This sucks 1st time bottling

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PIGMAN said:
I have to agree with the Oxyclean posts, great stuff. Also, you probably know this, but bottles with twist-off caps won't work.:mug:
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Not true. You can certainly cap them (I use a bench capper) but don't expect to get many uses (recycles) out of 'em. They are thinner walled and (in my opinion) not worth the risk -but in a pinch they WILL certainly work and I've never had one not seal.

Swing-tops -I love 'em! My favorites are the ones that Hoogstraten Poorter comes in -I really like those because you can crown 'em first, then once you pop the cap, you can close 'em with the swing top if you don't finish off the bottle (not usually a problem, but the thought is nice). One day I'll make a decent clone of that stuff. But I'd LOVE to find crownable flip-top bottles. I'd buy a case or two in a heartbeat.
 
My first experience with oxyclean was amazing. Last night I took 50 old, stinky and moldy grolsch bottles that still had labels on them and soaked them in a 25 gallon rubbermaid container. This afternoon i found that the labels had fallen off and were on the bottom of the bin. Mold and caked on funk was gone as well. Just to make sure I scrubbed all with a bottle brush and rinsed them inside and out. Total time for washing 50 nasty bottles is an hour.

I will be using them to bottle tonight.
 
PBW did the exact same thing for me. Seems like they're both good for the tough jobs. And both need rinsing. I think the PBW just needs less tedious rinsing?...ime,anyway.
 
You already mentioned you were going to pick up some Oxyclean, but just so you know, it can be used for FAR more than removing labels. It works wonders for cleaning carboys and fermentors, and more! Worst case, even if you didn't use it for anything else, you can still use it to do laundry! It's a win/win. Just try to get the Oxyclean "Free" without the dyes and perfumes. :)
 
I always just fill the kitchen sink, let 'em soak overnight, then take scotch pad (one of those green things) wipe my spin the bottle 2-3 time in my hand then put them in the dishwasher upside down, with no soap and a hot dry. When they are done I take saran wrap and cover them to keep the insides from becoming contaminated.

That being said, I keg most of my beer, we only draw 1/2 dozen or so tops from each keg to bring to the homebrew Club and allow to age for future testing. I bottle when I keg and throw a coopers tab in them, works great.
 
Was drinking in a bar the other day; got talkin bout making wine and brewing beer. A dude in there says he has a bunch of bottles. Long story short; I ended up with fifteen 12 pack cases of 22 oz. bottles, and ten 12 pack cases of them ez cap 16 oz. bottles with the metal levers n gasketed plastic lids. Also i prefer the pbw to clean them with.
 
Craigslist had been a great resource for flip-top bottles for me - mostly from homebrewers who moved to kegging. I wouldn't say there's a huge difference in terms of process time on bottling night as compared to crown caps, but they are a bit bigger bottles (16 or 22 oz) so there's less to do.
 
For super easy to clean, I'll throw Pacifico Clara bottles out there too. Easiest I've found to remove and not a bad poolside beer when it's really hot outside.
 
Nightbiker said:
Not true. You can certainly cap them (I use a bench capper) but don't expect to get many uses (recycles) out of 'em. They are thinner walled and (in my opinion) not worth the risk -but in a pinch they WILL certainly work and I've never had one not seal.

Swing-tops -I love 'em! My favorites are the ones that Hoogstraten Poorter comes in -I really like those because you can crown 'em first, then once you pop the cap, you can close 'em with the swing top if you don't finish off the bottle (not usually a problem, but the thought is nice). One day I'll make a decent clone of that stuff. But I'd LOVE to find crownable flip-top bottles. I'd buy a case or two in a heartbeat.
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Just curious, why crown a flip-top?:)
 
Oh bottle tree oh bottle tree, where would I be without thee

Sung to the music of oh Christmas tree oh Christmas tree of course.

The bottle tree is sitting on top of my deer freezer.

image-117308354.jpg
 
unionrdr said:
PBW did the exact same thing for me. Seems like they're both good for the tough jobs. And both need rinsing. I think the PBW just needs less tedious rinsing?...ime,anyway.
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PBW is pricey compared to the bucket of oxy. I ran out of PBW and decided to try oxy.

I thought PBW was a sanitized as well.
 
