I want an AWESOME bottle brush!

[Ike]

OK, it seems like such a simple thing, but it is a source of serious annoyance for me: I can't find a decent bottle brush!

The ones I have so far are one from a home goods store that is too short to reach to the bottom of the bottle, and probably wouldn't even have much scrubbing action if it got there. The other one I have is the one that came with my original homebrew kit: it's not long enough to get to the bottom of a carboy but can get to the bottom of a bottle. That's cool, but the bristles are getting beaten up simply by the act of slipping it into and out of the 12 ounce longnecks. Over the past couple of days I've been trying to clean some used flip-top bottles I bought and the brush has suffered: the tighter opening in the flip-tops is deforming the brush head terribly, and it doesn't have the oomph to really clean the deposits off the bottle.

Everything I see at the LHBS seems similar to the one I'm using now. Everything I see on Amazon gets mixed reviews or obviously won't fit my needs.


SO: where did you get your favorite bottle brush? Do you know the manufacturer? Post a picture? Explain how you modified it to fit your needs?
Inquiring minds want to know!

Ike

 

[RobInOre]

I can't help in your quest for the ultimate bottle brush, sorry.

However, for cleaning bottles an overnight soak in Oxyclean and a rinse with a jet style bottle washer reduces the need for a magic bottle brush.

 

[unionrdr]

I have the common bottle brush found at the lhbs. Been using it for some 4 years now & bristles are still in their proper shape. And I use some German bottles with the narrow opening/neck as well. no deformities. Maybe try not to be too aggressive with it?

 

[Homercidal]

THIS is the brush I use. I actually accidentally bought two when I lost the first one and found it again. I keg and never really used it until recently, but now that I have I love it. I have a high speed cordless drill and this thing cleans the bottom and insides quickly and easily with that drill.

After a hot water soak to remove labels I put just a bit of water in the bottle, shove the thing down in there, and spend maybe 8-10 seconds most to clean it up. The tip can be pushed against the bottom to scrub, and the flaps wipe the sides.

Compared to this, the old fashioned brushes suck ass. You heard it from me.

 

[DNKDUKE]

THIS is the brush I use. I actually accidentally bought two when I lost the first one and found it again. I keg and never really used it until recently, but now that I have I love it. I have a high speed cordless drill and this thing cleans the bottom and insides quickly and easily with that drill.

After a hot water soak to remove labels I put just a bit of water in the bottle, shove the thing down in there, and spend maybe 8-10 seconds most to clean it up. The tip can be pushed against the bottom to scrub, and the flaps wipe the sides.

Compared to this, the old fashioned brushes suck ass. You heard it from me.

Could you add a link for it????

 

[Homercidal]

Could you add a link for it????

Sure! But please note that I am not promoting the online store over any other store. I actually had a hard time finding at an online store near you. I couldn't even find it online at the store I thought I bought mine at.

http://www.homebrewing.org/Wine-And-Beer-Bottle-Brush-Third-Coast-Design-Works_p_2513.html


Oh, here's the designer's website so you can see it in action.

http://www.thirdcoastdesignworks.com/Products.html

 

[edroberts]

Sure! But please note that I am not promoting the online store over any other store. I actually had a hard time finding at an online store near you. I couldn't even find it online at the store I thought I bought mine at.

http://www.homebrewing.org/Wine-And-Beer-Bottle-Brush-Third-Coast-Design-Works_p_2513.html


Oh, here's the designer's website so you can see it in action.

http://www.thirdcoastdesignworks.com/Products.html

... but I want a mediocre bottle brush! :cross:

Actually, that looks very useful so long as it's moderately easy to insert into a longneck.

 

[unionrdr]

Then I have to remember to keep the drill battery charged. Not a bad idea though.

 

[HiImBrian]

I usually just snip the circle off the of the wire brush and pop that into a drill. The bristles still wear out over time though. Gonna follow this thread to see what other options come up.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

Looks quick and easy to use. A normal bottling brush on a drill never occured to me either.

 

[unionrdr]

I'd say to flatten the loop on the end of the brush just enough to tighten in the drill chuck. That way it can slip, strip out & cause an injury.

 

[Psylocide]

My bottle brush, you can find them almost anywhere.

 

[Homercidal]

Then I have to remember to keep the drill battery charged. Not a bad idea though.

If you like to live dangerously, you could always use a corded drill!

