Bottle Sanitation

[HogieWan]

I'm planning on bottling my first batch after work today. I'm using a no rinse sanitizer and wondering if I sanitize some bottles on my lunch break and sit them on my bottle tree until this evening, will there be any problem with contamination?

My bottle tree only hold 45 bottles and I'll need a few more, so I was planning on getting around 20 done before I get home, so they will be dry and I can sanitize and dry the rest before I start bottling.

What are some of your normal routines in this area?

[YamahaXS]

If you sanitize the tree too then i would think you would be okay. However, you are leaving yourself open to infection, but i would think the chance would be very small, and would be limited to just a few bottles.

just my 2 cents

[brewmonkey]

What is the no rinse sani you are using?

[HogieWan]

It's called "C-Brite" I haven't heard anyone talking about it, but the guy at my local homebrew shop threw a bunch in with the kit I got for christmas.

[SSEAL]

I am new at Homebrewing and have a few questions:

1. How do you keep your equipment/bottles from getting infected after sanitizing?

2. How should the equipment/bottles be left to dry? I do not have any bottle trees yet. Nor do I have a way to dry my carboys.

Just so you know, I have not tried to brew yet. Would like to get all my ducks in a row be fore I try and these are some of the questions that I have.

Steve

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by HogieWan
It's called "C-Brite" I haven't heard anyone talking about it, but the guy at my local homebrew shop threw a bunch in with the kit I got for christmas.

I would hesitate to use this and then leave the bottles for an extended period like that. This is something you should use immediately prior to bottling to avoid any problems. We just discussed this in another thread, if you hit the search button you should find it within the last week or so.

For sani that you can leave for some time and not worry I would go with Star-San or Sani-Clean from 5 Star chemicals. It is an acid-anionic sani that continues to work after it has dried and will not have any effect on your product.

[HogieWan]

Everyone keeps talking about that Sani-Clean and Star-San, but I used bleach on 'em. Soaked them in my bucket for a while (they had already been throughly cleaned) after I had sanitized the tree. Rinsed everything well. Got about half of my bottles drying right now. Gonna leave work a little early and sanitize the rest and then bottle.


Thanks for the help.

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by HogieWan
Everyone keeps talking about that Sani-Clean and Star-San, but I used bleach on 'em. Soaked them in my bucket for a while (they had already been throughly cleaned) after I had sanitized the tree. Rinsed everything well. Got about half of my bottles drying right now. Gonna leave work a little early and sanitize the rest and then bottle.


Thanks for the help.

Bleach is the absolute worst thing you could ever use for brewing. Anything sani that requires a rinse to be used should be left at the door. You also get those lovely Chloro-phenols from use, even in small amounts it will happen. There is also the issue that it does not continue to work once dried like Star-San or Sani-Clean. The bottles left to dry for an extended time have the same riskof infection as before they were sani'd.

[evilredlight]

Are sani-clean and star-san okay to use in a nonventilated room.

I sanitise in a bathroom in the tub, and i do have a fan but it doesn't remove much air.

I use bleach, because i like the great smell, but (like smelling too much gasoline) it gives me a headache.

will the no rinse sani'ers emit anything that should be ventilated?

[stronk]

I'm bottling today as well (and am having a real bastard of a time; I've been at it for about 6 hours and haven't yet got to putting the beer in the bottles!).

I forgot how labour-intensive it is.

[Trogger]

There is a lot of discussion on this thread and the long one below about sanitizers etc... I'm trying to decide which one to stick to as well but think I'd like to try Star San.
With bottles, I read about using the dishwasher. I have used it and works great. Clean them with whatever cleaner/sanitizer you use. Rinse them, then put them in the bottom rack of your dishwasher. (Assuming you have one. Mine fits about 52 bottles in the bottom. Perfect.) Then put through the rinse cycle and use the heated dry. It gets hot enough in there to make the bottles too hot to touch, so it really dries nicely and the theory is that the heat of the dry sterilizes them. I've had good luck with this. I use two dry cycles in a row, then let cool and bottle. I do this right before I'm ready to bottle.

[Fly Creek]

Originally posted by stronk
I'm bottling today as well (and am having a real bastard of a time; I've been at it for about 6 hours and haven't yet got to putting the beer in the bottles!).

I forgot how labour-intensive it is.

Once you go to the corny keg, you won't go back! :D

I keep a couple growlers and 22-ounce torpedos handy (clean, but not necessarily sanitized) and fill them from the keg just in case I want to take a sample to travel.

[Guiness5150]

hey guys, here's another question on bottles. Can I use the dish washer if it has a 'sanitize' cycle? I assumed this would be for baby bottles and the like but anyone ever used it for beer bottles?

[Trogger]

Originally posted by Guiness5150
hey guys, here's another question on bottles. Can I use the dish washer if it has a 'sanitize' cycle? I assumed this would be for baby bottles and the like but anyone ever used it for beer bottles?

Did you see my reply two above yours? Mine doens't have a sanitize cycle specifically...but what I do seems to work very well.

[Grog]

I tried it once and it worked just fine. My dishwasher always seems to have something in it though and it is too much of a hassle for me to use it.

-G-

[c0nsumer]

Originally posted by stronk
I'm bottling today as well (and am having a real bastard of a time; I've been at it for about 6 hours and haven't yet got to putting the beer in the bottles!).

I forgot how labour-intensive it is.

Weird... After soaking / rinsing / sanitizing the bottles (takes about half an hour) I can bottle (fill / cap / rise / dry) a whole 5 gallon carboy in less than an hour... This is using an auto-siphon and a bottle filler run out of a plastic bucket with a block of wood under one side. The only problem I ever run into is the filler nozzle becoming stuck open, but I've learned to avoid that...

