# Coopers Pet Bottles



## Mattywalnuts (16/9/08)

Hey, i just wanted to get some peoples opinions on cleaning those coopers PET bottles.

My method is that as soon as i finish pouring the beer, i rinse the bottle out to get rid of the yeast deposit at the bottom, then i fill the bottle with water till i want to use it next. once i want to use it, i empty out the water, soak and in rinse meta-sulpha, nothing else.

So far I haven't had any problems, but I just wanted to get some peoples opinions on how they clean the plastic bottles, and whether or not they scrub them with a brush?


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## trevc (16/9/08)

- rinse/clean after using
- wash and soak with bleach solution
- rinse again (a few times each)
- spray with peroxide solution, drip dry on sanitised bottle tree
- fill immediately 

That's my routine.


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## barry2 (16/9/08)

mattywalnuts said:


> Hey, i just wanted to get some peoples opinions on cleaning those coopers PET bottles.
> 
> My method is that as soon as i finish pouring the beer, i rinse the bottle out to get rid of the yeast deposit at the bottom, then i fill the bottle with water till i want to use it next. once i want to use it, i empty out the water, soak and in rinse meta-sulpha, nothing else.
> 
> So far I haven't had any problems, but I just wanted to get some peoples opinions on how they clean the plastic bottles, and whether or not they scrub them with a brush?



I rinse the Coopers PET bottle and the top after pouring the beer.I then fill the bottle about one third full with water and leave overnight.Next day another rinse and leave upside down overnight to drain.When dry put the top back on and store with others in a carton.The day before bottling the next 23 litre brew soak the 30 bottles in a bleach solution for an hour or so.Give the tops another water rinse.After about an hour the old labels have fallen off.Rinse to get read of the bleach smell and leave overnight on the bottle tree.
No problems in over 50 brews.
I would not touch them with a brush in case they get scratched and is unnecessary with the early rinsing and soaking.


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## drtomc (16/9/08)

mattywalnuts said:


> My method is that as soon as i finish pouring the beer, i rinse the bottle out to get rid of the yeast deposit at the bottom, then i fill the bottle with water till i want to use it next. once i want to use it, i empty out the water, soak and in rinse meta-sulpha, nothing else.



If meta-sulpha == sodium metabisulphite, then I'd recommend using something else. It really isn't a sanitizer in the same sense that iodophor, or even bleach is. It slows bugs down, but doesn't necessarily kill them. Beats me why shops sell it as a brewing sanitizer - it came in the starter kit I bought!

My method with glass (I've never used PET) is to rinse straight away, as you do, but then to drain and store dry. Before bottling I usually give them a shot of napisan (I bought one of those bottle washer things with a bottle tree - best thing I ever did), a rinse, then iodophor, drain, bottle.

HTH,
T.


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## Goofinder (16/9/08)

My current method:

rinse immediately after use (or leave cap on until I get around to it)
drip dry
store until next batch is ready
soak in Coopers sanitiser solution that has run off from fermenter/cube used for bottling
fill
condition
chill
drink beer!
goto 1

No problems so far...


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## buttersd70 (16/9/08)

my method is similar-ish to trev, just with a different medium.

rinse immediately (no matter how drunk I may be. And to me, this is the most important step.)
If left to the following day, rinse again.
quick wash with no-rinse bleach solution
drain and store.
Then no rinse bleach soln again immediately before refilling.


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## wambesi (16/9/08)

Goofinder said:


> My current method:
> 
> rinse immediately after use (or leave cap on until I get around to it)
> drip dry
> ...



+1 here, did do the whole wash with stuff you pay $$ for then I thought stuff it, the three rinses with hot(ish) water cleaned them out good enough.
I use a no-rinse sanitiser not the coopers stuff - but it all works the same!


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## Cube (16/9/08)

buttersd70 said:


> quick wash with no-rinse bleach solution



Whats this no rinse bleach solution. I use bleach and vinegar for all cleaning... but need to rinse. What are the amounts to water for a no rinse, and can this be used as a bottle prep just before filling? :icon_cheers:


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## wambesi (16/9/08)

Cube said:


> Whats this no rinse bleach solution. I use bleach and vinegar for all cleaning... but need to rinse. What are the amounts to water for a no rinse, and can this be used as a bottle prep just before filling? :icon_cheers:



I believe in one of the Basic Brewing Radio episodes they talked with Charlie from Five Star Chemicals (Starsan) who talked mostly of the bleach and vinegar solution and how if mixed properly could be used as a no-rinse solution.