It goes into a bottle just fine. Slightly snug, but easier than some of the bristle brushes I've used.

 

[unionrdr]

Corded drill got tossed in the garage by SWMBO & it blew. she was duly reprimanded of course, argued back & was reprimanded once more. So the battery one it would be. Might be faster though?

 

[rhys333]

I usually just snip the circle off the of the wire brush and pop that into a drill. The bristles still wear out over time though. Gonna follow this thread to see what other options come up.

I do this as well. Worka great. The bristles are mangled up, but it doesn't matter when its whizzing round at high rpm. Cleans crud out of any bottle in a second.

 

[Homercidal]

I love my little DeWalt drill. 2 gears on it, so it can get decent torque if you need it and high speed if you need it. Well worth the money (got it for father's day one year!)

I zipped through the bottles and none of them actually needed cleaning since I rinse them all out after use. I just wanted to see how fast a batch of bottles would go.

It would be even slicker if I could get my teenage daughter to form an assembly line with me. But she's a teenager now...

 

[solbes]

My bottle brush, you can find them almost anywhere.

Yup I threw out my bottle and carboy brushes years ago. As long as you rinse out bottles right away there is no crud to clean out. Carboys and buckets get oxiclean soaks overnight and no need for a brush there either.

 

[TheHappyHopper]

What kind of horrible fungus are you guys letting build up in your bottles that it takes a drill-powered brush to get it out?!

I rinse my bottles out right after pouring the beer and then when it comes time to clean I use the typical bottle brush and give it a few turns by hand. I have friends that like the overnight Oxiclean soak then rinse method and that seems to work well too.

 

[Homercidal]

What kind of horrible fungus are you guys letting build up in your bottles that it takes a drill-powered brush to get it out?!

I rinse my bottles out right after pouring the beer and then when it comes time to clean I use the typical bottle brush and give it a few turns by hand. I have friends that like the overnight Oxiclean soak then rinse method and that seems to work well too.

In Michigan you can get empties for a dime apiece. Once you get a stash built up it's no problem rinsing and reusing, but until then having a nice bottle brush is great.

And I still have the deplorable habit of saving empty craft beer bottles for reusing, even though I keg. I've started brewing smaller batches to bottle to compliment my kegging and I need more bottles than I currently own. (Gave some away to friends.)

This thing works so good I may go out and grab up some more empties from the party store just to clean them out!

 

[Homercidal]

Oh, and Oxiclean soak will usually put a white powdery film on and in my bottles from my water. Acid rinse will fix it, but a quick brushing works great too.

 

[bragona71]

have you looked into a baby bottle brush? I don't bottle much of my beer but when I was shopping for my new grandson I saw a baby bottle brush and said to myself "hmmm that would work well for cleaning beer bottles"

When I do bottle a few beers I soak them for a couple hours in PBW rinse them really good and drop them in starsan. But the bottles I use are always rinsed right away after drinking them

 

[rhys333]

What kind of horrible fungus are you guys letting build up in your bottles that it takes a drill-powered brush to get it out?!.

Speed and efficiency my friend :rockin:

I can blast through 50 bottles in short order. Turning the drill slowly helps get the brush in the bottle, and then a quick spin and every last particle is cleaned out. I do it once when cleaning bottles for the first time, then periodically I'll do the entire batch again to ensure they're staying squeeky clean.

 

[fuelish]

I don't get used/returned bottles from anyone I don't know/trust, not worth the effort....just have friends/family give me their well rinsed empties, along with my well rinsed empties....haven't needed a bottle brush in a long time ..... a couple times of getting "used/recycled" bottles with cigarette butts/mold/god-knows-what else crap growing in 'em, I'm over that A real good hot H2O rinse after consumption, no need for a brush, really, just another good hot rinse and some Starsan before bottling, all is well here....I work too hard to have to be getting **** out of empties, and, hell, you can get new empties for $0.50 apiece (not a bad deal for something that is virtually infinitely reusable, barring accidental breakage or possibly defective bottle).....life's too short to deal with moldy bottles, any I get that are funky go into recycling bin.....but then again, I'm a lazy meadmaker

 

[Moose_MI]

I like to leave a little brew in the bottom after a poor. Then I just make sure they sit in a dark, musty corner of my basement for a couple months. I've built an adapter for my air compressor that I can use to sand blast the **** from them...easy peezy. Then my buddy that works at the nuk plant takes them to work and gives them a radiation bath...couple days soaking in iodine and WALLA! They are ready to go....sometimes the simple solutions really do work the best.... Brew on

 

[GoatyBeer]

THIS is the brush I use. I actually accidentally bought two when I lost the first one and found it again. I keg and never really used it until recently, but now that I have I love it. I have a high speed cordless drill and this thing cleans the bottom and insides quickly and easily with that drill.

