it and rinses them first.


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## white.grant

sid said:


> I use sodium meta bisulphate for my steralizing, i noticed on the container it says not to rinse, but there is one hell of stink from this stuff, so I have always rinsed out after.
> Is not rinsing safe with this stuff, that is it wont affect my beer?




Hi Sid,
You should always rinse sodium met, but then its better not to use it anyway. Sodium met is know to have a range of health related issues relating to its fumes, especially for asthmatics and its usefulness as a sanitiser is actually suspect.

No rinse sanitisers are much more convenient and the Likes of Iodophor and starsan are well worth using and safer to boot.

cheers

grant


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## Gavo

Grantw said:


> No rinse sanitisers are much more convenient and the Likes of Iodophor and starsan are well worth using and safer to boot.



+1 for the no rinse sanitizers, I used Starsan for the first time today and it made bottling sooo much faster by not having to rinse the bulk priming cube, bottles and any other equipment.


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## Cube

There has been no mention of bleach and vinegar here ( in this thread ) thus far. I use these exclusively for fermenter, bottles, scissors etc, and also save the mix in 2 ltr bottles for the odd quick clean of whatever.

Bleach as a sanitiser is good, bleach and vinegar together is the best sanitiser I believe. No rinse, cheap and easy to use and source home brand. This kills anthrax for gods sake.

10mls to 5 ltr water of each is the recipe for no rinse. Just dry on a rack. In saying that, I am using 10 ltrs water to about 8 mls of bleach and vinegar on my bottles now.

Reason for this is when I 'acquire' my glass stock I spend a bit of time:

Hot water bath with a smidgen of suds to remove label and glue, then
Bleach and vinegar mix for 10 mins, then
dry and store
brew day - bleach and vinegar at no rinse.

Just emptied bottle of beer - triple rinse hot water and stored.
then just 10 mins no rinse prior bottling.

I treat both glass and plastic the same, except for the hot bath for removing labels.

Oh - NEVER EVER mix bleach and vinegar together, always mix one to water, swirl, then the other. If you do, it may well be the last bottles you clean for some time, if you're lucky


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## Pollux

I use bleach and vinegar, 1.6ml per litre....

No issues so far...


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## kevo

IIRC the bleach/vinegar method works because the pH changes so dramatically that bugs etc can't handle it?

I had thought that you needed to rinse with the bleach/water mix first, then with the vinegar.

Would there be the neccessary change of pH if the whole lot was mixed up together? Or does it not actually make any difference?

Kev


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## Goofinder

From what I remember, it's the bleach that does the work, but adding the vinegar lowers the pH so that it can work more effectively. 

You just need to make sure your stuff is _clean_ first, then use the bleach/water/vinegar solution (contact time 30 seconds).


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## Tim

Bleach and Vinegar???
Seriously, its cheaper to buy a 100mL bottle of iodophor which will last you for over a year (and its about $10). The benefits are you also do not have to rinse.
If you are going to bother spending money on quality ingredients the last thing you should be scrimping on is a sanitiser.


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## Cube

Tim said:


> Bleach and Vinegar???
> If you are going to bother spending money on quality ingredients the last thing you should be scrimping on is a sanitiser.



:huh: 
:blink:


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## buttersd70

I didn't mention it by name, I could see a flame war happening, but when I said no rinse, I was referring to bleach vinegar. 1.6ml/L as someone already said.30 second contact time. No rinse at this dilution. 1250L of sanitiser available from 2L of each at a cost of about $3.00, and considering that it only needs a little in, and is swirled around and discarded, thats a lot of sanatiser.

and in response to 


> If you are going to bother spending money on quality ingredients the last thing you should be scrimping on is a sanitiser.



well, if its good enough for Charlie Talley its good enough for me. And as far as sanitisation of the bottles is concerned, Talley's opinion, stated in his basic brewing podcast was:


> _James Spencer:_ So if someone cleans well enough, in theory, then you wouldn't have to sanatise?
> _Charlie Tallie:_ Its recommended, but it's not necessary. Absolutely. Its an insurance policy, basically. You're taking out a little bit of insurance on how well you cleaned.


