Sterilizing beer bottles

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doodaa

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Bit of a noob question but are there any tips to speed up sterilizing bottles for beer? I ask because I am thinking of doing a 40 pint kit and bottling the result, but the sterilizing stuff I have been using (one from Wilko's) you use 4 tsp per gallon and this alone uses over half of the tub which costs £1.60 to fill the kitchen sink. Then you have to leave them immersed for 10 min but I can only get 5 in at a time so this will be costly in sterilizer and time as I recon I will need around 50 bottles :shock:
 
Hi ...I use a fv fill that with sterilizing water and your get a lot more bottles in there . I tip water out of each bottle back in bucket so I use just one bucket of stuff ...hope it helps..
 
I had the same problem when bottling the first time around. Could fit only about 8 bottles in my sink to soak and then to dry etc., it was a bit of a hassle. But I've added the bottle tree and avinator to my shopping list on brewuk.co.uk, so the next time around it should be a lot easier.
 
I use videne at nearly 2.5ml/litre ratio because our water is quite hard. At that it's no-rinse but potent. I put 4 litres of water and 10ml of videne into a plastic tub from home bargains. I have a bottle dunked in the water while the previous is being shook and drained back in. This way I get all 40+ bottles through in about 10-15 mins max and each bottle has a contact time of about 20-30 secs which I believe is plenty for a 2.5ml/litre videne mix.
 
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I use this:
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/VWP_400g.html#.U93sDnx0yM8

the 400g container makes about 120 gallons so is very cheap.
For bottling I ensure the bottles are cleaned after consuming contents then on bottling day I use a bottle rinser to give each one a squirt of VWP solution, leave them to stand for a few minutes then rinse them out with clean water (again using the bottle rinser, changing the water every 10 bottles). Allow to drain on bottle tree.

For bottles that need 'cleaning' you can soak in VWP and this cleans them up a treat.

Just remember to rinse well. I have filled several hundred bottles this way without any problems.
 
I used videne and its great, but not as great as the starsan.. and while starsan is 2 or 3 times the cost of a bottle of videne it lasts way longer..


videne has a limited shelf life when mixed, the colour tint is an indicator of potency when the redish tint fades it indicates the sanitiser could be spent.


startsan is persistent, i mix up 5l in tesco ashbeck water and fill up a 1l trigger spray bottle from that, 5l lasts a fair few brews and you will find the trigger bottle may end up living in the kitchen too ;)

if starsan goes cloudy it indicates it may be spent, BUT you can test it with a 99p strip of ph indicator papers, as long as the ph is 3 or less its good to go.

i went thru a bottle of videne in a couple of years, my starsan bottle should last 5-10 years !!!

to use with a trigger spray bottle just point n spray , 2 squirts in a bottle will sanitise it ;) easy cheap, and way less work n worry.. just my 2ps worth ;)
 
got a quick ????

once you've sterilized the bottles how long to they stay sterilized for??? do you need to do them and then fill them straight away?

thank you :hat:
 
I always wash out my bottles after use so no crud will be lurking there .Then before bottling I usually put them in the dish washer to make sure, then a squirt of Starsan. I got to thinking, when the bottles come out of the washer they're too hot to touch, so tried a few bottles over a couple of batches filling straight out of the washer , no problems encountered , so I bottled a full batch , so far again no problems. What do you think ?
 
for anyone wanting the Videne Antiseptic solution 500ml I ordered some from here>>> http://www.expresschemist.co.uk/Videne-Antiseptic-Solution.html#.U-UbhvldXW6, It cost £10.98 with tracked postage and arrived in two days :D and you don't have to create an account or anything if you don't want although I did for repeat orders. My local chemist said they could order it and quoted me about £11.00 so that must be about it's retail cost. So I have got my self a spray bottle from B&Q and will be useing it for the first time tomorrow :)

Now is it beer o clock yet??? :drink:
 
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