Pet Bottle Caps

[Andyd]

G'day all,

A quick question from a bottling neophite...when using PET bottles, do you re-use the caps, and if so how many times before they are justnot safe anymore?

I'd have thought that the gap between the cap and the seal would be the perfect harbor for all sorts of nasties, so I was hesitant to reuse them at all.

Also noticed that none of the PET components are well suited to heat sanitation techniques (I use an old baby bottle steralizer to prepare my gear when doing any yeast culturing, and figured that the bottles should be similarly treated - which is fine as long as you intended to convert those 750ml bottles into 380ml stubbies )

Thanks,

Andy

 

[jupiter]

they are cheap, so i replace them after 3 uses give or take. i remove the tamper proof seal before first use. the used caps i keep in a jar of iodophor solution (any no-rinse is ok i guess) before next use.

 

[braufrau]

Also noticed that none of the PET components are well suited to heat sanitation techniques (I use an old baby bottle steralizer to prepare my gear when doing any yeast culturing, and figured that the bottles should be similarly treated - which is fine as long as you intended to convert those 750ml bottles into 380ml stubbies )

Can you get the 750ml bottles in the baby steriliser? I guess the PETE ones are a bit squatter than a
long neck aren't they?
I wanted to pressue cook a 2l bottle, wort and all, but the polycarbonate one I have
is too tall for my PC.
Anyone know of a squat 2l, autoclavable bottle? Those glass fruit juice flagons don't fit either.

 

[geoffi]

Can you get the 750ml bottles in the baby steriliser? I guess the PETE ones are a bit squatter than a
long neck aren't they?
I wanted to pressue cook a 2l bottle, wort and all, but the polycarbonate one I have
is too tall for my PC.
Anyone know of a squat 2l, autoclavable bottle? Those glass fruit juice flagons don't fit either.

Seems like a lot of effort to me. I just give the bottles a scrub with a bottle brush and detergent, a good rinse, then a swish of iodophor before bottling. I've never had any kind of infection in these bottles. And I don't know how many times I've reused the lids.

 

[delboy]

WELL the first post is on the mark yep the seal can and will hold all sorts of nasties but saying that i used mine several times before i had the horror of the dreded lurgy in 5 batches i enter 5 different beers in a show and all were stuffed so i lost the lot .
had to tip it all down the drain :angry:

found that there were alians growning under the blue seal and 7 / 10 times the seal will be damaged afert first use. start collecting glass long necks now and replace the lid every time its alot safer than leaving it to fate .
cause one day you will make the great beer you have ever made and then you will be hit with an alian in your brew. ever herd of "MURPHY AND HIS BLOODY LAW" :blink:

DEL

 

[chris.taylor.98]

braufrau,

I know this is slightly off topic, but I have recently had some success sterilising wort just using a big pot with a weight on it. For sterilisation to occur you only need to get the temperature up around 121C for 15mins, which equates to about 15psi in the sterilisation vessel.

Got the idea from Scott Hamilton's slant preparation site:

http://scott-hamilton.blogspot.com/2006/11...st-storage.html

Used to be able to get similar pots from the Warehouse for about $20.

I just used 380ml stubbies with caps resting on top of them and sterilised the whole lot. Have not seemed to have any problems so far after about 6 weeks.

In answer to your question Geoffi, you need to sterilise wort if you want to keep it at room temperature ... as I found out the hard way it will become infected very quickly otherwise.

 

[braufrau]

Geoffi,

I was only contemplating autoclaving bottles for yeats culture.
Imagine autoclaving 60 stubbies! It would take all week.

I know this is slightly off topic, but I have recently had some success sterilising wort just using a big pot with a weight on it. For sterilisation to occur you only need to get the temperature up around 121C for 15mins, which equates to about 15psi in the sterilisation vessel.

Thanks Chris.
That's a good suggestion. I'm a bit sceptical that T would get to 121 since my sealed pressure cooker
only gets a bit hotter than that. But still it will be better than boiling in the mivrowave.

 

[boingk]

PETE bottle caps are going well for me at the moment, every time I reuse them I just rinse them under really hot tap water for a few seconds each then shake excess water off them and put straight back onto the sterilised bottles [2 - 3 rinses each with hot tap water]. No infections so far...but I'll be replacing the caps after 3 to 5 brews from now on, the seals are getting worn I just noticed.