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## Back Yard Brewer

sid said:


> Hi all.
> 
> I was wondering how many of you here don't steralize your bottles for your home brew.
> I personaly clean my bottles out with bottle wash and brush and then stand a small amount of steralizer in each bottle and leave for an hour or two, then rinse out twice and there are ready to go. This is with plastic bottles. For glass I wash them, then cover the tops with foil and leave them in an oven for 1 hour at 170F.
> 
> I know people that Just wash the plastic bottles (bottle wash) and don't use any steralizer on them. I have another mate that just used to rinse out the glass bottles and use them again. I have never noticed any difference between the beers, certainly no infections at all.
> 
> Makes you wonder how much cleaning is needed sometimes.




Rinse after drinking, stack into a crate, remove from crate, rinse with water and check there are no specks of crap inside, bottle, condition and drink. Then start again. I very rarely have any problems. Yep slack I know, but it works for me.

BYB


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## kevo

Charlie Tally invented Starsan?


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## buttersd70

kevo said:


> Charlie Tally invented Starsan?



The one and the same.Invented 5.2 , pbw and a bunch of other stuff


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## kevo

And still recommends bleach and vinegar.

Not bad.


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## buttersd70

kevo said:


> And still recommends bleach and vinegar.
> 
> Not bad.



actually, he reccomends starsan :lol: , but states that bleach and vinegar is good. I read a transcript of another interview where they asked him why use starsan if bleach and vinegar is so good, or words to that effect. His response was that the foaming action in the starsan allows it to get into nooks and crannies that the bleach/vinegar solution can't. (and I supose that logic could be applied to any non foaming agent.)


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## Jamz

+1 for bleach vinegar solution 

For the how's and why's of why its great, get it from the horses mouth. This podcast interviews the creator of Starsan about his product and he spends half his time talking about bleach and vinegar instead: http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr03-29-07.mp3


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## staggalee

Back Yard Brewer said:


> Rinse after drinking, stack into a crate, remove from crate, rinse with water and check there are no specks of crap inside, bottle, condition and drink. Then start again. I very rarely have any problems. Yep slack I know, but it works for me.
> 
> BYB



If I might add to that, I thought my bottles were always clean but they had a very very thin buildup of "film" inside that was almost impossible to detect, just from reusing the same bottles for years.
About 30g. sodium percarbonate in each bottle then filled with very hot water , left to stand a few hours and you could see the brown film stripped and frothing out the top of the bottle.
Prior to using it, I would have bet money on how clean those bottles were, so thanks to whoever gave me the tip a couple of weeks ago re. the sod.percarb. :super: 

staggalee.


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## PostModern

staggalee said:


> About *30g.* sodium percarbonate in each bottle



Are you sure about that?


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## staggalee

PostModern said:


> Are you sure about that?



Supplier said about 50g. per litre of water.
Why do you ask?

staggalee.


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## PostModern

Because I use about 2 tablespoons in a 30L fermenter and it works really well. A whole ounce per bottle sounds like a waste.


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## drsmurto

staggalee said:


> Supplier said about 50g. per litre of water.
> Why do you ask?
> 
> staggalee.



Supplier wants you to buy more....

5g/L would be overkill IMO.


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## staggalee

DrSmurto said:


> Supplier wants you to buy more....
> 
> 5g/L would be overkill IMO.



Crikey, no wonder they look cleaner than new now.  
I`ll scale it back then.
Ta both. 
{so that would be about a teaspoon per 750ml. bottle?}

staggalee.


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## PostModern

Make up the solution by the litre in a bucket and just soak the bottles in it. 10L bucket, use 50g and drop the bottles in.


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## staggalee

Will do.
Thanks.

staggalee.


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## mynameisrodney

A few questions with the bleach vinegar mix. 

With the bleach diluted this much, will it still remove colour from laminated benchtops, wood etc? I usually spray the whole benchtop with sanitizer before starting a brew, but i'm a bit worried about destroying it with the bleach. 

Also, one mixed how long does the solution remain active? I have a tub which i fill with rinsed out bottles in order to soak them for easy removal of the labels. I am planing on filling it with this mix. The bottles are already rinsed so this is not to clean them just to stop crap growing in the tub. I usually only empty it when it gets full, so will it stay active for a week or so, or after a few days am i going to get mould and other stuff appearing in there?

