# Efficient Bottle Washing Methods



## Wadey (8/10/10)

Hi Folks.

Interested in what the best method is for bottle washing and sterlizing.

Not sure how many of you have read my first ever post earlier in the week but I am on a mission to create better home brew. My next question is about bottle washing as I dare say a lot of my mixed results have been from the frickin dishwasher.

So, I bought a Bottle Drying Tree today, and wondering what people do from the finishing a empty stubbie to washing and sterlizing.

Just so you know, I have always rinsed my stubbies as soon as they a emptied (mind you during AFL season that could be a busy day, GO CATS 2011), making sure all sediment is removed, and believe it or not still got some shitehouse results probably due to dishwashser.

Anway I have ditched all my stubbies and bought PET bottles, do they only need sterlizing and not soaking before use first use?

I assume that the tree needs sterilzing as well before use every time?

Also, I was going to buy the cleaning attachment but thought I had spent enough money this week on HB, so I am thinking that the bath filled with Sod Met as per instructions will suffice, give the long necks a good rinse then place on tree ready for the Morgans Blue Mountain Lager to bottle.

One last question, how long should you leave your brew in the fermenter before bottling, or after you add finnings. There seems to be a fair amount of info on this with no real clear cut answer.

Oh, and what about Lagers, I brew in brissy and the lager i have put down is curently running at 26 Degrees unaided, is that an issue?

Sorry all, again I have waffled on but my mission is clear, better home brewing :icon_chickcheers:


----------



## enoch1973 (8/10/10)

Wadey,

Hey mate. Lots of questions in that post which I'm sure will gets lots of responses.
Regardless of use I always wash using a bottle bush and standard dish washing detergent.
I have aquired lots of glass long necks which I perfer over plastic PET bottles. I just like it better.
I then just use a non-rinse sanister. Iodphor (1ml per litre of water)
This is always right before bottling. I've never had an infection.
As far as leaving the beer in the fermenter you just need to make sure the gravity is consistant over 2 readings.
The rule is generally if it's the same over 24 hours you're good to bottle.
You can leave it longer if you like it won't effect the beer. 
Before I started racking my beer I would leave it in the primary fermenter for anywhere between 10 - 14 days before bottling.
If you're in Brisbane and want to brew lagers I would seriously consider another fridge.
I believe true lagering requires the beer to be keep at 1 - 2 degrees at the end of the ferment for around 4 -7 days.
I think also lager yeasts ferment better at around 10 - 12 degrees. I could be wrong as I've never done a lager.
Others will have better advise than me as I've never made a true lager. 
Maybe stick with ales if you can't get a fridge.
Hope this helps.

Pete


Wadey said:


> Hi Folks.
> 
> Interested in what the best method is for bottle washing and sterlizing.
> 
> ...


----------



## Wadey (8/10/10)

Thanks Pete.

Yeah, maybe Lagering is a bit of a challenge in the warmer clients, dont have a fridge I can use so it will be hit and miss. Thanks for the cleaning tips mate. Might try some draughts like Cascade, what do you think?


----------



## MaltyHops (8/10/10)

Wadey said:


> Hi Folks.
> Interested in what the best method is for bottle washing and sterlizing.
> ...


I use mostly Coopers longnecks and some PET bottles (for creating carbonation pressure
check samples or if I'm going to give some bottles to family/friends).

Looking at my bottle use cycle from when I've just emptied a bottle of beer, I tip the dregs
out, put in a couple of inches of water and shake all of the yeast deposits loose, tip out
and then rinse once or twice, checking how clean the bottle inside is. Then I put the bottle
upside down in a cutlery basket to drain dry, then into a cupboard. With the longnecks,
when I have half doz in the cupboard, I'll cut some cling wrap into roughly 3 inch squares
and cover/wrap the top of each bottle (will probably start tying wth small rubber bands as
well) and this can be stored until whenever I need to bottle a new brew. With PET bottles,
the only difference so far is to put the cap back on and away till next brew.

Next time I'm bottling, I mix up some phosphoric acid (6-8 drops of pure acid into 500mL
of water) and pour about a cup into a bottle (using a metal jug that has just the right
size/shape spout to pour into a bottle like "nothing-but-net" tidy) - after removing the cling
wrap, of course. Anyway, a quick slosh of the bottle and pour acid back into jug, repeat for
each bottle - so now bottles are ready for bottling - with a quick tip out of any remaining acid
just before filling a bottle. So there, done.

