Noob..Do you reuse bottles that have been infected?
- Thread starter rdbrett
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Nuggethead
Well-Known Member
No problem, just clean thoroughly in PBW or Oxy and sanitize. A good soak in Star-San should kill anything that way be left behind. Infections won't penetrate glass.
what nugget said.
Grab some oxyclean from the grocery store.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Home Brew mobile app
Sent from my GT-P3113 using Home Brew mobile app
does BLC = bleach? a properly diluted solution of bleach in water is very effective for disinfection, however you need to rinse bleach. if you just use tap water to rinse you can't be certain how clean that water is. all sorts of nasties could be living in your pipes, your faucet, etc.
invest in some star san. it's no-rinse, and a bucket of the stuff can be saved and re-used. it appears to be expensive but you use very little (1 oz/5 gal of water). i bought a large $25 bottle over 2 years ago and haven't used half of it yet. by the time i'm done with it, the cost will be somewhere between 25 and 50 cents per batch (so about a half to a full penny per bottle). i'll gladly pay that to keep my beer un-infected.
but before you sanitize, you need to clean. and that's where the PWB or Oxyclean comes in. soak in a solution of PBW overnight to break up any yeast or other gunk at the bottom of the bottle. don't forget to rinse (doesn't matter if you use tap water, since you'll be sanitizing the bottle just before you fill & cap it).
Marc77
Well-Known Member
I save my own bottles, bottles from other breweries and sometimes when people come over with beer I keep their bottles too!
Like others have said rinse them out when you're done drinking them, use your bottling bucket and fill it up with PBW or some cleaner and let them sit for a good long while. Then when you're satisfied they're clean, dump it and fill it up with star san and dunk em all again. That'll get all the labels and gunk off.
If you get more than you'll ever need give them away to other homebrewers or sell them on a list of craig's.
Like others have said rinse them out when you're done drinking them, use your bottling bucket and fill it up with PBW or some cleaner and let them sit for a good long while. Then when you're satisfied they're clean, dump it and fill it up with star san and dunk em all again. That'll get all the labels and gunk off.
If you get more than you'll ever need give them away to other homebrewers or sell them on a list of craig's.
I'd pitch them in the trash. The prior infection may have been caused by some residual gunk in the bottom of the bottle(s) that didn't get all cleaned out.
I probably throw away 1/3rd of the bottles people give me after a visual inspection revels that they weren't rinse properly right after use. I still have plenty of bottles to use.
fuelish
Well-Known Member
Depends on my mood/motivation.....sometimes I'll pitch a real funky bottle left around w/o rinsed, but usually I just set them aside until I'm motivated to clean a bunch of when they add up....they just sit in the garage until that time
