Infection - What to do with the bottles?

[whovous]

My next to last batch, a Breaking Bud clone, has gone crazy sour on me and I've pitched the contents of the remaining bottles. I am pretty sure that whatever caused the infection was unique to that batch because the next batch with an "improved" recipe came out just fine. My guess is I mishandled the yeast in some fashion.

What, if anything, should I do with the "infected" bottles? My regular bottling process includes a quick StarSan rinse. Do I need to do anything more, or should I just not worry about it.

 

[day_trippr]

Nuke them from orbit :rockin:
Or, bleach bomb them...

Cheers!

 

[Jtk78]

I would personally toss them. 50 bottles are pretty cheap. Most of the I have were free, either from buying them with beer, or people giving them away to homebrewers. I'm sure others will say that's drastic, and they may very well be correct.

 

[SlitheryDee]

If you really wanted to be certain you could sanitize them by boiling them. I think I'd start heating with them already in the water to avoid the potential for thermal breakage.

 

[MrPowers]

I'd just bleach them and then rinse them really well (or boil them). Then proceed with your normal bottling regimen.

 

[whovous]

Arrrggghh. All my empties are mixed together. I may have to learn how to bleach em all!

 

[foam_top]

Do you keg any of your homebrew? I noticed you have brewing a few years longer than I but I still bottle too. It's things like this that make kegging start to sound really nice.

 

[flars]

Arrrggghh. All my empties are mixed together. I may have to learn how to bleach em all!

As has been said bleaching will take care of any residual infectious material.
Ten minutes in a solution of 3/4 cup of bleach to a gallon of water will clean the bottles. Rinse well and store upside down to drip dry. You can also leave them in the bleach solution longer without worry.

Luckily glass will not hold infectious material nor the aroma from bleach after soaking in the solution.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Throw the bottles away. They are cheap. And if you drink craft beer just clean those and reuse them.
My attic is so full of bottles that I will never use it's ridiculous. I don't even think twice about tossing a Boyle now and then if it's got a little mold or something because I know there are 400 more to take it's place.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Clean the bottles first with PBW or Oyclean and a bottle brush. After cleaning, sanitize with Saniclean or Starsan. You shouldn't have problems after doing that!

 

[whovous]

Throw the bottles away. They are cheap. And if you drink craft beer just clean those and reuse them.
My attic is so full of bottles that I will never use it's ridiculous. I don't even think twice about tossing a Boyle now and then if it's got a little mold or something because I know there are 400 more to take it's place.

I think I will go the bleach route. I drink plenty of craft beer, but too many labels are a pain to remove.

 

[Draken]

Soak them in PBW or oxyclean overnight. Rinse very well and let them dry, then bake them 90 min at 300 degrees. Put a piece of aluminum foil on top of each. I would stick them in then turn the oven on. It will lower the thermal difference between glass and air and minimize or prevent breakage. Also let them cool in the oven before trying to move them.

 

[whovous]

Guys, these bottles are fundamentally clean.

 

[kh54s10]

Bleach, heat or Starsan. Glass does not harbor contaminates like plastic can. It should be relatively easy to get rid of the nasties.

 

[secondbase]

I would do a PBW or oxyclean soak followed by starsan. I reuse bottles for sour and clean beers and have not had an issue.

 

[whovous]

Bleach, heat or Starsan. Glass does not harbor contaminates like plastic can. It should be relatively easy to get rid of the nasties.

Is Starsan alone enough? It seems likely to be the easiest.

 

[kh54s10]

I would make sure they are completely clean first, then maybe mix up a batch of Starsan at a stronger dilution and soak the bottles for a while. Store the bottles, then before filling them, another Starsan rinse at normal strength.

 

[balrog]

Bleach. Kills everything. StarSan is a great bacteriacide. Bacteria. Only. Mold, fungus, yeast need bleach.

 

[Draken]

So here's my thing, a PBW soak and star san should be sufficient. The oven is just a CYA measure.

Star san alone is insufficient. If there is organic build in the bottles, that can hide wild yeast or bacteria and star san might not be able to penetrate the clump. You must soak the bottles in PBW, not fill them with a PBW mixture.

If you don't have the ability to soak the bottles in PBW then the oven becomes required. Any scratches on the glass are likely to form around the cap area, filling them with PBW might not break down organic sin the scratches due to the location and harbor wild yuck. Then you cap and you've sealed the crazy in the bottle with your beer.