Cheers,
Chris


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## Pollux

I haven't noticed any changes in my benchtop, although they are white with a pattern and quite old so it wouldn't be too obvious, that said, while using the bleach/vinegar solution I have splashed some on dark coloured cargo pants, which are still the same colour and even had some hit me in the eye while vigorously shaking a fermenter with no ill effects.....

I generally soak new bottles that have labels in the laundry tub with a mixture of hot water/dishwashing liquid/bleach for 24+ hours, then scrub the outsides to remove any glue, rinse well 3-4 times and then dry and pop in a box until bottling day where I just use the b/v solution in the bulk priming vessel.

As for age? not sure how long it lasts, I always make fresh batches when I need it, which reminds me, pick up some syringes from the chemist to measure it with, best option ever.


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## Cube

Just a quick tip on 'quick measuring' bleach and vinegar. One cap full off a pet bottle is 8mls. Standard cap, coke or whatever, and all brands seem to be, 8 mls :beerbang:


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## Carbonator

Tim said:


> Seriously, its cheaper to buy a 100mL bottle of iodophor which will last you for over a year (and its about $10). The benefits are you also do not have to rinse.



+1, since I got 4L for free about 5 years ago.

1.2 ml per litre of water.

It can be recycled, it has a die that goes away (changes from purple to clear) when it is no longer effective!
I use it in my air locks and when it goes clear, I replace it!
It smells like a hospitals, band aids and Iodine, so you know it's good!
When the mongrel dog next door bit me, I put a bit on the wound, straight, it stung like never ever before (it's acid), (I'm older than 40), and there was no infection, so I know it's good!

1 minute contact time required.

It will NOT corrode your metal fittings - EVER.


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## reviled

Carbonator said:


> +1, since I got 4L for free about 5 years ago.
> 
> 1.2 ml per litre of water.
> 
> It can be recycled, it has a die that goes away (changes from purple to clear) when it is no longer effective!
> I use it in my air locks and when it goes clear, I replace it!
> It smells like a hospitals, band aids and Iodine, so you know it's good!
> When the mongrel dog next door bit me, I put a bit on the wound, straight, it stung like never ever before (it's acid), (I'm older than 40), and there was no infection, so I know it's good!
> 
> 1 minute contact time required.
> 
> It will NOT corrode your metal fittings - EVER.



+2, Iodophor is good stuff, may stain your plastic a slight brown colour, but at least its sanitary a


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## staggalee

Carbonator said:


> +1, since I got 4L for free about 5 years ago.
> 
> 1.2 ml per litre of water.
> 
> It can be recycled, it has a die that goes away (changes from purple to clear) when it is no longer effective!
> I use it in my air locks and when it goes clear, I replace it!
> It smells like a hospitals, band aids and Iodine, so you know it's good!
> When the mongrel dog next door bit me, I put a bit on the wound, straight, it stung like never ever before (it's acid), (I'm older than 40), and there was no infection, so I know it's good!
> 
> 1 minute contact time required.
> 
> It will NOT corrode your metal fittings - EVER.


 :icon_offtopic: why did the dog bite you?

staggalee.


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## chimera

I too have found that bottle brushes aren't necessary.

Rinse after emptying, stack, rack, box, whatever until needed again.
Fill laundry trough with hot water and a couple of shakes napisan, soak for half, remove, shake, drain on the rack for another half then refill.

Couldn't be lazier, 50 brews this weekend and i would have had one gusher 2-3 years back.


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## Carbonator

staggalee said:


> :icon_offtopic: why did the dog bite you?
> 
> staggalee.



Must have thought I was very tasty!

What do owners expect when they lock-up their JRT's in a shed 18 Hrs a day, 7 days a week. Those POS mongrels want to kill my kids too. It's not a good situation. My kids are scared to play in our back yard!


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## chimera

that is sad Carby..
get the local rangers involved, they feel rather strongly about dogs being locked up in sheds


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## staggalee

Chimera said:


> that is sad Carby..
> get the local rangers involved, they feel rather strongly about dogs being locked up in sheds



So do I.
The owners need a good arsekicking and the dog taken off them.
The RSPCA would be interested in the situation.

staggalee.


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## Mantis

Carbonator said:


> Must have thought I was very tasty!
> 
> What do owners expect when they lock-up their JRT's in a shed 18 Hrs a day, 7 days a week. Those POS mongrels want to kill my kids too. It's not a good situation. My kids are scared to play in our back yard!




