Worth cleaning out? Or risk not worth reward?

Hi guys. I gabe away a couple homebrews recently to a friend. As my bottle supply is still pretty low i asked him to keep the bottles for me after he drank em. And to rinse them out of course after finishing off a bottle.

Well he went one for two. He kept the bottles but did not rinse them. The yeast is very dried and caked on so my question is. Is it ok to scrub and clean out the cake? Or could there possibly be some sort of yeast infection in there that no amount of elbow grease or starsan can take care of. Will the risk of infection always be greater in these bottles if i decide to use them again? Thanks.

Put in ~1tsp of oxiclean and hot water. Let it soak for a couple hours and rinse it a few times; then sanitize.

AZ knows what's up ;-)

I've had nasty bottles returned. I fill them with hot water to soften up the dried up funk...use a bottle brush to get it scrubbed off, then repeat with an oxyclean solution. After another rinse...I starsan and fill. Never had had any problems.

hot water, bottle brush, elbow grease, good to go.

Glass is such a popular item for storage and drinking of beverages, AND things like acids in a lab, is that few things penetrate it. And they clean really easily. Just soak everything in oxclean and hot water for a day or so, and all the gunk with lift away. Then rinse and sanitize as usual.

And be sure to have a tasty brew in hand while cleaning!

Revvy said:

Just soak everything in oxclean and hot water for a day or so, and all the gunk with lift away.

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I agree. Guess I'm just lazy, but if an oxiclean soak doesn't work, it goes into recycling. Not worth the time or effort to take a brush to it.

AnOldUR said:

I agree. Guess I'm just lazy, but if an oxiclean soak doesn't work, it goes into recycling. Not worth the time or effort to take a brush to it.

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I agree.

Thanks guys I have them soaking in hot water/ oxyclean now. Appreciate the advice.

Sounds like a Job for OxyClean!

Stick'em in a trash can with a lttle OxyClean and cool water... let them sit for a few days and when you are ready rinsce them out with hot water....

Good as new

DPBISME said:

Stick'em in a trash can with a lttle OxyClean and cool water... let them sit for a few days ....

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From my experience, this is bad advice. For me, much over 24 hours and OxyClean leaves a filmy layer that’s difficult to remove.

AnOldUR said:

From my experience, this is bad advice. For me, much over 24 hours and OxyClean leaves a filmy layer that’s difficult to remove.

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Interesting. I have been able to get that film off without a problem between the soak and starsan. I wonder if it's related to the softness/hardness of individual water supply.

Could be my water (although I've heard others report the same thing), but regardless, it doesn't take days for OxiClean to work. The bubbly, oxygen action stops working. If it hasn't removed the crud over night, it ain't happening.

One of my back up LHBS told me to use baking soda and hot water to help remove crud from the bottom of the bottle. I have not done this but from my experience it leaves a film that is impossible to get off.

AnOldUR said:

Could be my water (although I've heard others report the same thing), but regardless, it doesn't take days for OxiClean to work. The bubbly, oxygen action stops working. If it hasn't removed the crud over night, it ain't happening.

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Oh man, on super cruddy krausen rings, I'll leave that stuff on for a few days. I just wait until the crud just falls off the walls so I don't have any scrubbing at all to do. Love it.

BulldogBrewer said:

I'll leave that stuff on for a few days.

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From OxiClean FAQ:

How long will OxiClean™ Versatile Stain Remover continue working after I mix it with water?
The cleaning strength of OxiClean™ will remain active for 6 hours after mixing. Dispose of unused solution after 6 hours by pouring into a drain or toilet.

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My normal procedure is oxy soak overnight using hot water, run a bottle brush through bottle with a couple twists, load in dishwasher, and run a rinse cycle.

BulldogBrewer said:

Interesting. I have been able to get that film off without a problem between the soak and starsan. I wonder if it's related to the softness/hardness of individual water supply.

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I've used and recommended for years a soak in any weak acid solution, I've done lemon and water, vinegar and water and starsan, with rinsing they've all worked.

Oh, man. I've done worse than that. Here's a bottle I got from the redemption center. No problems after a bath in OxyClean.

AnOldUR said:

From my experience, this is bad advice. For me, much over 24 hours and OxyClean leaves a filmy layer that’s difficult to remove.

