Baking Bottles

[TidalPete]

Cause it would take a lot of water and time I guess. The plastic sheathing thing in the oven worries me?.

hasysie,

I meant baking the bottles in the oven & just pouring the boiling water on the caps. One kettle of boiling water + sanitising always took care of 30+ bottle caps for me in the old days.

TP

 

[caleb]

hasysie,

I meant baking the bottles in the oven & just pouring the boiling water on the caps. One kettle of boiling water + sanitising always took care of 30+ bottle caps for me in the old days.

TP

I boil the caps for 15 mins before bottling. Used to soak in sanitizer before. The foil is mainly for storing bottles after baking, to be used some time later. (apparently up to 1 year according to earlier posts) Caps would end up being knocked off at some stage...

 

[caleb]

Excellent Pete! Was wondering when someone was going to use this thread to say: "Fellas, sounds like a hell of a lot of trouble, either get used to washing or get into kegging! You'll save a lot of arguments with the missus when you're throwing empties in her oven!" h34r:

Missus didn't argue too much. Missus WOULD argue if I installed a seperate fridge to keep a keg cold! It's my oven too...

Very valid point I would say. Ultimately everyone on this thread is looking to save time, but if you're peeling labels, baking glass, then rinsing off the lot - you probably need to put the stopwatch on and ask yourself "Is this saving time? Or is it just another way of getting the same job done?" Certainly the contributors here who say it's a chemical free way of going have a valid point though.

Labels were peeled long ago. I ALWAYS peel labels. I hate marketing... especially of other peoples products.
Once baked, there IS no further rinsing. In fact, there's precious little to do at all. Think about it, which is easier - stack bottles in oven, turn on, wait, turn off, OR manually add sterilizer to bottle, shake, empty, fill with hot water, shake, empty, stack on rack, then repeat 27 times.
If I honestly hadn't felt the "bottling day dread" lift from my home-brewing heart, I wouldn't have posted this thread, complete with a big love heart as the icon. Why not just try it?

 

[HoppingMad]

Missus didn't argue too much. Missus WOULD argue if I installed a seperate fridge to keep a keg cold! It's my oven too...

:lol:

Once baked, there IS no further rinsing. In fact, there's precious little to do at all. Think about it, which is easier - stack bottles in oven, turn on, wait, turn off, OR manually add sterilizer to bottle, shake, empty, fill with hot water, shake, empty, stack on rack, then repeat 27 times.
If I honestly hadn't felt the "bottling day dread" lift from my home-brewing heart, I wouldn't have posted this thread, complete with a big love heart as the icon. Why not just try it?

Tis tempting Caleb to try a bake. Comment about rinsing was made after a few here said bottles have to be clean before going in oven. I figured if you're washing old yeast and beer out of the bottom prior to bake up - then you're effectively doing half a wash. But yeah worth a try, cheers.

Hopper.

 

[TidalPete]

I can remember following info from somewhere or other & just rinsing my bottles with hot water straight after emptying in my bottling days. Did this for a long time until I held one up to the light one day & found a film of crap covering the entire inside of the bottle.
Every bottle got (And still gets) the bottle brush treatment from then on.

TP

 

[RetsamHsam]

Back to the microwave idea.. If you add a small amount of water to the bottom of each bottle then put in the microwave on high for say 3 minutes this should do the trick.

It probably wouldn't be too much of a time saver if you are bottling an entire batch, but for someone like me who kegs 19L and bottles the left overs (generally about 7-8 litres) you would probably only have to nuke about 2 loads of bottles. I might give it a go..

 

[newguy]

Re: microwave ovens.....Putting water into the bottle so that it and the steam sterilises the bottle would work, but only if the steam/hot water actually heats the glass up to the proper temperature. You'll still have to fish the hot bottle(s) out with oven mitts & cap with foil to ensure they stay sterile. And if the bottles run dry while the microwave is still on, you're shortening its life.

Why risk infected beer?

 

[kram]

Did this for a long time until I held one up to the light one day & found a film of crap covering the entire inside of the bottle.

But was the beer infected?

I had a beer with Mark^******* made by his pop and I looked at the bottle and was truly shocked, no sign of infection but had heaps of residue in it! From all the sanitation you hear about it's amazing things like this end up ok. Same with whoever had the roach/spider/whatever in the bottle with no infection, Tony?

 

[TidalPete]

But was the beer infected?

I had a beer with Mark^******* made by his pop and I looked at the bottle and was truly shocked, no sign of infection but had heaps of residue in it! From all the sanitation you hear about it's amazing things like this end up ok. Same with whoever had the roach/spider/whatever in the bottle with no infection, Tony?

No infection whatsoever kram.
But the sight of that unclean bottle got me out of the lazy rinsing habit & back to cleaning my bottles properly.

TP

 

[Jase71]

Here's a question: Anyone baked a grolsch swingtop? (Rubber seal removed)

My collection includes a growing numer of Schwelmer bottles, same cap termination as Grolsch but a sexier bottle, and a tastier swill, and I would hazard a guess at saying the tops are ceramic.... therefore you would need to investigate the heat tolerance - although I 'think' it would be OK.

Yes, I bake my swingtops (Grolsch and other types). I remove the whole swingtop and place aluminium over the top og the bottle. The swingtop and rubber gets sanitised on bottling day with my crown seals.