Now if I forget to clean a bottle after emptying it and solid crud develops, then it gets treated
like bottles I buy from the recycling depot, which involves quite a bit more work but only a
once off. The cruddy bottles get filled with sodium percarbonate water that has been used to
soak a fermenter/cube, say) and left for a week or two. Actually, the bottles are also in a
sod.perc bath to soak the labels off. After this, the bottles are usually easy to clean with more
sod.perc water and bottle brush - and these join the acid rinse just before bottling.

So there's my method.


----------



## drfad (8/10/10)

I'm also new to brewing and this is very useful. I'd also like to know the best way to get the labels off bottles. Some come off just in a water soak, but some can be real bastards!


----------



## MaltyHops (8/10/10)

drfad said:


> I'm also new to brewing and this is very useful. I'd also like to know the best way to get the labels off bottles. Some come off just in a water soak, but some can be real bastards!


That's another good thing about Coopers longnecks - the labels come off quite easily
especally after soaking in Sod.perc. I think Coopers have home brewers in mind in with
the labels/glues used.

Just remembered ... someone recently ordered about 300 Coopers longnecks from the
recycling depot near me but didn't go ahead with their order :icon_drool2: 
Would have been a lot of work though :huh:


----------



## felten (8/10/10)

> Oh, and what about Lagers, I brew in brissy and the lager i have put down is curently running at 26 Degrees unaided, is that an issue?


It depends on what yeast you're using. The names on the tins can be a bit misleading as the majority of them come with ale yeasts. I think coopers euro lager is the only one of their range that actually comes with a real lager yeast.

Having said that 26 is high even for an ale. You should look at trying to reduce it down to around 20.


----------



## theMISSIONARY (9/10/10)

I do half and half with PET and glass long necks(rinse after using makes them easy to clean) so i can keep the ones in the glass longer to give a better over all finish 

Lager should be brewed cold compared to ale 12-16 seems ok for me(depending on the yeast a true lager yeast likes cold temps) Ale i have done up to 20 and its turned out ok 

You might want to look for way to keep an Ale down to 20 and it might come out nice :icon_drunk: 

Cheers Steve........enjoying my stout :icon_cheers:


----------



## ekul (9/10/10)

The easiest way to wash bottles is get the wheel barrow out, fill with water and add a cap of napisan. Add bottles, making sure that they are filled with water (no air bubbles). Leave for at least an hour (i do overnight) and then rinse with fresh water. A splash of norinse and you're off. Labels are not an issue, they usually remove themselves. 

So that i don't waste water i just add another cap of napisan to the wheelbarrow every time i want to wash some bottles. Needless to say the wheelbarrow water gets quite nasty, at which point i replace the water.


----------



## milob40 (9/10/10)

i made a spray rinse system and its easy to make and cheap too
1 piece of 3x2 pine 
360deg mist sprays (garden irrigation variety)
1 foot of 16mm irrigation pipe
3 x 1/4 risers
a clip on hose adaptor
a blank end
2 ratchet clips 16mm
4 nail clips
3 x pieces of 90mm pvc stormwater pipe 200mmm long roughly 
clip the 16mm pipe to the timber after fitting blank end and hose adapter,screw the misters onto the risers and screw into 16mm pipe evenly spacing.
cut slots in one end og 90mm pipe pieces so it fits over the timber and irrigation pipe and screw both sides.
place bottles in upside down and hook to tap and turn on, this flushes out every last bit of crap and onlt takes about 15 secs.
you may want to use poly pipe from hose tap to sprayer so you dont get garden hose flavoured beer :icon_vomit: 
before bbottling just use home brand milton to sterilize bottles in bucket then spray out .


----------



## Wadey (9/10/10)

Hey Milob40 that sounds pretty cool, got any photos?


