# Cleaning Pet Bottles



## turbo

I am about to use my batch of PET bottles for the second time. I religiously wash them out after I pour each bottle of brew but I thought a once-over in the dishwasher would help before I sanitze them?

Would appreciate hearing if anyone else does this or any advice on the best way to clean ready to use again.

Cheers


----------



## mxd

the dishwasher doesn't do an inside cleaning, so for me (i keg so don't do much bottling)

1) drink beer
2) rinse bottle (get stuff of bottom)
3) dishwasher
4) store
5) clean bottle (scrub on inside bottle brush)
6) dishwasher
7) dunk/shake in no rinse sanitizer
8) fill and cap


----------



## Bribie G

Agreed, never let the beer wet the lips until you have washed vigorously three times in warm water and recapped. However then I just leave them until required and do a starsan no-rinse shake just before bottling. 

However now and again you will get a spot or a yeast ring. Fill with Napisan solution or pure Sodium Percarbonate and let it sit overnight, that will eat anything.


----------



## Nick JD

BribieG said:


> Agreed, never let the beer wet the lips until you have washed vigorously three times in warm water and recapped. However then I just leave them until required and do a starsan no-rinse shake just before bottling.
> 
> However now and again you will get a spot or a yeast ring. Fill with Napisan solution or pure Sodium Percarbonate and let it sit overnight, that will eat anything.



+1

There's not much point sanitizing a dirty bottle. 

Once I've decanted I also do the hot tap water thing three times (magic number), and cap. It's great when using clear PET that any crud in the bottle is glaringly obvious, so you're not cleaning blind like with dark brown glass. Capping clean bottles airtight is another great advantage of PET over glass. They MUST be stored in the dark when full of beery goodness.

Then on brewing day I give them another 3 hot water rinses and bottle away. 

I don't recommend this technique to anyone. I have had I think about 3 bad bottles in two decades using this technique, so I will most humbly continue with it.


----------



## chillihilli

turbo said:


> I am about to use my batch of PET bottles for the second time. I religiously wash them out after I pour each bottle of brew but I thought a once-over in the dishwasher would help before I sanitze them?
> 
> Would appreciate hearing if anyone else does this or any advice on the best way to clean ready to use again.
> 
> Cheers



I rinse mine three times after drinking (they never dry out with dregs in them) and shake like shite. 
Before bottling, rinse in 10ml unscented white king mixed with one litre of cool water, then a final rinse of HOT water (to remove the bleach smell). Ideally (ideally cos I never do it) you should let them drain and DRY before bottling, so all of the residual liquid is gone.

I invested in a bottle tree and a bottle washer upside down squirty thing. If you use the squirty thing for PET bottles, the wider opening causes issues, so you need to put a collar over it to stop the mouth half way down the spray tube. For this, I use the ring collar of a nylex click on hose fitting. Let me know if you want more info on this (it's hard to explain without pics).

Ultimately - use your eyes and your nose. They should look clean and smell clean.


----------



## Fester

My cleaning set up is pretty simple:

After drinking rinse and clean with bottle brush.

Rinse again.

Let drain on bottle tree until needed.

Before next bottling rinse with iodophor.

Never had a problem with infections with the above.


----------



## bum

I don't think there's much point in running PET bottles through a scalding hot dishwasher cycle, no.


----------



## turbo

bum said:


> I don't think there's much point in running PET bottles through a scalding hot dishwasher cycle, no.



Yes, after reading the responses I agree.

Thanks all.


----------



## bum

Completely ignoring the completely valid responses - I don't think there's much point running PET bottles through a scalding hot dishwasher cycle. Thin plastic yeah?


----------



## MarkMc

BribieG said:


> Agreed, never let the beer wet the lips until you have washed vigorously three times in warm water and recapped. However then I just leave them until required and do a starsan no-rinse shake just before bottling.
> 
> However now and again you will get a spot or a yeast ring. Fill with Napisan solution or pure Sodium Percarbonate and let it sit overnight, that will eat anything.




Same here, 3rd fill the bottle with warm water and vigourously shake, do this 3 times, store back in their box. Then sanitize prior to use.


----------



## turbo

bum said:


> Completely ignoring the completely valid responses - I don't think there's much point running PET bottles through a scalding hot dishwasher cycle. Thin plastic yeah?




I didn't ignore any of the posts. After reading the posts I agree with you - no need to put them in the dishwasher.


----------



## Nick JD

Another thing: you can almost use PET bottles to tell the temperature of your hot water cylinder. At the late 70s your bottles will start to melt.