Yep , get the ranger to have a talk to them.
+1 for the arsekicking


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## br33zy

We got sick of the scrub and sanitise process very quickly. The brushes are expensive; $5 (ish) and only lasting two or three batches. The sanitisers (we used both iodophur and sodium percarbonate) were expensive - especially when bought in small batches from the LHBS.

So, (and this suggestion came from our LHBS guy - name omitted to save him from the wrath of his employers) we now use a plastic 200L drum, on its side with a large access panel cut out for easy use. As the bottles come in (from restaurants, pubs, our own purchases, or previous batches), we put them all in the barrel and submerge them fully in a solution of generic brand unscented napi-san (active ingredient sodium percarbonate - 27%).

The bottles sit there for the week(s) leading up to bottle day and clean themselves. Its worth noting that the labels just slide off the vast majority of bottles - except for the Grand Ridge stubbies and none of us drink those any more!. We even had a batch of bottles from a restaurant which I forgot to rinse. The insides were well furry with mould and (we thought) beyond redemption. However, two weeks in the barrel had them sparkling clean - with no scrubbing whatsoever.

On bottling day, we unscrew the bung from the end of the barrel (its positioned so the bung is at the bottom); let the water out, rinse them thoroughly and whack them on the bottling stand ready for bottling.

No effort. No brushes. Said generic brand napi-san costs about $4 and does two 120 bottle batches.

Our bottling evenings have been transformed!

Cheers

Mike


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## reviled

Breezy too said:


> We got sick of the scrub and sanitise process very quickly. The brushes are expensive; $5 (ish) and only lasting two or three batches. The sanitisers (we used both iodophur and sodium percarbonate) were expensive - especially when bought in small batches from the LHBS.
> 
> So, (and this suggestion came from our LHBS guy - name omitted to save him from the wrath of his employers) we now use a plastic 200L drum, on its side with a large access panel cut out for easy use. As the bottles come in (from restaurants, pubs, our own purchases, or previous batches), we put them all in the barrel and submerge them fully in a solution of generic brand unscented napi-san (active ingredient sodium percarbonate - 27%).
> 
> The bottles sit there for the week(s) leading up to bottle day and clean themselves. Its worth noting that the labels just slide off the vast majority of bottles - except for the Grand Ridge stubbies and none of us drink those any more!. We even had a batch of bottles from a restaurant which I forgot to rinse. The insides were well furry with mould and (we thought) beyond redemption. However, two weeks in the barrel had them sparkling clean - with no scrubbing whatsoever.
> 
> On bottling day, we unscrew the bung from the end of the barrel (its positioned so the bung is at the bottom); let the water out, rinse them thoroughly and whack them on the bottling stand ready for bottling.
> 
> No effort. No brushes. Said generic brand napi-san costs about $4 and does two 120 bottle batches.
> 
> Our bottling evenings have been transformed!
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Mike



Can I ask who "we" is?


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## Rodolphe01

Rinse with cold water ASAP after drinking to remove yeast, store upside down or cover to stop bugs/dirt getting in. Brew day rinse with no rinse sanitiser transferring from bottle to bottle with a funnel.

If bottles have been sitting for a while or are given to me or something, I stick a small teaspoon of percarb in each bottle, top up with water and leave for ~1hr then rinse thoroughly. Brew day rinse with no rinse sanitiser transferring from bottle to bottle with a funnel.


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## petesbrew

JRT = Jack Russell Terrier right?
Those dogs are hyperactive even when tired.... being locked up all day, they must be going f'ing mad. 
+1 for the ranger and the arse kicking. There are a LOT of people who shouldn't be allowed pets.

Back on topic, I must give the iodophor a try with my bottles next time. I've been a tad lazy lately, and just wash them after drinking, and rinse with very hot water before bottling.
So far I've been lucky.


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## br33zy

reviled said:


> Can I ask who "we" is?



We is five like minded beer loving boys with a common need for quality shed time. The fact that our shed time yields the odd bottle of beer is a happy one

We brew just off Brunswick St in Melbourne from the back of a music studio operated by a couple of the guys. Have been at it for just over six months now and are up to brew 13 - a extract Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone. First BIAB is imminent.


