Steriizing Bottles

[Lobsta]

I use a simplified version of Lobsta's method. Mainly because I caught a wierd chemical taste in a couple of bottles of one of my early batches :icon_drool2: . It was probably in my head, but to satisfy the doubt, and go a bit more chemical free I do this:

Night before bottling day: load the oven with rinsed bottles. Take them up to 200degC Switch the oven off and go to bed. Check SWMBO is not making scones the next day. Next day, prep the bottling area and when set, go and carefully load a crate of now cool, sterile bottles. Fill & cap.

When drinking, remember to rinse twice with cold water and store inverted until dry. Once dry, I cardboard box them (empty wine cases are good) to keep the dust out. If I'm good about the rinsing, I can usually go from the box straight to the oven next bottling day. Not that hard really IMHO.

apart from the foil caps, that is pretty much my method told in a lot less words (i tend to use a lot of words sometimes). i use the foil caps coz sometimes i am bottling a day or 2 after i bake.

the temps i got from another forum member i think, im not sure who, but i do know that even at 180 degrees, sustained heat of 30 mins is required to get sterilisation, and the 220 is for good measure. call it an OCD science student thing.

Lobby

 

[beernography]

I keep my bottles in laundy baskets outside when they're dirty, then haul the *******/s inside one dreary day when it's time to bottle them. I have a stack of milkcrates to the right of the sink, lined with fresh newspaper which the inverted bottles go into once rinsed. The crate is sealed up with newspaper, then put aside to be sanitised on bottling day, when they are returned to the crates once dunked to drip dry until their calling.

I've used the oven method before, but find it too arduous unless I'm having a double brew/bottle AND beef jerky making day...I'm lazy by nature and don't like making work for myself

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Due to the fact I am lazy and forget to rinse, I fill mine up with Napi-san and let them soak, then rinse with hot water.

 

[jdsaint]

well I might give the oven bake a shot, but I am clean with my bottles as after they are empty they are rinsed in hot water inverted upside down, put back in the carton they come from, then on brew day washed with neo pink, rinsed 10 seconds l8ter with cold tap water, and inverted upside down to dry. once dry they are filled with the golden liquid.

Ps: my fermenter (my 1st) was sitting in the garden shed for 10 months before it was used again. so cause I brewing again, I pulled it out, to give it a clean. Opened the lid and nearly blue my head off, the smell of sodium metabisulphite
(which I no longer use) was so strong still in that fermenter after 10 months. I now own 3 fermenters were none have a strong chemical smell no more