Bottle Washing
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I have a Vinator, and tree; pre-cleaned and dry bottles stored upside down in cases. I use the vinator to put a dozen or so on the tree after StarSan, then take 4-6 to the open dishwasher door, fill, cap, repeat.
I am trying to avoid what I used to do which was completely fill the tree with a whole batch's worth of bottles, as they will dry out by the time I get to the bottom of the tree and I've read StarSan must remain wet to remain effective sanitizer.
I am trying to avoid what I used to do which was completely fill the tree with a whole batch's worth of bottles, as they will dry out by the time I get to the bottom of the tree and I've read StarSan must remain wet to remain effective sanitizer.
Ya, that is what I was a bit worried about. I was thinking about how last time I had bottled I just left them on the tree after I used the vinator with starsan. The Tree isn't sanitized so I was a bit worried the bottles might not be sanitized properly.
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Oh, I definitely put the tree through the bucket of StarSan before starting, and spray bottle with StarSan each "peg" before putting a bottle on. Always spray, always wet, always StarSan.
OP theres a min contact time for starsan to be effective(think its 30seconds or so). Spray tree(probably not neccessary but I do it anyway). Rinse bottles on vinator, stack on tree, start bottling. dont worry about them drying out as you fill
Yeah I just rinse all of the bottles I'm going to use at once and put them on the tree wet. I guess you could spray the tree before, but I always figured all of the dripping starsan would be enough to sanitize the parts of the tree that are touching the bottles. And it's not a big deal if they dry out. I'm sure there is little if any contamination that will get inside an upside down bottle between when you sanitized and when you fill it up (as long as you're not waiting a day or something).
Not sure if it's the BEST cleaning method, but here's what I do to clean my swing-top bottles in batches.
First, rinse out the bottles with normal water. Then put a quarter-teaspoon of Resolve (dollar store Oxi-clean knockoff) into each bottle and top up with warm water; I do it in the (clean) kitchen sink so overflow isn't a problem. Give the Resolve ten minutes to work, and wipe down the outside of the bottles as needed.
Pour out the Resolve, and start filling the sink with warm water and add a half-ounce of StarSan. Stand the bottles up in the sink and start scooping the StarSan water into the bottles. Once they're full, cover the opening with your thumb and lay the bottle down so it's completely submerged while still being full of StarSan water, and the swing cap is submerged too. Do that with as many bottles as can lay down underwater in the sink, and leave them there ten minutes.
Then just pour the water back into the sink, close the swing-tops, and dry off the outside of the bottles. They should stay sanitized until you open them again to fill them.
First, rinse out the bottles with normal water. Then put a quarter-teaspoon of Resolve (dollar store Oxi-clean knockoff) into each bottle and top up with warm water; I do it in the (clean) kitchen sink so overflow isn't a problem. Give the Resolve ten minutes to work, and wipe down the outside of the bottles as needed.
Pour out the Resolve, and start filling the sink with warm water and add a half-ounce of StarSan. Stand the bottles up in the sink and start scooping the StarSan water into the bottles. Once they're full, cover the opening with your thumb and lay the bottle down so it's completely submerged while still being full of StarSan water, and the swing cap is submerged too. Do that with as many bottles as can lay down underwater in the sink, and leave them there ten minutes.
Then just pour the water back into the sink, close the swing-tops, and dry off the outside of the bottles. They should stay sanitized until you open them again to fill them.
I used a Vinator. I do all the bottles, put them on the dishwasher rack, fill all the crimp the caps. It doesn't take long enough to allow the Starsan to dry.
I mostly keg now.
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I mostly keg now.
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kombat
Well-Known Member
My process:
Gather empty bottles on floor in basement until I have enough to clean. Fill a Home Depot bucket with hot water and a scoop of OxyClean Free. Submerge as many bottles as will fit in the bucket, leave them for a day. Most of the labels float right off. For the few that don't, I just recycle them, as they use a different glue and it's not worth the effort.
A day later, I fill another bucket with room-temperature water. I take each bottle out of the OxyClean soak and scrub it with a sponge to get any glue residue off, then dunk it in the bucket of plain water and scrub again to wash any OxyClean residue off the outside. I then place the bottles in my sink (a.k.a. laundry tub) until they've all been cleaned.