The bacteria and yeasts will probably also start to melt, but then so will your electricity bill. 

I'm not sure of the temperature of a dishwasher but you might find you've made shrinkydink beer bottles.


----------



## zoidbergmerc

Nick JD said:


> I'm not sure of the temperature of a dishwasher but you might find you've made shrinkydink beer bottles.




ive done this as a joke to my sister a few times, she gets rather attached to her pump bottles so i fill them with boiling water and they shrink, the first time she didn't even notice for ages


----------



## RobboMC

I've already got a couple of shrinkydink PET bottles where ill-informed 'helpers' tried to rinse with
boiling water, or failing to let boiled water cool sufficiently in haste to bottle a batch.
I reckon a dishwasher at 80 deg C will definately destroy your Coopers PET bottles.

+1 to 70 deg C being the limit, maybe even lower like 65 deg.

As above, I rinse with the hot tap when emptied and again before bottling, then rinse with COOLED boiled water
just prior to bottling. Have done hundreds this way.


----------



## Newts

Looking at the above responses seems everyones figured out the best way to do it with PET bottles. What if you didn't rinse straight away after drinking?

Napisan/sodium percarbonate? Rinse a few times and Star San? I've just been buying new bottles each time I brew to build up a stash but now I have so many I'm thinking I should start re-using them. I haven't washed any and they've been sitting for 6 months with beer dregs in em.


----------



## bradsbrew

Rinse a few times to get the crap out then soak them in a warm sod perc solution. Just fill a fermenter with the cleaner and soak for 24hrs. Rinse and then soak in a starsan solution. Smell them before using. New lids.


----------



## Silver

Likewise bit o hot tap water, shake the shit off the bottom and empty 3x. I used to then fill with cold tap water and store until required, as supposedly tap water has the right amount of bug killing stuff in it to ensure the masses that drinking tap water is a safe thing to do. I always ensured no air was left in the bottle by lightly squeezing while capping. I would only ever do this twice and not tempt fate


----------



## ash2

Put them in a dishwasher , 2 things are going to happen. 1st is the heat will shrink the shit out of them,2nd you have to go & buy more bottles.Trust me I have done it.


----------



## Blazar

[SIZE=medium]My technique is quite simple, no duds as yet in 12 months:[/SIZE]


[SIZE=medium]When the last bit is poured out, I rinse, then half fill with water and recap then shake it a few times. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]My sink holds 10 bottles lying flat, so when there are 10 empties on my bench I soak overnight in water/sodium percarbonate.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Rinse well to get the chemical residue out, then recap.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]On bottling day, while setting up I fill the first bottle with Starsan, then when ready to fill I pour the Starsan directly into the next bottle so that by the time the first one has been filled and capped the second is ready to go.[/SIZE]


----------



## slcmorro

Opening myself up to lots of 'not best practise' and other comments here, but I'll tell you what I do.

1. After emptying the bottle (by pouring gently and slowly into the glass), I leave a bit of beer behind. Cap the bottle and shake it, to get the yeast and trub off the bottom.
2. Whenever I get around to it (usually the next day) I uncap the bottles, and run them under the tap until they flush themselves out.
3. I re-shake the bottles with water in them, and then visually inspect. If they're clean, they go on the bottle tree.
4. When reusing the bottles (I mostly keg now, so this is only ever perhaps 5 bottles at a time), I 1/3rd fill the bottle with starsan solution, cap (caps sit in the solution too) and shake and then drain.
5. Fill bottle.

Done.


----------



## James85

Just be carefull with hot water, coopers pet bottles have a special lining on the inside to help prevent oxidization which is destroyed by using hot water. Been there made that mistake.


----------



## Blitzer

Do you have a source for this special lining? I use hot water all the time, can't say for sure if I have any oxidization problem but I don't think so.


----------



## Rocker1986

This is my method, though perhaps not entirely relevant since I use glass bottles rather than PET, but anyway.

1. Pour a beer, rinse bottle 3 times in hot water, shaking each time to remove yeast sediment. Store in 6 pack holders until I build up 21 of them. (the amount my home made bottle drainer holds)
2. Fill up the laundry tub with a Napisan/hot water mixture and soak bottles for a day or two. I stand them up to eliminate any air pockets. Also aids in easily removing labels if they are new bottles. I find this tends to prevent the build up of yeast rings/scum in the bottles as well.
3. Rinse bottles 3 times with cold water, then 3 times with hot water and place on bottle drainer, usually I will put them out in the sun to dry them quicker.
4. Store in 50L plastic lidded containers from Bunnings until next use.