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## Brewtus (16/9/08)

rinse after use, cap, leave til next brew, wash with bottle wash solution, rinse, drain, spray inside with iodine spay, drain, fill, drink, etc.

Never been infected


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## buttersd70 (16/9/08)

Yeah, charlie talley's formula. 1oz/5gal which is 1.5ml/L. Quick swish, 30 second contact.


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## Goofinder (17/9/08)

buttersd70 said:


> Yeah, charlie talley's formula. 1oz/5gal which is 1.5ml/L. Quick swish, 30 second contact.


How much of this do you need to sanitise a fermenter/cube and bottles for a 23ish L brew? I'm starting to think 25-30L of water every time is a bit wasteful.


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## wambesi (17/9/08)

A quick swish as stated above 

You should be able to scale it down and make smaller batches to use, even with the different sanitisers I use, I don't use a lot, I spray all surfaces and then maybe throw 300mL or so in the fermenter to swirl i around, as long as all surfaces are already clean then it just needs 30sec contact and I believe he also stated in the podcast that that includes the drip/dry time. ie. No need to submerge it completely in the solution.


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## seemax (17/9/08)

Being lazy, immediately after use I rinse them with hot tap water, or sometimes with boiling water if the kettle has been on. At filling time I give them a quick rinse with boiling water. Every 4-5 fills I'll do a proper bleach soak. Never had any infections.


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## Tyred (17/9/08)

I normally do a quick rinse once the bottle is empty. 
Wash it the next day with bottle brush. 
Rinse again with water and allow to dry. 
Store upside down under the house until ready for re-use.
Just before bottling I use starsan to sanitise.


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## sumo (17/9/08)

Goofinder said:


> How much of this do you need to sanitise a fermenter/cube and bottles for a 23ish L brew? I'm starting to think 25-30L of water every time is a bit wasteful.



All my bottles are cleaned after use, however on bottling day I do a iodopor no rinse solution to 5 litres, which does all my bottles. Just add a little to each bottle, and swish it about a couple of times then drain back into bucket if I need to do more bottles. The contact time includes draining.


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## Bribie G (17/9/08)

I use 2L Pet but I'm sure same applies to Coopers. I pour beer into my 3L jug then rinse PET with very hot tapwater three or four times then a rinse with cold water. On bottling day the first job is to give 12 PETS a good bleach with 20 percent woolies plain bleach and rinse well then bottle. Never had a crook bottle.

The way I look at it, if the local water supply is going to infect bottles then why would I be pouring about 15 litres of it into my partial / extract brews


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## mouapp12 (17/9/08)

are there any problems with the bleach being in there too long?

i like knowing they are ready whenever i am



seemax said:


> Being lazy, immediately after use I rinse them with hot tap water, or sometimes with boiling water if the kettle has been on. At filling time I give them a quick rinse with boiling water. Every 4-5 fills I'll do a proper bleach soak. Never had any infections.


yours dont melt with boiling water? ... ive still got one rather sorry looking bottle from when i got lazy


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## wambesi (17/9/08)

mouapp said:


> are there any problems with the bleach being in there too long?
> 
> i like knowing they are ready whenever i am
> 
> ...




I wouldn't recommend boiling water, but I use hot tap water all the time. Just use one and test it out, they're not to expensive if you need more.


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## kram (17/9/08)

I just rinse them out with hot tap water like my glass bottles when I used them. The comp beers I recently bottled in PET got soaked in bleach then rinsed and soaked in iodophor as they'd been sitting in the garage for a year.


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## Brewtus (17/9/08)

Goofinder said:


> How much of this do you need to sanitise a fermenter/cube and bottles for a 23ish L brew? I'm starting to think 25-30L of water every time is a bit wasteful.


I use about 2l to wash and rinse the fermenter, with the tap in pieces in about 3 times and then spay it with iodine solution and leave for a few minutes then quick rinse and I'm done.


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