Moldy bottles

[Vismich]

So I started kegging a few months ago, and haven't looked at a bottle since. I decided to bottle a raspberry wheat beer tonight, and brought out some bottles from the basement.

I must not have cleaned them well because they are moldy, really moldy....

I soaked them in c-brute and scrubbed them but couldn't get it all off. I have them in a Sani-rinse cycle in my dishwasher now.

Are they ruined? Should I not use them?

 

[kapbrew13]

Mold is hard to rid. I hear vinegar and any strong acids would clean them. Why not buy a case of beer , drink fast and you have new bottles.

 

[dbreienrk1]

So I started kegging a few months ago, and haven't looked at a bottle since. I decided to bottle a raspberry wheat beer tonight, and brought out some bottles from the basement.

I must not have cleaned them well because they are moldy, really moldy....

I soaked them in c-brute and scrubbed them but couldn't get it all off. I have them in a Sani-rinse cycle in my dishwasher now.

Are they ruined? Should I not use them?

Not worth the risk in my opinion. I'd get some new bottles.

 

[cehlo]

they should be fine after you clean and sanitize them.

been given close to a dozen cases of empty bottles that friends and family were saving and there were some things growing in a few of them. but soak everything in a bleach water and TSP solution to delabel and clean, then rinse with sanitizer and hit them with the jet washer before they go into cases for future use. sanitize them again on bottling day and there are no issues.

make it easy on yourself and quick rinse all your bottles as soon as you empty them. it will eliminate >95% of future problems.

 

[amandabab]

bleach the snot out of them, then wash and sanitize.

 

[remman4]

Soap works better on mold than bleach does: TSP should do it or Straight A cleaner, but I'd get new bottles due to laziness lol

 

[cmybeer]

I've cleaned bottles like that before and my beers have turned out fine. Just really, really get at it.

 

[eppo]

Soak them in oxiclean.

 

[Ultrazord]

Soak them in oxiclean.

I second this. 30+ mins is great.

 

[WeaponTheyFear]

I've used old bottles that were moldy because I didn't rinse the prior beers residue out. I soaked them in PBW and then scrubbed them with a bottling brush and all the mold came right off.

 

[Trophy_Brew21]

Soap works better on mold than bleach does: TSP should do it or Straight A cleaner, but I'd get new bottles due to laziness lol

Its not laziness, its ingenuity!

 

[microbusbrewery]

Soak them in oxiclean.

I third this. With Oxiclean or PBW, the mold will usually float right out of the bottle after soaking for a little while. I usually keg but I still bottle for competitions and for sharing. I have lots of friends that save bottles for me and some forget to rinse so I've cleaned my share of moldy bottles. No need whatsoever to get rid of the bottles.

 

[coolharry]

Another for the oxyclean bandwagon. I use the generic stuff from walmart (sun cleaner) and the one time I ran into mold in the bottles, it floated out in a few minutes.

 

[rhamilton]

Not worth the risk in my opinion. I'd get some new bottles.

^^ this. I'm in the same boat as you -- started kegging and bottles got neglected. Bottles cannot be stored with liquid in it. Period. Once it grows mold, you might as well throw them out and start collecting bottles again. I save my bottle cases and store them upside down, just so every last drop of liquid drains out.

If you absolutely must use them, Oxyclean and a bottle scrubber works well. Just hold them up to a strong light and make sure you get all the residue from the bottom corners. I would probably heat sanitize them in an oven too.... mold spores are a PITA to kill.

 

[microbusbrewery]

^^ this. I'm in the same boat as you -- started kegging and bottles got neglected. Bottles cannot be stored with liquid in it. Period. Once it grows mold, you might as well throw them out and start collecting bottles again. I save my bottle cases and store them upside down, just so every last drop of liquid drains out.

If you absolutely must use them, Oxyclean and a bottle scrubber works well. Just hold them up to a strong light and make sure you get all the residue from the bottom corners. I would probably heat sanitize them in an oven too.... mold spores are a PITA to kill.

I agree mold spores are very resilient, but I disagree that they pose any risk at all especially if you follow basic cleaning and sanitation procedures. Mold spores are everywhere...inside, outside, everywhere.

Glass bottles are non-porous so unless you have cracks or some kind of other defect in the bottle, they're very easily cleaned. If you want extra peace of mind, dip the bottles in a 1:10 mixture of bleach and water after you've cleaned them (then rinse well), but don't throw away perfectly good bottles.

 

[dime1622]

You are fine. Just be thorough. I found a bottle recently where I must have not gotten everything out. There was grey sludge at the bottom and when I disturbed it, it looked like a lava lamp with these grey sludge bubbles rising to the surface.

I have washed many moldy bottles (I can be a bit lazy after I drink - surprise!) and aside from the lava lamp everything has been great.