I drink Sam Adams and my home brew. I usually pull the outside paper label off while drinking the beer or after the pour. I then can soak the glue for a short while in warm water and it comes off easy.
There were some bottles (not sure of brand) that were horrible to get the label off and I threw those away.
Dogfish Head tour today was great, 60min; 90 min; and 120min on taste test:ban:
 
What I do:
Make a strong bleach solution and do a 24 hour soak with the bottles submerged, then, one at a time, pull each one out, drain it, scrape the paper label off with a razor blade (its ok to leave the glue on), then put each one back underwater so it fills up with an exchange of the bleach water. Again 24 hours later, use a razor blade and/or stiff bristle brush to get the remaining adhesive off. Rinse each bottle with a jet blaster, 2 bursts, and hang up to dry on a rack.

I wash them until the glass is crystal clean.
 
It would take a 30 minute soak and a sponge for glue residue if you used oxyclean. It really is that much better. The labels slide off with one finger in one piece.
 
Almost all of my craft labels come off in a hot soak for a little while then they peel and if they stick i just use a small dishpan scaper, or a course sponge pad to get the rest of the glue off while running a stream of hot water during the scaping or scrubbing. In most cases i just have to scub a little glue off which comes off easily.I usually then add a small amount of baking soda to each use my bottle brush to clean inside, then dump and rinse a few times,shaking vigorously.Stick them on my dishrack to dry overnight then store them in sixpack carriers covered till use. I always rinse them good after drinking them too until i clean them, that way stuff cant grow, causing you to have to throughly clean them more, or a chance of spreading crap.
Ive also used oxyclean soak with tap water and it left a film on the bottles, i still have a tub of it sitting around as i preferr to just use a hot water soak.I didnt see a difference even with an hour soak in it.
 
if you use oxyclean......careful not let it dry on..I have had tub leak at the drain over night and then they are a mess...more scrubbing and hassle
 
PIGMAN said:
Just curious, why crown a flip-top?:)
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I like to crown 'em when the beer is going to sit and condition for an extended period (like half a year or more) -makes life easier on the rubber seals -works good for Belgians, nothing worse than opening a top to find out that it lost some of its pressure :(
 
ACESFULL said:
This is a bad plan not to mention very lazy too. You run the risk of an infection if you do it this way.
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How so? The labels are on the outside of a glass bottle. Even if anything was living in the glue under the label, it's not going inside the bottle with the beer.

Also, leaving the labels on doesn't mean you don't dunk the bottles in sanitizer. IT just means you don't waste any time worrying about whether or not the labels have come off.

I have blank unmarked bottles to use if I ever want to enter a competition. But if it's just for my drinking I don't care. I only ever have one or two batches around at a time anyway and I can tell which batch is which.
 
How the hell are you going to infect your beer by leaving the label on?

I've done it, and there's been no problems.

I can't even begin to understand the logic behind thinking our beer can be ruined by bottling in labeled bottles....is it because we'd anger the beer gods or something?
 
I did not read the whole post so I apologize if I am repeating someone elses process. If I have a party at the house I request friends pick up either Sam Adam's, magic hat or any beer with pry top's. As we drink I place all empty's in the Kitchen sink that I fill with soap and hot water. In the morning I drain the water refill with warm and start stripping labels. They come right off. For the glue I keep a mild wire brush by the sink and lightly scrub. Glue comes off faster than the labels. Then I run the bottles through the dish washer.
 
Revvy said:
How the hell are you going to infect your beer by leaving the label on?

I've done it, and there's been no problems.

I can't even begin to understand the logic behind thinking our beer can be ruined by bottling in labeled bottles....is it because we'd anger the beer gods or something?
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While I agree with the intent of your post, I'd suggest not getting emotional. Never helps.
 
Sam Adams have been great thus far, and I find Blue Moon and Well's Banana Bread labels to be effortless. I just fill the sink with liquid detergent and scalding hot water, let bottles soak for 5-15 minutes and peel. I remove the adhesive with one of those green kitchen scouring pads.

The only bottles I had problems with were green 12oz. hard apple cider ones. I just ended up tossing them since I didn't really want the green ones anyway.

We'll probably continue to buy bottles, but do plan to supplement them with recycled ones.
 
