where next

Get advice on making beer from raw ingredients (malt, hops, water and yeast)
tourer
Hollow Legs
Posts: 479
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:09 pm
Location: spitting distance of the Beacon hotel, home of Ruby red

where next

Post by tourer » Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:42 pm

Greetings all, I've been having problems with keeping my bottles clean, I've tried Oxy, Bleach, and PBW all to no avail. Now i dont believe they are dirty as i rinse after use then use one of the above in hot water and left to stand til morning. After the clean/rinse i give them a pump with starsan and cap them i then put them into storage for the next brew So the only thing i can come up with is the starsan is drying on the inside of the bottle leaving somewhere for the yeast to cling on, what do you think? anyone have any other ideas? Oh and the bottles could be in storage for some time as i have plenty.
Thanks for any input

User avatar
oz11
Drunk as a Skunk
Posts: 756
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:57 pm
Location: Tonbridge,Kent.

Re: where next

Post by oz11 » Mon Aug 14, 2017 8:11 pm

I used to store my bottles after cleaning capped with some star san in them. I found it was leaving a hard white deposit after a month or two so now I use peracetic instead with no issues. I am in a hard water area which was probably a contributory factor.

skyblue67
Sober
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 2:13 pm
Location: Manchester
Contact:

Re: where next

Post by skyblue67 » Mon Aug 14, 2017 8:19 pm

I just rinse well after pouring, leave them to dry and put them uncapped in open crates until my next bottling session. When I come to bottle my next batch I use star san in a bottle rinser and stick them on a bottle tree. I've never had any problems. Maybe leave sterilising/sanitising until bottling time?
My recipes and other drivel here http://boringbrownbeer.blogspot.co.uk/

tourer
Hollow Legs
Posts: 479
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:09 pm
Location: spitting distance of the Beacon hotel, home of Ruby red

Re: where next

Post by tourer » Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:24 pm

Well, thanks for the suggestions I'm in a hard water area too. Both of those suggestions will be OK so I may try both. I'll go through the cleaning process again and do one or both of the above. I'm not looking forward to that job but if it works it will be worth it.
Thanks again

User avatar
Jim
Site Admin
Posts: 10250
Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:00 pm
Location: Washington, UK

Re: where next

Post by Jim » Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:33 pm

I rinse bottles immediately after use, then wash them up with hot water with washing up liquid in and a bottle brush the next morning. I rinse well with cold water then leave them to dry before putting them away.

When it comes to using them again, I just give them a quick rinse with starsan.
NURSE!! He's out of bed again!

JBK on Facebook
JBK on Twitter

tourer
Hollow Legs
Posts: 479
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:09 pm
Location: spitting distance of the Beacon hotel, home of Ruby red

Re: where next

Post by tourer » Tue Aug 15, 2017 7:08 pm

Jim wrote:
Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:33 pm
I rinse bottles immediately after use, then wash them up with hot water with washing up liquid in and a bottle brush the next morning. I rinse well with cold water then leave them to dry before putting them away.

When it comes to using them again, I just give them a quick rinse with starsan.
Jim, do you cap them before storing?

User avatar
Jim
Site Admin
Posts: 10250
Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:00 pm
Location: Washington, UK

Re: where next

Post by Jim » Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:21 pm

tourer wrote:
Tue Aug 15, 2017 7:08 pm
Jim wrote:
Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:33 pm
I rinse bottles immediately after use, then wash them up with hot water with washing up liquid in and a bottle brush the next morning. I rinse well with cold water then leave them to dry before putting them away.

When it comes to using them again, I just give them a quick rinse with starsan.
Jim, do you cap them before storing?
Yes, I should have said I use those brown plastic bottles with the screw caps that you can get at Tosco's etc.

If you were using normal beer bottles you'd have to seal the tops somehow to do the same (clingfilm??).
NURSE!! He's out of bed again!

JBK on Facebook
JBK on Twitter

User avatar
MarkA
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
Posts: 592
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2014 11:26 am
Location: Aberdeenshire

Re: where next

Post by MarkA » Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:55 pm

Jim wrote:
Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:33 pm
If you were using normal beer bottles you'd have to seal the tops somehow to do the same (clingfilm??).
I use THESE or a square of foil if they are all in use.

MTW
Drunk as a Skunk
Posts: 905
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:04 pm
Location: Just outside Scarbados

Re: where next

Post by MTW » Tue Aug 15, 2017 10:10 pm

I've never covered them in storage, other than the swing tops, which sit on but loose.

I've had problems with Oxi reacting with our medium hard water and leaving a deposit, even at one scoop per gallon for half an hour. I now stick maybe half that in, just to be safe. The only cure for that was to soak them in an acid solution (star san). Bit of a PITA when it happened.