----------



## milob40 (9/10/10)

Wadey said:


> Hey Milob40 that sounds pretty cool, got any photos?


i dont bottle anymore (kegging now)but i am gonna make a scaled down version this weekend as i still use some bottles for filling from keg.

i shall post a photo when i make it


----------



## DaKing (9/10/10)

for PET bottles, 
I shake & rinse after use, screw the cap on
When it's bottling time, it's a double sink
one side water with a cap full of plain bleach, the other side cold clean water.
fill with the first, soak for a few secs, shake it up & down, then empty
same with the second side. 
leave them to air for about 30mins, 
then bottle away
Use the left bleach water to wash your stinky dishcloth, running shoes, etc.

if you have the small 500ml PET bottles, then the dishwasher (without detergent) is the way to go.
I use it for washing my Aldi ginger beer bottles as the steam sterilises. 

I know people get very strict about cleaning, but bleach kills in a few secs and doesn't leave a flavour behind if aired.


----------



## drtomc (10/10/10)

Hi All,

I've been brewing for about 5 years now, and still bottle. I've given up on 3xx ml bottles, and bottle in 500ml San Pellegrino mineral water bottles for most things. For beers that are highly carbonated (e.g. Saison, Belgians) I use champagne bottles (you need to get a Tirage bell for your capper; I'm about to have my first short with [plastic] corks).

When I've poured a bottle, I rinse it straight away to get rid of the yeast sediment. I then usually wash bottles with the wine glasses at the start of the dishes, rinsing with water. I then store these bottles in boxes till bottling time.

At bottling time, I rinse the bottles in warm water, then rinse with no-rinse sanitizer (either Starsan or Iodophor - I have both and choose more-or-less randomly).

Early on, I had a few bottle bombs which I attribute to poor bottle sanitation - it was a case of a bottle going here or there in an otherwise fine batch.

All my bottles are reclaimed from the recycling bins at Jimmy Watson's, so it is possible that I may still get random bottle malfunctions from bottles that have had rough handling, I suppose.

HTH,

T.


----------



## stm (11/10/10)

The only thing I can add to the above suggestions is that the bottle washer cleaning attachment that you didn't buy is, I have found, a big time saver and seems quite efficient at hitting each bottle with the sanitiser (in my case Starsan).


----------



## Bubba (12/10/10)

Wadey said:


> Hi Folks.
> 
> Interested in what the best method is for bottle washing and sterlizing.
> 
> ...


----------



## JestersDarts (12/10/10)

I used to put serious work into bottling, now I keg.

However, I bottled a small batch of cider on the weekend, and I had a proper production line happening. I gathered up all the euro green 330ml bottles I could find - 
and dumped them all in a big *red *tub. Hot water and nappiSan for a couple of hours.

Then it was, empty, check they are clean, and throw into a *blue *esky of cold water.

I had the missus pulling them out and air drying them upsidedown in crates.

Then they were turned up, about 5L of starsan mix was poured between them, a quick swizzle, and back upsidedown in the crates.

Then it was bulk prime that cider, and bottle away!

did about 45 bottles for my first cider. (tasted pretty good out of the bottling bucket too)


----------



## jivesucka (13/10/10)

a spoonful of sodium percarbonate (napisan or even a generic napisan ripoff) with a bit of water into a bottle, screw the cap on and shake. you can then pour your concoction into the next one needing to be cleaned and repeat. it's so easy!


----------



## ekul (13/10/10)

Jesterdarts- do you rinse the napisan off before you put the starsan on?


----------



## JestersDarts (13/10/10)

ekul said:


> Jesterdarts- do you rinse the napisan off before you put the starsan on?



Yeah mate -after the nappiSan they go into the *blue *esky of cold water to rinse.

I have read at the right conc of scent free nappiSan you don't need to rinse.. but I can't recall how to search of that at the moment..


----------



## black_labb (13/10/10)

I half fill the bulk priming bucket with idophor (or starsan/other acid based sanitiser) and drown the bottles in there so they dont float. i try to leave them in for a couple minutes while I organise which bottles to use/set up drying up space/put water on the boil for priming ect. then I'll take the bottles out, empty them back into the bulk priming bucket and put them to dry up before sinking the next lot and doing another task from the above list. 

when thats finished I siphon the beer into the bulk priming vessel before bottling. 


I find its pretty quick, doesnt use too much sanitiser as I'm not filling the whoile laundry room sink and it sanitises the bulk priming bucket at the same time.


----------

