Sterilising bottles

[m_rawdin]

Is there a quick way to sterilise bottles? I use youngs steriliser which is the powder you dilute with water but you have to rinse the bottles out. Can you use StarSan and not rinse the bottles out?

[Dennis King]

One of these make life easier.

[m_rawdin]

Ah that looks good, I think I'll be getting myself one of them pretty sharpish

[DeadFall]

They make a big difference, especially if used with starsan and a bottle tree.

[BenB]

That rinser and starsan is great. Not so sure on a bottling tree. I've got one but never use it- if I put the bottles on the tree after applying the starsan I worry that I'd have to sanitise the entire tree, if I put them there beforehand- well what's the point? that's what kitchen worktops are for

I just line them up on the worktop, whilst filling using the little bottler using my right hand I pump the bottle on the rinser using my left (who says men can't multitask?) . The good thing with that rinser is you can leave bottles draining on it- I haven't tried 750ml bottles but certainly all the beer bottles are fine. Put the filled bottle to the right of the bottling bucket whilst draining the next bottle (I tend to give them a quick extra rinse by sticking them in a sink full of water prior to sanitising). The sink takes 10 bottles so repeat four times and it's done.

It's a well oiled operation now!

[hazelbrew]

Bottling tree useful. Just spray the tree with starsan before using. Good for letting bottles drain and dry after a first wash, or for letting them drain most starsan just before bottling. Being upside down I think they are less likely to get stuff dropping in them too

[IPA]

Try one of these.
https://www.brouwland.com/en/our-produc ... t6C4HrTVJ8

They work very well

[BrannigansLove]

I give the bottles a quick go in the dishwasher, then starsan and onto the the bottling tree. I've never bother sanitising the tree though.

[mbarn]

I just wash each bottle after use with warm soapy water, rinse, then spray with starsan. Lid on and in a box ready for bottling day.
Utter pain to do all bottles at once.
Even if you don't have flip top lids, you can get some bottle covers to protect until bottling day.

[Aleman]

I wouldn't allow washing up liquid to contact any part of my brewing setup.

Rinse bottles as you empty them, when you have an amount that will fit in the sink, soak in oxi for 10 minutes drain and rinse squirt no rinse sanitiser (*) in the bottle cap with silicone/Plastic bottle caps (or flip lid) shake and store ready for the next bottling day. On bottling day, shake, remove cap, drain, fill, cap, job done.


(*)Iodophor or starsan.

[mosquat]

You can also wash and bake in the oven. Let them cool down with the oven before removi g or some interesting cracks may appear. I used this method for a while but agree and follow Alemans suggestion these days

[BenB]

Even if you're careful some will still break. I put my bottles in the oven cold, set it to heat, its a low-powered oven so takes an age to heat up even without a ton of bottles in it, once "cooked" I switched off and left it overnight. When I bottled they all looked okay but when I looked into the fermentation chamber the next day the bottom of the chamber was wet with beer and one of the bottles had hardly any beer left in it- I think it had cracked near the "corner" at the bottom- despite looking I couldn't clearly see the crack. The next time I was cleaning some bottles in PBW one cracked and I suddenly had pink PBW.

So you can cook them, but I wouldn't (anymore!).

[mbarn]

I wouldn't allow washing up liquid to contact any part of my brewing setup.

Is that because of head retention issues if not rinsed properly, or something else?

I rinse bottles three times, and I'm yet to have any issues or off flavours.
Do the same with my FV's. Braumeister gets Halapur.