After a hot water soak to remove labels I put just a bit of water in the bottle, shove the thing down in there, and spend maybe 8-10 seconds most to clean it up. The tip can be pushed against the bottom to scrub, and the flaps wipe the sides.

Compared to this, the old fashioned brushes suck ass. You heard it from me.

+1 on the Third Coast drill bottle and carboy cleaners. Made right here in Michigan, too!

 

[Ike]

THANKS TO ALL for the replies!

Interesting to hear about the good reviews on the Third Coast "rotary" brush thingy. I'd seen it on Amazon but had given it a pass since it seemed a bit gimmicky to me. BUT, now that you all have sung its praises, I'll be picking up the "bundle" of the bottle and carboy versions.

Thanks again!

Ike

 

[wstbrewing]

I used the Third Coast drill bottle and carboy cleaners up until a few months ago. I mostly keg, but when I bottle it is in brown glass swing top bottles.

These bottles have a smaller neck opening. I had difficulty getting the bottle drill into the swing tops.

After a few batches, the plastic holding the cleaning pads cracked, and eventually broke.

The carboy washer has been great.

I'm sure the problem was more with my bottle choice and not their product (I used it many times with regular craft bottles with no problems) so I can't really complain.

Just wanted to give the heads up to those using swing tops!

WSTbrewing

 

[NightFlight]

I'm just starting out - first batch looks like its done primary fermentation.

For bottles I picked up a bunch of used Grolsch swing tops and they have some serious mould crud. The production hitch right now is getting the bottles clean. I oxy soaked overnight and still have mould presence on a few bottles. Cheap brushes abound at stores, but getting them to actually work the bottom seems to be the where they miss.

I found a good brush at the grocery and would have worked fantastic if only it would fit through the opening.

Power drill as above seems like a good idea.

 

[JimRausch]

A good soak in a bleach solution (1 TBS per gallon) often works when the PBW/oxyclean soak doesn't. Has the advantage of killing fungus as well. Just make sure you rinse the bottles well afterwards.

 

[davidabcd]

I don't know your exact method with Oxy Clean but I've thoroughly cleaned some scary bottles with Oxy. I use a 1/2 teaspoon or more per bottle using a funnel and then fill the bottle half way with the hottest tap water and shake them to death periodically. Slow and steady wins the race with this one.
As mentioned above,

is a valuable tool for this endeavor.
Edit: I have, as yet, found a great brush but the ones I use are good for a general, swishing around.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Why does there not exist a drill-powered brush with bristles?

That Third Coast thing has pretty terrible reviews.

 

[Dimax]

https://www.amazon.com/RotoScrub-Bo...argid=aud-801738734305:pla-392329259212&psc=1

 

[RPh_Guy]

https://www.amazon.com/RotoScrub-Bottle-Brush-Drill-Accessory/dp/B075L5H4XK/

From the description:
"(brush does not fit into standard wine bottles or beer bottles)"

 

[Alex4mula]

I don't know your exact method with Oxy Clean but I've thoroughly cleaned some scary bottles with Oxy. I use a 1/2 teaspoon or more per bottle using a funnel and then fill the bottle half way with the hottest tap water and shake them to death periodically. Slow and steady wins the race with this one.
As mentioned above,

is a valuable tool for this endeavor.
Edit: I have, as yet, found a great brush but the ones I use are good for a general, swishing around.

I use this tool with pbw soak. No brush needed. But then I have 134F hot water that I know helps a lot.

 

[NightFlight]

Pressure washer?

 

[Braufessor]

I use this tool with pbw soak. No brush needed. But then I have 134F hot water that I know helps a lot.

Yep - as mentioned.
* I use a 15 gallon round plastic "Bushel Basket Type" Tub.
* Fill with 10 gallons of Hot PBW solution
* Soak 2 cases of bottles over night (or however many you need/want)
*Use the faucet adapter to power rinse the PBW off the next day
* Store them upside down in case until needed or directly into Starsan to soak and then use to bottle

**** I have not "scrubbed" a bottle in the last 20 years and I have filled literally 1000's of bottles in addition to mainly Kegging.