Been doing this for as long as I've been brewing and haven't had one bad bottle so far. I don't sanitize the bottles or the caps but obviously that's my prerogative and if you wanted to add that step in, by all means do so.


----------



## James85

Found the info about the coopers bottles on their web sight when I was researching which bottles I could use for home brew. I had a pale ale that I left to age for six months. I tasted ok but definitely worse than it was at three weeks old. 
Doesn't worry me now as I have started using glass for my last 4 brews. Taste is much better out of glass than plastic at any age IMHO


----------



## Rocker1986

I've never used plastic bottles. It may be purely all in the mind but I just can't get my head around storing and serving beer from plastic bottles, it just seems weird. Besides I'd rather buy glass bottles and have them come with beer than a heap of empties. :chug:


----------



## Forever Wort

I have started brewing straight into 1.5 litre PET bottles for a few reasons.

The clear plastic makes it easier to identify dirt, yeast, etc;
No need to waste time using crown caps;
Bottling is quick - only 14 bottles for a 23 litre brew;
PET bottles are super light - three bottles (4.5 litres) don't weigh you down when going to parties;
They are dirt cheap compared to glass.
The downside is obvious, in that you have to open 1.5l when you may only want one drink. But I usually drink with at least one other person, so that solves that problem!

I have only done a couple of brews in my life but I have been washing the bottles a few times with hot water as I drink them, then sanitising on brew day. Similar to most people in this thread.


----------



## BeardedWonder

Wow.
Comparatively I'm going a bit OCD with my PET bottle cleaning regime. 

I rinse with water (ideally warm to hot, but sometimes I can't be buggered waiting for the hot water to run) three times once empty to clear the dregs. Then I stash them away to be pulled out the day before bottling and all cleaned with a bottle cleaning solution bought from the LHBS; scrubbed with a bottle brush then rinsed (three times, of course); and then sanitized with a no-rinse solution. 

I should also point out that I bottle in both PET and glass and wash both types at the same time.

Maybe I should ease up on the cleaning solution....


----------



## Silver

I used to triple rinse with warm to hot water, as soon as it was emptied then fill with cold tap water, secure lid while gently squeezing bottle to expel air. My theory was any chemicals added to the drinking water to keep it and me safe should also protect my bottle. Used to get 3 cycles per bottle then toss(the bottle). Figured i was tempting fate. Never had any issues even with beers up to a year old.


----------



## Nort

Hi all.
Just about to put down my 19th brew, have bottled 14 lots and tasted 9. So far all good and very tasty in PET Bottles. All I do is wash the bottles first in cold water (as they are Cooper's bottles), and if I drink a bottle I wash it thoroughly about 3-4 times to remove any sediment, then store them on the Christmas Tree until dry, then cap them and store them until next time. Next time comes around, I rinse them once again in cool water, and sanitize them with a special sanitizer I bought from a company in Rocky. This is a "no rinse" Sanitizer and I only need 2ml per litre (10ml to 5L). Comes in a 5L bottle for $40 delivered. (You do the maths.) It's used to sanitize bars, clubs, restaurants etc. All the benches and utensils. I use it all the time for all my sanitizing and never had a problem. Then I just drain the bottles (also do the caps and bottling wand) and so far so good. A very good sanitizer.


----------



## Elderfi

I am yet to re use my PET bottles (my next brew in FV is due on to bottle next week so this is a pretty relevant topic). I have however re-used 330ml bottles which previously contained store bought beer. 

To clean these I put them all in the bath with a cap full of napi san over night and then rinsed twice and bottled. Ive yet to drink them as they have been conditioning but there is no sign of any "baddies" on the bottles.

Im assuming this will be appropriate for the next bottle. Whats the advantage of star san? I mean ive been using napisan for every thing cleaning and sanatizing and havent had an issue yet


----------



## waggastew

Have been bottling in PET's for about three and a half years. My regime is as follows:

After pouring the beer I tip out the excess, give it a few flushes with cold water then leave to drain O/N. Put the cap on and store till next use. Key is keep the bottles clean and they are easier to sanitise. Any funky/infection bottles (either a home batch or a sample from another brewer) get tossed.

On bottling day:

1. Soak in cold water in laundry tub with a cap full of homebrand unscented napisan for 30min. Drain
2. Soak in cold water in laundry tub with 1/2 cup bleach for 30min. Drain
3. Rinse and empty each bottle 4x with cold running water
4. Spray with 4 squirts of diluted Starsan and sit for 5 min.
5. Drain excess Starsan

Prime and bottle as usual.


