P.E.T bottles

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NuggetSA

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G'day,
Just wondering if anyone else has any hints on washing the Coopers PET bottles? I've been given 12 cartons of them so figure I may as well use them but I'm worried the bottle brush I normally use might be too abrasive and make scratches for all the little nasties to live in. They're mostly new but a few still have old brew (2007!) in them so will need a good scrub.

Cheers :)
 
Soak in sodium percarbonate will take care of it. Basically anything you do to wash a fermenter (assuming PET) will be fine.
 
Don't scrub them! Give them a soak in some bleach or napisan, and then a good rinse with hot water. Sanitise and fill with the amber goodness.

From then on, just give them a good hot water wash each time you finish with one, and store. When ready to use again give another rinse and starsan.
 
Yep I've been using PETs for well over 12 months now I found washing out after having a bottle makes life much easier!!
 
Easy, thanks guys - I guess if they get too ratty I can just chuck 'em seeing as they were free ;)
 
tricache said:
Yep I've been using PETs for well over 12 months now I found washing out after having a bottle makes life much easier!!
You guys know you're talking about bottles that have had beer in them for over 5 years, right?

Long soak in a powerful cleaner.
 
bum said:
You guys know you're talking about bottles that have had beer in them for over 5 years, right?

Long soak in a powerful cleaner.
Yep, if that doesn't work then biff 'em. They're cheap as chips anyway. :)
 
Filling my washing tub with hot water and sodium perc as I type :)

The garden is going to smell like a port-a-loo at Schützenfest once I've finished tipping this old beer out - think it was a dark ale but smells like wine now.
 
NuggetSA said:
Filling my washing tub with hot water and sodium perc as I type :)

The
garden is going to smell like a port-a-loo at Schützenfest once I've
finished tipping this old beer out - think it was a dark ale but smells
like wine now.
For the bottles with tough dried out gunk you're probably better off filling
them with the sod.perc and forget about them for a couple of weeks for a
long soak (give them shake now and then).
 
Just be careful with hot water, some PET bottles like to deform with water which is too hot
 
NZ hot tap water is generally around the 50 - 55 degree mark, the PET bottles have no trouble with that. Not sure what it's like in your neck of the woods though...
 
Ours is about 55, so far so good - surprisingly the gunk is washing out just with a bit of hot water and a good shake. Will leave them to soak for a bit anyway.
 
Yeah, definately soak anyway...better safe than sorry, and don't forget to do the lids too. When done, Starsan and seal 'em up.
 
Dry them, close them up, starsan (or similar) immediately before use.

You don't want to store them wet for any length of time - even if that moisture is starsan.
 
When I end up using them are they best stored upright or can they be stored on their side? I usually store my beer on its side in an insulated cupboard I made up for them, never had any issues with glass but not sure if there would be any issues with PET?
 
Upright is generally considered better for all homebrew bottles but if sideways works for you with glass then it will work for you with PET.
 
Probably a stupid question but any idea why upright is better? Just "hows its done" or is there some science to it? Sorry, really am still a newbie even though I should know better...
 
NuggetSA said:
Probably a stupid question but any idea why upright is better? Just "hows its done" or is there some science to it? Sorry, really am still a newbie even though I should know better...
Easier to pour out the beer and leave the sediment behind if it's at the bottom of the bottle.
 
^yep, that one.
 
[facepalm]

Of course. Completely logical. Never occurred to me, but makes perfect sense.

I won't try and hide behind the "I'm a South Aussie so we rrrroll our beer before drinking, we like the cloudy..." excuse.
 
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