Do you have a bottle rinser to attach to a faucet? When using one, you can tell how much extra time it would take if you didn't have one...

-Steve

[HogieWan]

My local homebrew supply has been out of the bottle rinsers - ordered a couple a few weeks back so I could get one. After bottling my first batch, I realized I spent most og the time rinsing the bottles. Filling the bottles (I have an auto siphon and a bottle filler) was very quick and painless. A lot quicker than I expected.

[c0nsumer]

Originally posted by HogieWan
My local homebrew supply has been out of the bottle rinsers - ordered a couple a few weeks back so I could get one. After bottling my first batch, I realized I spent most og the time rinsing the bottles. Filling the bottles (I have an auto siphon and a bottle filler) was very quick and painless. A lot quicker than I expected.

Ahh, yes. I find with the rinser I can rinse the inside of one bottle with one hand, use the water running out of that to rinse the outside of the other, then switch and have two rinsed bottles in about 10 seconds. Then I just take both bottles and submerge them in a bucket of sanitizer. After the bucket is full, I remove the bottles and invert them, propping them against the back side of my dryer (laundry), neck down on pieces of paper towel. I just let these set until the foam (from Star San) is mostly gone, then start bottling.

This *is* the most tedious part, but it goes pretty quick...

[HogieWan]

I bought one of those bottle trees - sure make drying easy. It was only $15 for a 45 bottle capacity. You can add to it, but I don't kow how much it would cost.

It's easy to take apart and sanitize.

[c0nsumer]

Originally posted by HogieWan
I bought one of those bottle trees - sure make drying easy. It was only $15 for a 45 bottle capacity. You can add to it, but I don't kow how much it would cost.

It's easy to take apart and sanitize.

I thought about that, but I don't want to have another thing to store... The whole reason I haven't gone and put together an all-grain setup is that I don't want two coolers just sitting around. :\

The bottle trees are really nice, and I think it would be especially handy, but it's just another thing that I don't *need* for getting the job done.

Although, who knows... Maybe in a couple of months I'll change my mind.

-Steve

[danno]

since I rarely bottle, I didn't need/want a fancy bottle dryer, so I went out to the garage, found a piece of 1x4 and drilled a dozen 2" holes in it. four screws for a couple of legs, and it sits over my basement sink... cost, maybe $2...

http://www.boomspeed.com/danno/bottledryer.jpg

[Grog]

Hey I have one of those bottle dryers too!

[BluesHarp]

Originally posted by c0nsumer
I just let these set until the foam (from Star San) is mostly gone, then start bottling.

This *is* the most tedious part, but it goes pretty quick...

That is the beauty of Star-san and it's no-rinse clones...I rinse my bottles well after drinking, stick them in a sink full of no-rinse cleanser a day before bottling, again in a bucket of no-rinse sanitized at bottling time.
It sure beats the old way of bleach and endless rinsing.

[awilki01]

Originally posted by Guiness5150
hey guys, here's another question on bottles. Can I use the dish washer if it has a 'sanitize' cycle? I assumed this would be for baby bottles and the like but anyone ever used it for beer bottles?

I would not recommend this. The bottles have such a small opening. Do you really feel it will sanitize the inside?

I use Iodopher (BTF). I love this stuff for sanitizing.

I haven't seen anyone else mention this for a sanitizer; is there any reason why not?

[BrewDog]

iodophor must be rinsed.

[danno]

Originally posted by BrewDog
iodophor must be rinsed. no it doesn't....

http://www.natlchem.com/HTML/TECH/pdir.html#btfid

[BrewDog]

Danno-
Thanks for pointing that out. I stand corrected.

As long as it is used in proper concentration and allowed to drain completely, it's ok. However, read this article (http://byo.com/mrwizard/1065.html) in BYO that talks about what might happen if you don't follow those instructions exactly.

I still would feel uneasy using it. Star San seems much friendlier.

[danno]

BrewDog, it's interesting that Mr. Wizard says "Iodophor does have a flavor and, when used at higher-than-recommended strengths, it can impart an iodine flavor to beer", but mentions double the normal strength in his article. proper mixing is 12.5 ppm, not 25 ppm...

check out this article about Iodophor by the Bay Area Mashers (http://www.bayareamashers.org/maindocs/iodophor.htm)... I use both Iodophor and Star-San, and prefer Star-San, but I think Iodophor gets a bad rap...

[c0nsumer]

Originally posted by danno
BrewDog, it's interesting that Mr. Wizard says "Iodophor does have a flavor and, when used at higher-than-recommended strengths, it can impart an iodine flavor to beer", but mentions double the normal strength in his article. proper mixing is 12.5 ppm, not 25 ppm...

check out this article about Iodophor by the Bay Area Mashers (http://www.bayareamashers.org/maindocs/iodophor.htm)... I use both Iodophor and Star-San, and prefer Star-San, but I think Iodophor gets a bad rap...

I think it should be noted that this is a food grade sanitizer used by a number of industries, and such products tend to work as advertised when the directions (mixing to 12.5ppm) are followed. I'd think that such a product wouldn't really survive in the market if it left a lingering taste in food products...

In addition, I have to say that right when I first started brewing beer a few months ago, I did a similar test... Tasting the straight 12.5ppm solution, rinsing a glass in sanitizer, filling it with tap water, then drinking it... The only way I was able to taste iodine is when I tried the full solution.

I personally have moved to using Star San, though. I bought a very large bottle of it as a test, and I found it's lack of degradation in hot water and non-staining to be rather nice, but being an acid it will damage stainless steel sink parts. I also don't care for the visible / tactile residue that it leaves on items, as I find myself rinsing and drying the outside of bottles after I'm done capping them.

Basically, I thought both were good sanitizers, they just seem to work differently...

-Steve