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Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 9:07 pm
by rossi74
Rinse under hot tap after pouring, dry on drainer then a squirt or 4 of starsan followed by a bit of foil over the top.

Bottling day give bottle a shake tip out starsan, fill and cap. Never had a problem yet.

150 bottles to wash in one go sod that

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 9:28 pm
by Matt12398
ferry george wrote:
timbo41 wrote:any suggestions on removing commercial labels welcomed,especiallly from thwaites bomber, as these are plentiful
I leave bottles outside in a plastic storage box and fill with water or let the rain and snow fill it up so covering the bottles, after a while the labels with either float off or peel away quite easily. If the lables are the plastic type I don't bother cause they're too much hassle to remove.
There are some though that will not shift no matter what you do. Skinners is my local brewery so I get given quite a few empties and they are a nightmare to get the labels off. They use the thickest stickiest glue imaginable. It's gotten to the point where I just recycle them because it's too much like hard work.

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 7:56 am
by orlando
rossi74 wrote:Rinse under hot tap after pouring, dry on drainer then a squirt or 4 of starsan followed by a bit of foil over the top.
I recommend these instead of the foil.

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 8:41 am
by rossi74
I like the look of those orlando

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:12 am
by IPA
Everything you need to make the job easy you will find here
http://www.brouwland.com/en/
click on cleaning and then on rinsing
1 Avinatore steryliser
2 Double blast washer
3 Ecology Bottle Brusher
Job done

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 5:54 pm
by timbo41
Now some of that interests me!

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 6:38 pm
by Belter
Same as above. Hot water after drinking. Scrub when doing washing up. Leave until using starsan. Fill with starsan and then cap with caps linked above.

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 4:30 pm
by operon
It's a pain cleaning the bottles, but getting easier now that I have a tree and will get starsan and a bottle rinser soon. Started using glass bottles recently and found that most of the labels came off fine. As I had been collected them for a while, I soaked them in bleach overnight and then in washing up liquid another to remove any grease. Then rinsed well and stored till I used them. Sterilised them with Milton before hand but will get starsan to speed the whole bottling up. The only labels I found real hard to come off or left glue behind were a local brewery whitewater and I had one bottle for a green king ipa. The labels were foil based and in the end had to use white spirit and plenty of rinsing afterward to remove the glue.

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:40 pm
by Maltmaniac
Well since I got Starsan and a bottling tree I regularly bottle in 330ml bottles. For stronger ales I find them the ideal size for most people to enjoy a bottle without feeling too blitzed. Same regime as mentioned about rinse and cap, although good hot rinse ensures they are clean and any residue yeast that might have persisted is killed before starsan enters the bottle. Bottling days are simply a joy when you just have to fill and cap. Sweet beer and no hassle involved for a 10 gallon brew bottled. Have to say that I like my bottle conditioned beers and they are handy but kegged is just as nice.

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:40 pm
by Maltmaniac
Well since I got Starsan and a bottling tree I regularly bottle in 330ml bottles. For stronger ales I find them the ideal size for most people to enjoy a bottle without feeling too blitzed. Same regime as mentioned about rinse and cap, although good hot rinse ensures they are clean and any residue yeast that might have persisted is killed before starsan enters the bottle. Bottling days are simply a joy when you just have to fill and cap. Sweet beer and no hassle involved for a 10 gallon brew bottled. Have to say that I like my bottle conditioned beers and they are handy but kegged is just as nice.

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 8:39 pm
by Tippler
Personally I have never felt very confident in using a bottle tree. I made a plywood draining rack which sits over the bath and takes 50 bottles at a time. I haven't got a picture, but this is the principle http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/mashpad ... ck-167924/.

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:46 am
by pumblechook
timbo41 wrote: any suggestions on removing commercial labels welcomed,especiallly from thwaites bomber, as these are plentiful
I use one of these when soaking won't do the trick on labels. I also brew wine and this has always dealt with the really sticky labels on wine bottles. The key is to go up and down the bottle, cutting thin slivers off the label, rather than than going across the bottle. You can clean a bottle with a stubborn label in under a minute easy.

Can't vouch for the website below btw, this is just the sort that I have.

http://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Sta0 ... 590%20list

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:28 pm
by halffullfv
[quote="timbo41"]All valid points. Cheers. I do rinse bottles straight after use, but a lot of these were indeed the" product" of my local RBL, so I thought a scrub up necessary. Got as far as 40 washed,sanitised,rinsed,filled with TTL and laid away then got bored. Think will raid bank for tree and no rinse. Got to be easier.
any suggestions on removing commercial labels welcomed,especiallly from thwaites bomber, as these are plentiful[/quote]

I use oxy cleaner for 1 hour in very hot water all but the most stubborn lables float off a quick wipe off of the glue residue and good to go, bottle tree and starsan are ace only started using a month back, saves hours!! :D

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:12 pm
by stevetk189
1) Bottle trees aren't expensive unless your LHBS is a rip off in which case you're already being ripped off for everything else.
2) Vinator spray gadget thing
3) Starsan
4) Take the time out to spend those vital few seconds to rinse your bottles out after you pour out their contents. If you leave yeasty, cruddy, sedimenty bottles kicking about for weeks then you should neaten up your routine a bit.
5) Come bottling day, blat a smidgen of starsan solution in the vinator, blast the cleaned bottles with 2 squirts (bog all foam in bottle), rest on bottle tree for 30 mins or an hour while you prep the other stuff. Put beer in bottles, cap and .... that's it.
6) Not rocket science, be organised, be clean and spend 15 quid on a bottle tree and 9 quid on a vinator spray gadget thing. It's half a takeaway or a couple of packets of fags and a pub beer or two....

Otherwise, bugger about and moan about it.

Re: no brew day..bloody bottle washing

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 6:33 pm
by timbo41
Deffo agree..birthday hints in full force!!