Rinse after drinking. Store dry but open. Oxi before brewday and discard any doubtful bottle. Star San at bottling. That's me.
Busy in the Summer House Brewery

tourer
Hollow Legs
Posts: 479
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:09 pm
Location: spitting distance of the Beacon hotel, home of Ruby red

Re: where next

Post by tourer » Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:29 pm

Well i've spent some time up the shed today cleaning bottles but not capped (i use the plastic push on type), I i'm due to bottle tomorrow so that can wait. I'll give them a blast with starsan before bottling and see how it goes. Thanks for the input i'll let you all know how it's gone in a couple of weeks.

User avatar
IPA
Under the Table
Posts: 1731
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:29 am
Location: France Gascony

Re: where next

Post by IPA » Fri Aug 18, 2017 7:41 am

Jim wrote:
Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:21 pm
tourer wrote:
Tue Aug 15, 2017 7:08 pm
Jim wrote:
Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:33 pm
I rinse bottles immediately after use, then wash them up with hot water with washing up liquid in and a bottle brush the next morning. I rinse well with cold water then leave them to dry before putting them away.

When it comes to using them again, I just give them a quick rinse with starsan.
Jim, do you cap them before storing?
Yes, I should have said I use those brown plastic bottles with the screw caps that you can get at Tosco's etc.

If you were using normal beer bottles you'd have to seal the tops somehow to do the same (clingfilm??).
I use the snap on plastic caps for ordinary bottles that the Malt Miller sells. Most LHBS stock them. If you go to Spain Portugal or Italy they can be bought in supermarkets for a few euros a hundred. You need to buy both colours, white and green, because beer bottles have different diameter holes in the neck. The MM ones fit all bottles.
"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Dean Martin

1. Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip

It's better to lose time with friends than to lose friends with time (Portuguese proverb)

Alone we travel faster
Together we travel further
( In an admonishing email from our golf club)

Dave S
Even further under the Table
Posts: 2514
Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2012 5:38 pm
Location: Wirral, Merseyside

Re: where next

Post by Dave S » Fri Aug 18, 2017 3:04 pm

skyblue67 wrote:
Mon Aug 14, 2017 8:19 pm
I just rinse well after pouring, leave them to dry and put them uncapped in open crates until my next bottling session. When I come to bottle my next batch I use star san in a bottle rinser and stick them on a bottle tree. I've never had any problems. Maybe leave sterilising/sanitising until bottling time?
That's all I do, though I lay mine on their side in a wine rack.
Best wishes

Dave

lord.president
Hollow Legs
Posts: 350
Joined: Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:57 pm
Location: Lockerbie,Scotland

Re: where next

Post by lord.president » Sat Aug 19, 2017 8:36 am

I rinse mine out after use and store uncapped. When it's bottling day,a quick no soap cycle through the dishwasher and Star San after. Personal opinion is that trying to keep them clean and sanitised for maybe a few months before use is a waste of time and effort,for the sake of maybe an hour on bottling day, and piece of mind.
Getting Carlisle United into the First Division,is possibly the greatest football achievement of all time-Bill Shankly

Clibit
Under the Table
Posts: 1631
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 8:46 pm
Location: Old Trafford

Re: where next

Post by Clibit » Sat Aug 19, 2017 10:27 am

I have stopped relying on the no rinse steriliser I had been using, which came from the Maltmiller, their own brand. I have now gone back to my previous regime. I rinse bottles after pouring beer from them, wash them up next time I wash up, dry and store them, then soak them in water containing about 4 ml thin household bleach per litre on bottling day, and let them drain while I siphon and prime the beer. Sometimes I rinse the bottles, sometimes I don't, it hasn't made any detectable difference to the beer. For a few brews I bleached them before storing then used no rinse on bottling day. Which I decided was daft, just bleach on the day now to cut out a stage.

I'd had a number of batches with slight contaminations, but no problems whatsoever since. I was close to giving up. I assume I have some form of wild yeast issue, or maybe mould spores, that requires something more powerful than the no rinse sterilisers on the market. The bleach is also dirt cheap at about 30p for a 2 litre bottle. Some people use bleach and white vinegar I believe. I'm just posting this in case anyone finds they get contaminations while using no rinse sterilisers, which I now believe is a problem for some people. They mustn't kill everything that's out there.

chefgage
Hollow Legs
Posts: 492
Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2015 10:37 am

Re: where next

Post by chefgage » Sat Aug 19, 2017 10:45 am

I always rinse with hot water straight after pouring. Put a bit of hot water in the bottle, thumb over the top and give it a good shake then repeat. These are then left to dry not capped then put away in storage again not capped. When it comes to bottling i have one of those plunger type things that squirts star san into the upturned bottle these are then left to drain on a bottling tree while sorting out the beer.

I have noticed now after rinsing after pouring the bottom of the bottle is no longer see through if i hold it up to the light and look into the bottle. I have very hard water so it maybe just a deposite from that which does not rinse out. I have not had any infections/problems though.

Post Reply