bottling with starSan

[quixoticgeek]

On my most recent beer bottling I used malt millers no rinse sanitiser for the first time. It seems to have worked, but as it left a small amount of foam in each bottle, when I added the beer, this bubbled up and I had to wait for it to settle before topping up, sometimes 2-3 times on each bottle.

Is there a method to sanitising bottles with starsan/no rinse steriliser, without this happening?

Cheers

J

[jack_c]

I use Starsan (leave the bottles submerged while prepping), take out 8 at a time and place them upside down on a bodged bottle holder. By the time they are out, almost all the foam has drained from the first and I have no issues filling.

However, considering thin bleach and white vinegar which makes a no rinse sanitiser when mixed correctly (obligitary warning: don't add vinegar to neat bleach or you get chlorine gas).

Although your supposed to "not fear the foam" - I still try to minimise it as much as possible. Apparently Starsan sell (only in the states) a non-foaming version, so there is a foaming agent in the regular stuff (even if it is harmless/negligible quantities at the level of dilution)

[windrider]

I use Malt Millers no rinse sanitizer too. I don’t worry about the foam and just fill the bottles with the foam in. You’ll find that most of it gets pushed to the top and out of the bottle anyway. Whatever foam is left will act as a yeast nutrient.

I’ve done 3 batches so far and haven’t had any infections or off flavours, it’s made my bottling day so much easier.

[normanh]

I use Milton Baby bottle sterilizer as a quick soak but then I rinse with freshly boiled water never had a problem. Worth noting I always clean the bottles after used in hot soapy water and use a bottle brush if need be and store the bottles dry.

Norman

[DerbyshireNick]

Concur on the foam. Using a bottling wand I just let the beer push the foam out of the top

[Andy]

My process goes as follows:-

General point
After use of each bottle I was out all the dregs thoroughly and leave to dry ready for next use.

Pre bottling
Wash each bottle out with cold tap water, wash off any dust on the surface too, put bottles on a bottle tree to drain.
Using a handheld sprayer filled with diluted StarSan, quirt a mist of StarSan into each of the bottles and add each bottle to a crate.

Bottling
In batches of 6 or so, tip the StarSan from each bottle into a bucket, add a carb drop and then fill using a bottling wand. Put filled bottle in queue for capping.
Don't worry about slight amount of residual StarSan or foam, it's perfectly fine in the finished product.
Cap each bottle and put into a crate.
When done, wash each bottle down to remove beer which overflowed during filling. In summer I just put the crate on the patio and hose it down full of bottles.
Store in a location at about 18 degC for a couple of weeks for the yeast to munch away on the carb drop sugars, then move crate to a colder location to mature.