If you pull the whole hinge attachment off each time you sterilise, you would then need to bend them back so they are taut for the next usage. Another "I think', but I would be worried about metal fatigue diminishing the lifespan of the hinges.

 

[caleb]

:blink: Re washing:
I'm truly shocked to hear about "films of crap" and "heaps of residue"! :blink:
Every bottle I do gets held up to the light (preferably daylight) and residues and crap get a special scrub. That said, a newly drunk bottle with a few good HOT water rinses always comes up clean. It's when I leave some with yeast residue to dry out and be washed weeks/months later that I need the brush, detergent, etc.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

My collection includes a growing numer of Schwelmer bottles, same cap termination as Grolsch but a sexier bottle, and a tastier swill, and I would hazard a guess at saying the tops are ceramic.... therefore you would need to investigate the heat tolerance - although I 'think' it would be OK.



If you pull the whole hinge attachment off each time you sterilise, you would then need to bend them back so they are taut for the next usage. Another "I think', but I would be worried about metal fatigue diminishing the lifespan of the hinges.

I've been pulling the whole hinge bit off my grolsch and shwelmer bottles for about ten years... all still working, although they have gotten a bit less use in te last few years since kegs happened.

I think the schwellmers are still be ceramic, and the grolsch used to be... but, they aren't the same anymore and they look like they are a hard sort of plastic now... might still be oven proof, dunno. I take em off.

Caleb... even with a really good rinse every time, straight after emptying the the bottle - try this, take an older one of your bottles and put in a teaspoon of nappisan and fill it with really hot water, leave it over night, then in the morning pick it up really carefully and give it a "spin" back and forward half a turn or so... a lovely "film" lifts off the inside of the bottle that you would have bet your mother was as clean as a whistle. Not that I nappisan the bottles every time or anything, but I try to do it every now and again for forms sake. The "film" is actually one of the reasons I like the dry heat sanitation... doesn't matter what crap is or might be in the bottle... if it gets heated up to 200C.... there is nothing alive in it even if was half an inch thick. Still icky... but sterile.

 

[newguy]

Re washing:
I'm truly shocked to hear about "films of crap" and "heaps of residue"!

Kinda makes my stomach turn too.

While judging at a competition I picked up a sample, had a sniff, and took a sip. .....That's odd.....what the hell is in my mouth?....Holy shit! Bleagh!

You know how a bottle will grow a......caterpillar......of mould at the bottom if you don't properly rinse it out? That's what I had in my mouth. I didn't see it even though the beer was clear. We asked for the 2nd bottle to be cracked after that. The 2nd bottle was clean, by the way. The weird thing is that the beer wasn't infected at all. The brewer's sanitation regime definitely worked.

 

[hoohaaman]

Kinda makes my stomach turn too.

While judging at a competition I picked up a sample, had a sniff, and took a sip. .....That's odd.....what the hell is in my mouth?....Holy shit! Bleagh!

You know how a bottle will grow a......caterpillar......of mould at the bottom if you don't properly rinse it out? That's what I had in my mouth. I didn't see it even though the beer was clear. We asked for the 2nd bottle to be cracked after that. The 2nd bottle was clean, by the way. The weird thing is that the beer wasn't infected at all. The brewer's sanitation regime definitely worked.

hehe,sometimes it's just the caterpillar

 

[AlexL]

Hey Guys,

is there a technique to 'foil capping' bottles before baking or is it as simple as wrapping some aluminium foil around the top of the bottle?

Alex

 

[RobB]

Hey Guys,

is there a technique to 'foil capping' bottles before baking or is it as simple as wrapping some aluminium foil around the top of the bottle?

Alex

Yep, as simple as that. I just use squares of foil about 10cm x 10cm.

 

[newguy]

Hey Guys,

is there a technique to 'foil capping' bottles before baking or is it as simple as wrapping some aluminium foil around the top of the bottle?

Alex

Nope, simple as that. Just make sure that they are shiny side out otherwise bacteria can penetrate the dull side and you'll have infected and metallic tasting beer.











Or I could be full of shit.

 

[syd_03]

Sorry if I am overcomplicating things, But how do you ensure an airtight seal when capping using this method? Or is airtight not necessary? If air could get in could this contaminte the surface?

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Sorry if I am overcomplicating things, But how do you ensure an airtight seal when capping using this method? Or is airtight not necessary? If air could get in could this contaminte the surface?

Bacteria cant "fly" or crawl, they can only drift on the breeze, usually sitting on a bit of dust. If it will keep out dust, it will keep out bacteria.

Actually Pasteur used open flasks with necks bent into an N shape to prove some of his theories about bacteria... even completely open to the air.. bacteria couldn't negotiate an uphill pathway to infect a nutrient broth.

here's a link to a quick explanation of the experiment - same principle applies to foil over the bottle lids

 

[Mantis]

Shit, its not rocket science guys. Rinse out the bottles the night you drink them or the next morning with hot water from the tap, a triple rinse. All the shite is rinsed out right.
When you want to use them put 6-8 at a time in the sink and pour some boiling water from your kettle in each and turn them up and shake the water out.
If you can just handle the bottles now, (hot as hell), how can any grub live in there.
No chemicals , no oven, (although I have done the oven thing for tomato sauce bottles, but they sit in the cupboard for a year).
I remember one bad bottle , and that was many years ago and not in this incarnation of brewing.

my 2c
h34r: