Sterilizing Bottle Tops

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I have about 20 330 ml stubbies that i use everynow and then. I have never sterilised the any caps and have not had a problem so far.

cheers
johnno
 
I sit all mine in the remains of the morgans sanitise ( non rinse hydrogen peroxie solution) that I have just rinsed the bottles with. Just pluck em out and shake off the excess before it goes on the bottle. Haven't noticed any probs with that so far.

Cheers

Borret
 
Just give mine a spray with Sanitise before capping. No probs so far either...

Shawn.
 
When I started I used to sterilise caps but I haven't done that for a long time and it doesn't cause any problems. When I open the pack I make sure they go into a clean sealed container & try to avoid putting my fingers on the insides when I cap them.
Dave, the Sod Met theory sounds reasonable. If you only need to add 1/8th of a teaspoon or so to prevent oxidation in the mash it stands to reason that the amount left inside a cap should have some effect. Hard to quantify though.
 
if you look at the caps carefully they are covered in a fine white dust (it is usually over the seal). I have always assumed that it is some kind of agent to keep them sterile.

Has anyone out there ever had an infection due to not sanitising caps?
 
Tim - the white powder is probably either talcum or similar to act as a 'lubricant' in the manufacturing proces, or else the dried spores of tuberculosis that the packer coughed all over them before loading them onto the donkey.

Seriously, why anyone would want to NOT sanitise their bottle caps is beyond me. How difficult is it?!

GOLDEN RULE OF BREWING #1:
SANITISE EVERYTHING THAT WILL COME INTO CONTACT WITH YOUR FERMENTED WORT

Also, my understanding of sodium met is that the FUMES do all the work - so submersing anything in sodium met solution does nothing. Please correct me if I'm wrong here.
 
Yup, I have the Terminator solution from sanitisng the bottles in an icecream container and toss the caps into that. If I spend 6 hours making a batch of beer I am not going to risk spoiling it by bottling it too soon or using caps that may not be sterile.

The sod met would not be strongly reducing without citric acid also being present. I keep sodium met for the customers that make wine.

Jovial Monk
 
Anybody know what the commercial breweries do?
 
RobW said:
Anybody know what the commercial breweries do?
[post="59882"][/post]​

Yes they sanitise everything - except their bottle caps, which they keep in a festering pile of dung behind the toilet block.

Excuse my cynicism :ph34r:
 
Wortgames said:
RobW said:
Anybody know what the commercial breweries do?
[post="59882"][/post]​

Yes they sanitise everything - except their bottle caps, which they keep in a festering pile of dung behind the toilet block.

Excuse my cynicism :ph34r:
[post="59888"][/post]​

You having a bad day wortgames? :lol:

Shawn.
 
Why am I not surprised commercial breweries keep festering piles of dung on premises?
 
Wortgames said:
RobW said:
Anybody know what the commercial breweries do?
[post="59882"][/post]​

Yes they sanitise everything - except their bottle caps, which they keep in a festering pile of dung behind the toilet block.

Excuse my cynicism :ph34r:
[post="59888"][/post]​


:lol: Johnno didn't put them there did he?

Warren -
 
Wortgames said:
RobW said:
Anybody know what the commercial breweries do?
[post="59882"][/post]​

Yes they sanitise everything - except their bottle caps, which they keep in a festering pile of dung behind the toilet block.

Excuse my cynicism :ph34r:
[post="59888"][/post]​

I'm more interested in how they deal with the issues in a high volume automated process.
Also, can you tell us what microorganisms live on clean bottle tops & survive in 5% alcohol?
 
Sorry RobW, I wasn't having a go at you particularly - it was just a cheap shot I couldn't resist B)

As for what microorganisms can live on clean bottle tops and survive in 5% alcohol - well, presumably the same ones that can live in clean bottles and kegs - and 5% alcohol really doesn't scare a lot of organisms, there are some that live in aircraft fuel tanks and feed on pure hydrocarbons. The point is, who wants to find out the ugly way?

Personally, I wouldn't imagine that bottlecap manufacturers are under any obligation to keep the things 'sanitary' - I'm sure it would be presumed that the consumer would take care of that. I wouldn't be surprised if there were traces of machine oil or anything on them. As for the mystery white powder, on reflection I would imagine it is some sort of dessicant added to keep the things DRY and therefore stop them rusting. Yummy.

Each to his own, and I'm normally a huge fan of thinking outside the box and questioning accepted norms, but rinsing and sanitising bottle caps (origin unknown, let's face it) seems like such a no-brainer to me.
 
Wortgames said:
RobW said:
Anybody know what the commercial breweries do?
[post="59882"][/post]​

Yes they sanitise everything - except their bottle caps, which they keep in a festering pile of dung behind the toilet block.

Excuse my cynicism :ph34r:
[post="59888"][/post]​
From my experience in England, small breweries rely on the bottles and caps being supplied virtually sterile. Only breweries that can afford fancy bottling lines have the ability to sterlise bottles, and those breweries aren't usually bottle conditioning.

On the other hand, I expect my homebrew to last much longer than experience tells me most commercial BCAs last.
 
RobW said:
Wortgames said:
RobW said:
Anybody know what the commercial breweries do?
[post="59882"][/post]​

Yes they sanitise everything - except their bottle caps, which they keep in a festering pile of dung behind the toilet block.

Excuse my cynicism :ph34r:
[post="59888"][/post]​

I'm more interested in how they deal with the issues in a high volume automated process.
Also, can you tell us what microorganisms live on clean bottle tops & survive in 5% alcohol?
[post="59896"][/post]​

Rob
If my memory serves me right,
places like CUB pasturize the packaged beer after its been put in a can/bottle.

cheers
johnno
 
No offense taken Wortgames. It's a slow Friday arvo & I was just keeping it going a bit. I've never seen the mystery white powder, all the caps I buy look very clean. I imagine there must be some standards for articles primarily designed for direct food contact.
Point remains that although you do have the high ground logically & scientifically, in practice not sterilising bottles & caps doesn't seem to cause problems as long as they are clean.
And I still want to know how automated bottling lines work - maybe I should do a tour of CUB some time :eek:
 
johnno said:
Rob
If my memory serves me right,
places like CUB pasturize the packaged beer after its been put in a can/bottle.

cheers
johnno
[post="59906"][/post]​

Thanks Johnno - so blindingly obvious when you stop & think. Do they use what's called flash pasteurisation?
 
RobW said:
johnno said:
Rob
If my memory serves me right,
places like CUB pasturize the packaged beer after its been put in a can/bottle.

cheers
johnno
[post="59906"][/post]​

Thanks Johnno - so blindingly obvious when you stop & think. Do they use what's called flash pasteurisation?
[post="59909"][/post]​
Rob,
I dont know what flash pasturization is. I do remember seeing all these tinnies coming out of a pretty gigantic machine on a conveyor belt. When i picked one up I noticed how hot it was and thought WTF? Thats when it was explained to me that they were pasturized.

cheers
johnno
 
I think it's when you raise the temperature really quickly which fits with what you described. Boiled beer - probably explains a few things ;)
 

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