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## reviled

Breezy too said:


> We is five like minded beer loving boys with a common need for quality shed time. The fact that our shed time yields the odd bottle of beer is a happy one
> 
> We brew just off Brunswick St in Melbourne from the back of a music studio operated by a couple of the guys. Have been at it for just over six months now and are up to brew 13 - a extract Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone. First BIAB is imminent.



Thats awesome stuff, love the comment about quality shed time too :lol: 

And go for the BIAB, all the way, you wont look back :beerbang:


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## TheWineBrewer

Hey I got a great video on cleaning bottles here:


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## poggor

I sanitise my bottles by using a squirt bottle full of dilute sanitiser. 
4 squirts per bottle, then rinse with hot tap water (my water heater is nuts- hot water comes out at 80c)
I lay sanitised caps on the bottles whilst getting everything ready.


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## hwall95

We always wash our bottles out after use then air dry them. And then generally once a week I'll collect all the empties and put them in a bin full of water mixed with Homebrew washing powder (39% sodium percarbonate) and then let them sit for a few days and then take them out, rinse them twice, and let them air dry upside down in milk crates. 

Then prior to bottling we use starstan or an acid based sanitiser to prep all the bottles.


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## storeboughtcheeseburgers

looking at this and everyone bottling gives me motivation to *finally* bottle today.

Get starsan, a 0-2 ml syringe from the pharmacy, a spray bottle and you will never look back. Years ago, in the early 00's I used to do it all with oxyper and it was such a long winded process - bottle brushes and all that. lots of rinsing blah, kinda what steered me off home brew for a number of years.

Mix ratio for me is 1.6ml/litre - or for the little spray bottles, .8ml to 500ml (halved)

Starsan = drink your beer, rinse with hot water to get sed out (twice), spray star san a few times and on the rim - let sit for 3 or so minutes, plonk in an empty carton/crate/box upside down until you bottle.

Bottling day for me - spray all the bottles I want with star san (3 or 4 squirts) and a few around the rim for each bottle - line them up... fit the wand to the bottling bucket - drrain/flick the bottle a few times to get sanitiser out, fill, cap

Condition, drink and repeat.


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## Jens-Kristian

I wash my bottles with cleaning alcohol and boiling water right after emptying them.

Then I take them to my neighbourhood glass-blower, who melts them down and makes me a fresh batch of bottles.

I just don't feel it's worth the risk bottling my beer in previously used bottles.


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## Edak

Jens-Kristian said:


> I wash my bottles with cleaning alcohol and boiling water right after emptying them.
> 
> Then I take them to my neighbourhood glass-blower, who melts them down and makes me a fresh batch of bottles.
> 
> I just don't feel it's worth the risk bottling my beer in previously used bottles.


WTF?


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## Pogierob

My old man has been doing coopers kits for the last 30 odd years, he doesn't know what starsan is and doesn't care.

he brews, bottles, drinks, rinses, brews bottles drinks and rinses.

Now I can honestly say I don't like the generic coopers kit with the coopers yeast and (knowing my dad 1kg of table sugar) but I can say that I have NEVER tasted an infection in his beers..

so I guess it's your beer, your risk..

me personally I starsan the SHIT out of everything.


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## Grott

"me personally I starsan the SHIT out of everything." I go along with that. And your dad, good on him. If he's happy and enjoys his beers then who can argue against that. If I disagree (and I guess I do) I don't have to drink it.
Cheers


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## Moad

staggalee said:


> Crikey, no wonder they look cleaner than new now.
> I`ll scale it back then.
> Ta both.
> {so that would be about a teaspoon per 750ml. bottle?}
> 
> staggalee.


I use half a teaspoon per bottle and pour ~80 degree water in with a funnel, let sit for 10 minutes then rinse. If I have a tub free I'll put about 50g in and around 20 litres and just sit them in there.

Then give them a blast with starsan through the tree attachment, by the time they are all on the tree they are ready to be used so away I go.


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## HBHB

Line up 20 brewers and you'll get a dozen answers.

It's very much a personal choice, but who wants to get 2 months down the track only to open a bottle and find it's spoiled by some stray random organism.

General concensus is to rinse each bottle with water to remove debris from previous batch straight away, clean thoroughly, then rinse, then sanitise immediately before use to minimise the risks. Don't forget to do the caps too.