Am I making some kind of noob mistake using ammonia to remove labels? Reading through this thread, I seem to be in the minority. I've used both Oxyclean and Ammonia, and I've found ammonia to be more effective (though a bit pungent).
 
I just throw mine in a sink of water every time I drink one. Then next day scrape labels off with sharp knife then buff the rest off with the back side of a sponge. Soo easy
 
Like a lot of people, I put mine in a tub with hot water and a scoop of Oxyclean. I let it soak for a couple hours and the labels come right off. Some, like Abita, Founders and Boulevard, come off without me even touching them. I just wipe a little glue residue off, rinse it and that's it. Easy peasy.
 
The first time I bottled I finished up cleaning my bottles on the same day. Not so fun. I just let them soak in super hot water for a while and then scrub them off. It's not so fun, but it sounds a lot less time consuming than boiling them.

Also, now that I have them clean, I wash them as we drink them, and now I have cases of nice clean bottles to sanitize when I bottle :)

I have a case ready to be cleaned, though, since my overall count of beers is going up now that I have two fermenters going at a time. I'll be glad when they're done being cleaned :)
 
If you spread peanut butter on the labels and leave them over night, they'll scrape right off the bottle. Goo-gone or WD40 also works, but I suggest you stick with the PB. Trust me on this one.
 
valacech said:
If you spread peanut butter on the labels and leave them over night, they'll scrape right off the bottle. Goo-gone or WD40 also works, but I suggest you stick with the PB. Trust me on this one.
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Seems like you'd go thru a ton of PB. And a lot of time.
 
i use a tote also! i use hot water untill they are all under water i use some "easy clean" that is basically just like oxyclean from what i hear and let them sit for a few hours and they come off extremely easy
 
Revvy said:
How the hell are you going to infect your beer by leaving the label on?

I've done it, and there's been no problems.

I can't even begin to understand the logic behind thinking our beer can be ruined by bottling in labeled bottles....is it because we'd anger the beer gods or something?
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Ok lets try this... Bugs and other wild **** to attack the label. You touch the labels when bottling which increases the "possibility" to infect your beer. ITs that simple. You wanna do fine I just feel its a bad plan.

Anger the beer gods. Revvy normal your posts are spot on but this is a tad tacky. This board and many other have facts and sometimes opinions. This is much of the same. The fact that you are condescending about this is not really that of allowing others to offer suggestion, opinion & or suggestions to other members. In doing so may upset Revvy. Not cool.
 
ACESFULL said:
The fact that you are condescending about this is not really that of allowing others to offer suggestion, opinion & or suggestions to other members. In doing so may upset Revvy. Not cool.
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that's the pot calling the kettle black by definition

He voices his opinion and your voicing yours.

personally I just have bought many cases of bottles, I plan on buying more... the people who drink my beer give me my bottles back, so once i get a good amount purchased i won't ever need anymore.

I did the whole soak the bottle in hot water thing on a few and the label was on with space aged glue or some crap lol, it did NOT want to come off. After scraping on a few of those mega bottles I decided buying a case was better for me.
 
and i did the math, its basically $5 for a case of bottles at my LHBS, so roughly 20.8 cents a bottle. I'm fine with that one time purchase
 
I just started brewing back in July. I drink alot of craft/microbrews and in anticipation of homebrewing I simply started saving bottles. I would drink a 6 pack and soak them in hot water, remove the labels and store in the orginal pack. Doing this I now have about 7-8 cases. I tried Oxyclean, but I have really hard water and the film it left behind inside the bottles was a pain to get out. Hot water and removing labels/cleaning bottles ahead of time works for me. Just bottled my brown ale yesterday and used 10 or so 22oz bottles for the first time. Made the process a bit quicker by using a few bigger bottles.
 
Sorry if you think it's condescending or not...But it's still the silliest worry I've seen/heard on here in awhile...... *shrug* whatever floats your boat I guess.

Personally, when I bottle, I avoid touching the inside of the bottle at all costs, and if I do, the bottle and my hands are so foaming with sanitizer I highly doubt there would be any living critters from the label making it.

The only thing that touches the lip of my bottles is sanitizer and a sanitized cap. And if I have any doubt that a finger has inadvertently touched the lip? Then my spray bottle of sanitizer gets put to use.
 

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