----------



## Rocker1986

Elderfi said:


> I am yet to re use my PET bottles (my next brew in FV is due on to bottle next week so this is a pretty relevant topic). I have however re-used 330ml bottles which previously contained store bought beer.
> 
> To clean these I put them all in the bath with a cap full of napi san over night and then rinsed twice and bottled. Ive yet to drink them as they have been conditioning but there is no sign of any "baddies" on the bottles.
> 
> Im assuming this will be appropriate for the next bottle. Whats the advantage of star san? I mean ive been using napisan for every thing cleaning and sanatizing and havent had an issue yet


I do the same with my bottles (all glass), except that I rinse them 6 times (3xcold, 3xhot), because I really don't want any trace of that shit in my bottles and getting into the beer. Never had any bottle infections from doing this either.


----------



## Diggs

I just clean them as I go (warm water an d shake the hellout of them), inspect for yeasties, if clean sit them upside down on the iitchen sick.
If im pissed ill leave a bit of beer in the bottom so they dont dry out and do this the next day. Then normal process.
I am however very thorough on bottling day with a sanitising bath and then one of those squirty things that sit on top of my bottling tree. Also my caps sitting in solution till they actually hit the bottle.
No issues so far.


----------



## wbosher

Immediately rinse with hot (about 50 - 60 degrees) water three times...seems to be something about the number three.
On bottling day, sanitise thoroughly wIth Starsan
Fill bottles


----------



## Srimes101

chillihilli said:


> I rinse mine three times after drinking (they never dry out with dregs in them) and shake like shite.
> Before bottling, rinse in 10ml unscented white king mixed with one litre of cool water, then a final rinse of HOT water (to remove the bleach smell). Ideally (ideally cos I never do it) you should let them drain and DRY before bottling, so all of the residual liquid is gone.
> 
> I invested in a bottle tree and a bottle washer upside down squirty thing. If you use the squirty thing for PET bottles, the wider opening causes issues, so you need to put a collar over it to stop the mouth half way down the spray tube. For this, I use the ring collar of a nylex click on hose fitting. Let me know if you want more info on this (it's hard to explain without pics).
> 
> Ultimately - use your eyes and your nose. They should look clean and smell clean.


Hey mate do you have any pictures if your collar setup to wash PET bottles


----------



## Jolls

Srimes101 said:


> Hey mate do you have any pictures if your collar setup to wash PET bottles



Old Mate Chilichili hasn't been on the site since Jan 2012. Just click on their avatar and you can see if they are active or not.

Cheers n Beers
Jolls


----------



## papamoaetmac

I rinse them out a couple of times with warm water from the tap, seal them and put them in the garage, before I bottle I put them in the dishwasher on a quick wash - on the top rack only, the water temps below 60'c on my Bosch - haven't had any of the 750mls shrink yet in the last 2 1/2 years. But agree if you hand wash too hot they shrink!!;


----------



## yankinoz

Rocker1986 said:


> I've never used plastic bottles. It may be purely all in the mind but I just can't get my head around storing and serving beer from plastic bottles, it just seems weird. Besides I'd rather buy glass bottles and have them come with beer than a heap of empties. :chug:



Second the motion. After subtracting the cost of buying the bottles empty, you can sample some excellent beers for peanuts. For 750s that's probably Coopers ales, for 500s European (including UK) products. At one time I bought quite a few Imperial pints of Little Creatures, but their new owners withdrew that size and then brought it back at a steep price.


----------



## CapnClunks

1: Rinse out gunk after drinking.
2: Fill Rubbermaid tub with pbw and submerge bottles.
3: Rinse bottles again.
4: half full bottles with starsan, put lids on give it good shake and decant bottle to bottle.
4: when bottling spray threads and lids with starsan.
5: profit


----------



## Hangover68

CapnClunks said:


> 1: Rinse out gunk after drinking.
> 2: Fill Rubbermaid tub with pbw and submerge bottles.
> 3: Rinse bottles again.
> 4: half full bottles with starsan, put lids on give it good shake and decant bottle to bottle.
> 4: when bottling spray threads and lids with starsan.
> 5: profit


Same as what i do pretty much and what i did earlier today for some overflow brew.


----------



## CapnClunks

Hangover68 said:


> Same as what i do pretty much and what i did earlier today for some overflow brew.


Rubbermaid tubs are great also for catching the water that comes off your chillers also for reuse as cleaning water


----------

