Coles 2l Sparkling Water - Sanitize Or Not?

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leevalentine001

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Hi,

I desperately needed some bottles last night and bought 10 2L Coles sparking water bottles.

I figured if they've only had water inside they should be pretty much sterile and bottled some cider into them without using sanitizer first.

Anyone reckon this is a bad idea? Or should it be fine? They weren't exposed to air for long. I poured all the water into another fermenter which needed cleaning then went straight to bottling.

Cheers,

Lee
 
Plastic bottles I assume? Curious to know why you didn't sanitise them, if you're bottling wouldn't you normally have a no rinse sanitiser solution handy for that process? If not you should.

But I guess you're right...if you poured the water out of them and filled 'em pretty quick, it'd be unlikely they contain any infection. And if they're plastic, it'll be easy enough to tell when they're fully carbed and you can pasteurise them in a pot on the stove.
 
Yeah they are plastic bottles. I have iodophor but it's not great. Needs 1ml per litre which is a pain to measure. And it has a strong smell, it stains like crazy etc. I really need to work out what to get, or buy good no-rinse online. Iodophor says it's no-rinse but I wouldn't want a single drop of it in my brew.

But the main reason is that I didn't get home from work until late as I had to see a client that's about 2 hours away. By the time I was home, had dinner etc and was ready to bottle there was very little time left until it got dark. So I just wanted to get it over with.

Someone (might have been you) did link me a no-rinse sanitizer but I forgot what it's called and recently formatted my HDD and lost my bookmarks. I clean all my bottles out as soon as I've finished drinking them, but I don't fill them with sanitizer until just before I'm ready to bottle. So finding something that's fast-acting as well as no-rinse and has little - no odor is what I need to do.
 
If you drain iodophor you won't taste it, I haven't anyway. Dilute it down to the instructions and it doesn't add smell or flavours to the brew.

Was the name of the sanitizer starsan?
 
Ah, I went back through the thread and found it. Juzdu suggested "Morgans No Rinse Sanitise" and provided this link: POWER LINK!

Might order some online while I still have some money left in the bank (damn you December).
 
Any pharmacy will sell syringes. 3ml is a good size for the job.

Ergh, syringes gross me out so much. Immature, I know :p But just the sight of them makes me cringe. I guess if I use them often for brewing it may help desensitize me a bit. Last time I saw a syringe was when I cut a tendon on my hand (few weeks ago, still recovering) and ended up having 16 needs (4 of which were while I was unconscious at least LOL).
 
The product from Morgans is quite expensive compared to Starsan. It's just the body of the syringe, no needle. I hope your hand is mending well. It sounds like a nasty cut.
 
You might be able to get a graduated dropper instead of syringe?

Forget the Morgans, go for the Starsan. Dollar for dollar the Starsan will last a LOT longer.
 
The product from Morgans is quite expensive compared to Starsan. It's just the body of the syringe, no needle. I hope your hand is mending well. It sounds like a nasty cut.

$3.90 for 1.5lb is expensive? How cheap is Starsan then?! I imagine you would only use a small amount of it (40ml maybe) per litre? Generally 500ml is enough to clean all the bottles, just transferring the solution from one bottle to the next with a funnel. Giving each bottle a good shake. That's why I need something strong, as the solution is only in each bottle for about 20 seconds. Will Starsan do the job?
 
Hmm, just looked it up, 1.5ml per litre is great. And doesn't stain - perfect. Looks like I'm buying some.
 
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