Using a no rinse sanitiser, whether it be a peroxide based one, iodophor or acid based version is generally considered a better option. I'd suggest a phosphoric acid based one is significantly cheaper since a 500ml bottle should last a busy brewer for about 12 months or more.


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## indica86

HBHB said:


> I'd suggest a phosphoric acid based one is significantly cheaper since a 500ml bottle should last a busy brewer for about 12 months or more.


My bottle from you is going to last me a lot longer than that it appears. Very very good value.


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## Jens-Kristian

I'm all for sanitation and I keep my bottles very clean indeed. Frankly though, I think some of what's being described is over the top and . . well, I really like being able to brew without having to buy cleaners etc. 

I generally wash out my bottles with warm water from the tap after I've emptied them. That's later the same evening or the next day: Rinse well, empty and rinse again. I use flip-tops and simply seal them up again at this stage. The wash takes care of the crap and means there's no caking of yeast sitting in the bottle to go hard.

I'm not stupid and I'm aware bacteria are still present but I take care of that right before bottling.

On bottling day, I warm the bottles with hot tap water and while they are still warm (so as not to risk cracking bottles), I pour boiling water into each bottle (about a fifth/quarter full) and seal. Hold the bottle with a tea towel and turn it upside down once or twice. Then I bottle, emptying each bottle of its water content before filling with beer. 

All that said, I always find a couple of bottles at bottling time where I've forgotten to wash them out to begin with. I always seal them up though once I've poured the beer, so what's left is the yeasty dregs. In 8 years of brewing, I haven't yet found yeasty dregs that had gone off - even after several months sitting in the bottom of the bottle. I've even tasted this and it's tasted . . . well, like yeasty dregs. With these bottles, I do the same as with the ones I've washed in the first place, but I do of course inspect a bit more closely that there isn't any 'caked' yeast clinging to the bottle. 

This is how I've done it since my first brew and after a few thousand bottles of beer I still haven't had an infected bottle.


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## zeggie

I used to just rinse well with boiling water after drinking and starsan before bottling. Worked fine for ages but then got a bunch of gushers two batches in a row. CBF soaking bottles with napisan/sperc and using a bottle brush (will prolly just end up buying kegs)

Looking to try using the oven to sanitize/sterilize for my next batches, as I hate losing beer, and see how it goes.


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## Nizmoose

I wash my bottles out after use then let them sit either in the laundry or the shed then when it comes to bottling day I get them all (at most 65 as I only do 21L batches or smaller) and put them in the dishwasher without powder on the hottest cycle my dishwasher will do (70C) then let them air dry in there (bloody hot steam should sort out any nasties) then I mix up a litre of starsan in a jug, throw it in my bottling bucket if I'm using one, shake the shit out of it and sit it for a few minutes, siphon the starsan back into the jug (sanitise the siphon and hose) then fill the first bottle with starsan and use a funnel to pour from bottle to bottle before filling. Whatever is left in the jug I chuck my caps in. Works a treat and only requires a litre of anything mixed up.


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## storeboughtcheeseburgers

Just buy star san and a 2ml measuring syringe to measure out the stuff. Rinse your bottles, and starsan them afterwards. It really isn't a big issue. People have been brewing for hundreds of years in stoneware and crown seals mostly washed with water - The interior of the bottle is your only concern. I usually use boiling water/or if lazy use hot tap water to rinse - then star san, upside down to dry and starsan again for brew day. If you have big chunkies in there along the line, its something to do with your rinsing or leaving bottles out to develop mold.


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## Grott

Like most I rinse my bottles with water straight after use and allow to drain. On bottling day the bottles are sanitised with starsan using one of those bottle rinsing/sanitising pumps that you can get from your brew shop. 30 bottles takes about 10 min and the remaining starsan can be safely reused.
Cheers


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## wide eyed and legless

I have been using proxitane of late and was reading recently of using this in the vegetable growing industry in place of chlorine to wash the vegetables. It is harmless to the environment but has to be handled with care it will turn the skin on your hands white so you will know if you have come into contact with it, while the skin on your hands is tough the skin on your dick isn't so its advisable not to take a piss when the white residue is on your hands. Apart from that it is one of the best sanitizers around and used in the milk, brewing and food industry.


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