I attach the jet bottle rinser to the faucet, turn on the cold water, and thoroughly rinse out the insides of all bottles, hanging them on the bottling tree to drain and dry.
Days later, I come back and cover the top of each bottle with a small square of aluminum foil, pressing it around the mouth so it's a snug fit. I store the clean, dry, sealed bottles in boxes until they're needed.
If I'm bottling from a keg, I'll put the box of bottles in a fridge/freezer for a few minutes before bottling. I then bring my (empty) bottling tree over to the bottling area, and pour some StarSan into the Vinator mounted on top. One by one, I take each bottle out of the box, remove the foil covering over the mouth, give it a few shots of StarSan with the Vinator, then fill it and cap it.
Gather empty bottles on floor in basement until I have enough to clean. Fill a Home Depot bucket with hot water and a scoop of OxyClean Free. Submerge as many bottles as will fit in the bucket, leave them for a day. Most of the labels float right off. For the few that don't, I just recycle them, as they use a different glue and it's not worth the effort.
A day later, I fill another bucket with room-temperature water. I take each bottle out of the OxyClean soak and scrub it with a sponge to get any glue residue off, then dunk it in the bucket of plain water and scrub again to wash any OxyClean residue off the outside. I then place the bottles in my sink (a.k.a. laundry tub) until they've all been cleaned.
I attach the jet bottle rinser to the faucet, turn on the cold water, and thoroughly rinse out the insides of all bottles, hanging them on the bottling tree to drain and dry.
Days later, I come back and cover the top of each bottle with a small square of aluminum foil, pressing it around the mouth so it's a snug fit. I store the clean, dry, sealed bottles in boxes until they're needed.
If I'm bottling from a keg, I'll put the box of bottles in a fridge/freezer for a few minutes before bottling. I then bring my (empty) bottling tree over to the bottling area, and pour some StarSan into the Vinator mounted on top. One by one, I take each bottle out of the box, remove the foil covering over the mouth, give it a few shots of StarSan with the Vinator, then fill it and cap it.
Wow, I thought I was being obsessive with my bottle cleaning/sanitizing method, but it's nothing compared to what some of you guys are doing!
My method for each bottle is immediately after I pour it in my glass I'll fill it to the top and shake it upside down to empty it three times (that's three separate fills). Then I put it on the bottle tree, and that's it until I bottle.
When I'm ready to bottle, I fill a 2 gallon bucket with starsan, fill and empty each bottle, and put them back on the tree. Then I fill all the bottles. Then I go back and crimp all the bottles. Then I'm done.
There were a couple batches where I removed the labels, but it's just too much work for me. Now I just leave them on. It's kind of fun to look back and remember the beers that I've had in past. Sometimes I'll see one and think, "Oh yeah, I should get that again!"
My method for each bottle is immediately after I pour it in my glass I'll fill it to the top and shake it upside down to empty it three times (that's three separate fills). Then I put it on the bottle tree, and that's it until I bottle.
When I'm ready to bottle, I fill a 2 gallon bucket with starsan, fill and empty each bottle, and put them back on the tree. Then I fill all the bottles. Then I go back and crimp all the bottles. Then I'm done.
There were a couple batches where I removed the labels, but it's just too much work for me. Now I just leave them on. It's kind of fun to look back and remember the beers that I've had in past. Sometimes I'll see one and think, "Oh yeah, I should get that again!"
sompls
Well-Known Member
+1 to this
Ha! Even the part about not de-labeling them anymore
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Ha! Even the part about not de-labeling them anymore
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This is the same way I do my bottles. I was getting a bit worried that I was the only one doing it this way
I have a 5 gallon bucket (with lid) filled with water and PBW (recycled from carboy soaking). As I empty bottles I put them in the bucket. When the bucket is full of bottles I scrub the inside of each bottle with a bottle brush, rinse in clean, hot water, dry them on my FastRack and then store them until Bottling Day. On bottling day I use a 5 gallon bucket filled with StarSan to fill each bottle with StarSan, soak for a minimum of two minutes and then empty the bottles and put them on the FastRack. Then I bottle. I haven't had an infection yet. (Knock on wood...)