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I typically only give them a half hour to an hour in warm water with OC. A quick spin with the bottle brush and it cleans them out and the labels fall right off.

A thorough rinse, of course.

When I get bottles returned with funk...I consider bottling on top of that for the reject that didn't clean my bottle!

Sounds to me like a good excuse to head down to the local Liquor Emporium and pick up some new, pre-filled beer bottles.

I don't worry too much about getting my bottles back, as I find I buy enough bottles of craft beer here and there to keep a decent supply on hand. However, I reserve my good flip-top Grolsch bottles for when I want to bring some brew to a party, for my own consumption. I don't trust others with my flip-top bottles. Can't risk losing those babies.

AnOldUR said:

From my experience, this is bad advice. For me, much over 24 hours and OxyClean leaves a filmy layer that’s difficult to remove.

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Yep you are correct but I use a low concentration of OxyClean...

So duration more than concentration.

I also use cold water to the soak and hot water for the rinse.

It is my understanding is that part of the reason a film is as the water cools it deposits on the glass.

So far this has worked well for me.

looneybomber said:

My normal procedure is oxy soak overnight using hot water, run a bottle brush through bottle with a couple twists, load in dishwasher, and run a rinse cycle.

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I really doubt your dishwasher is getting enough water way up into the bottles to rinse them effectively.

I have a pretty elaborate washing/de-labeling/rinsing setup. I'll have to post a video one day.

Bottle washing doesn't need to be elaborate :cross:

As others posted, quick soak in oxy, scrub with bottle brush if there's thick gunk at the bottom. Labels should fall right off after the soak, then maybe hit the bottles real quick with steel wool to remove glue residue. Rinse with hot water, done. Dunk in star san right before bottling. If you have a routine any more elaborate than that, it's just wasted time/resources.

Not massively more elaborate. I built a 3-6 bottle automatic rinser (and sanitizer) with an acquarium pump and some CPVC and drilled a basin stopper to slowly allow rinse water drain while fresh water is added at the same rate from the faucet.

I can clean, de-label and rinse most bottles in under a minute now (and do 6 at a time).... Have I mentioned I hate washing bottles and love automation?

This was brought on as I get $1 credit for Grolsch bottles at my LHBS and acquire them from my local redemption center for $0.25 each. I pretty much put $45/hour of new brew money in my pocket every batch of bottles.

AnOldUR said:

I agree. Guess I'm just lazy, but if an oxiclean soak doesn't work, it goes into recycling. Not worth the time or effort to take a brush to it.

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Another agree.

I also don't let beer go to folks who return bottles like that.

Short soak in mild acid soln and jet washer has always done the trick for me.

spend the 15 bucks on a jet bottle washer and never look back.

techbrewie said:

spend the 15 bucks on a jet bottle washer and never look back.

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Was just about to post this...
I let my bottles pile up for a couple days and blast hot water thru them, had a couple look like this bottle and the washer broke all the debris loose.

+1 oxyclean and warm water soak. I also use a hose with a high pressure nozzle and that always does the trick.

I don't know that I would use Oxyclean in an application like brewing you really don't know that it is safe for human consumption. Also you know that it comes out of China. I prefer PBW because 5 Star took the time to get the certifications for brewery use. And honestly it works better and quicker.

You rinse it off, you don't "consume" it. And while I agree PBW is an amazing product, it's considerably more expensive than Oxyclean, and only marginally more effective, in my experience.

Well you hope that it washes off

No hating on OxiClean... It's what I use and it was pitched by Billy Mays. Look at him he's as healthy as a.... oh, wait... never mind.

Dave37 said:

Is it ok to scrub and clean out the cake? Or could there possibly be some sort of yeast infection in there that no amount of elbow grease or starsan can take care of. Will the risk of infection always be greater in these bottles if i decide to use them again? Thanks.

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Do you have an oven? how about a pot to boil water in that is tall enough to submerge these bottles in? If you answered yes, (which im sure you did) then you are in luck. All you have to do is scrub out that yeast cake and either war the bottle up to the temperature that'll kill the bacteria and sanatize the bottles (what that temperature is im not sure) or you can let each bottle sit in the pot full of boiling water for five to ten minutes. This may be a bit overkill but I have never heard of people getting an infection using this method.

I don't hate Oxyclean I use it in the laundry all the time just not 100% sure that it is food safe.