* Also, once you get going - don't let your bottles get really gross. As you use them, rinse them out with water in the sink so their is not a bunch of gunk growing in the bottom. Then the entire process is way easier and faster anyway.

 

[Soulshine2]

OK, it seems like such a simple thing, but it is a source of serious annoyance for me: I can't find a decent bottle brush!

The ones I have so far are one from a home goods store that is too short to reach to the bottom of the bottle, and probably wouldn't even have much scrubbing action if it got there. The other one I have is the one that came with my original homebrew kit: it's not long enough to get to the bottom of a carboy but can get to the bottom of a bottle. That's cool, but the bristles are getting beaten up simply by the act of slipping it into and out of the 12 ounce longnecks. Over the past couple of days I've been trying to clean some used flip-top bottles I bought and the brush has suffered: the tighter opening in the flip-tops is deforming the brush head terribly, and it doesn't have the oomph to really clean the deposits off the bottle.

Everything I see at the LHBS seems similar to the one I'm using now. Everything I see on Amazon gets mixed reviews or obviously won't fit my needs.


SO: where did you get your favorite bottle brush? Do you know the manufacturer? Post a picture? Explain how you modified it to fit your needs?
Inquiring minds want to know!

Ike

I dont brush my bottles. I Oxiclean soak all day ,then follow up with a 1 oz /5 gallon hot water bleach solution, shaking the bottle vigorously before emptying . if something is still in the bottom after that I just toss it . I keep almost every bottle I get as long as the top isnt a screw top or the neck is a different shape other than a standard longneck 12 oz.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I know you guys are trying to help save me some money and effort, and I appreciate that.

However, just because some minimum cleaning process works for you doesn't mean it's good for everyone.

I use Brettanomyces. A LOT. And bacteria. Plus any number of other wild yeast species in my unpasteurized ciders and wines.
You guys using Chico, 1318, or whatever clean yeast you like don't have nearly as much risk, so you really don't know how well your cleaning procedure would stand up to these microbes.

I'm already using a very thorough procedure: In warm water I dissolve sodium metasilicate plus a combination of surfactant, chelate, and gelling agent. I add sodium percarbonate directly to the inside of each bottle. Then I fully submerge the bottles and soak at least 24 hours. After that, I rinse them, 12 at a time using a bottle rinser for several minutes with hot water. Next I circulate a citric acid solution using a pump for 12 bottles at a time, for about 20 minutes (using the alkaline cleanser without an acid rinse still leaves a lot of residue and scaling). Another hot water rinse and then they air dry upsidedown.

A visual inspection with a bright LED flashlight reveals that sometimes bottles still have residue after all of that. How many of you guys are INSPECTING ALL of your bottles with a bright flashlight, looking from the other side so it illuminates the interior? You may be surprised what's still in there.

So yes, some tool to provide a quick way to mechanically scrub the inside of the bottles will provide a lot of peace of mind and help avoid the dreaded bottle bomb... For at least for SOME people, even though you may not need it.

Thanks

 

[NightFlight]

I inspect the bottom by holding the opening up to a bright light. Hot oxiclean overnight soaks vigorous shaking does not get the scum off the bottom of the 2nd hand Grolsch I've been collecting. Throw them out? No way, I'm paying $1.50 each used. $4 ea new at the LHBS.

Besides, wouldn't you rather quickly hit the bottle with a drill brush over sending more detergent, for no good reason down the drain? All the water you have to use to rinse out the detergent properly is obscene.

 

[NightFlight]

So I figured out my bottle cleaning issue. Some in this thread were a bit awestruck about how hard some of us were working at cleaning our bottles.

I was able to make quick work of it using a PEX Flexi Riser, drilled through and some strips of scotch bright pulled through. It makes an awesome brush.

But why did I need this?

As it turns out, I was dunking the used, new to me, grolsch bottles in a hot water and oxyclean solution. The labels come right off! But, what I found on the last batch was the scum I've been fighting all along. It wasn't there when I started

But it was only on half the bottles, horizontal, the way they were laying up to the water line because they were only partially submerged.

Turns out it's the label adhesive! Nothing short of mechanical scrubbing removes it.

Anyhow, thought I'd post this to warn others. The hot water oxy solution will dissolve the adhesive from the labels and transfer it as soon as the solution cools. I've been making the problem all along.