Bottling?

[Yob]

so i was bottling last week, and realised at the last minute that i didn't have any sanitiser left. so i just used some detergent/hot water (they were new PET bottles). what do you guys think the chance of infection would be? would i have to be unlucky, or am i doomed to failure?

I hope you rinsed them very well, detergent affects head retention. As they are PET if you do pick up an infection in some of them they will be easy to identify.

Good luck

 

[mwd]

so i was bottling last week, and realised at the last minute that i didn't have any sanitiser left. so i just used some detergent/hot water (they were new PET bottles). what do you guys think the chance of infection would be? would i have to be unlucky, or am i doomed to failure?

New bottles should be fairly clean. Can't see you being doomed to failure. Did you rinse out the detergent afterwards? You might get a soapy taste to your beer. Some bottles may get infected but most probably not all. Keep a close eye on the bottles after a week or so for any that appear over carbonated. Good Luck I am sure you will be pretty much A.O.K.

 

[fergyle]

thanks guys. and yep, thoroughly rinsed out the detergent afterwards. it's been over a week now and they appear to be fine, but i guess i'll just have to wait until i crack them!

what should i look for when tasting for infections? i'm assuming it wont always be obvious...

 

[Pennywise]

There's a good section in the online version of "How To Brew" by John Palmer, which is a pretty good start to get some ideas of what flavours can come through and how to identify them.