Two noob questions about bottling

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spikey

spikey

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What's the best stuff to sterilise my bottles with? I've got some VWP and I've found my bottle tree, but this time round I'm trying to cut down on all the rinsing. I see there's "no rinse" sterilisers about nowadays. Are they any good? Is it just a case of fill bottles with the stuff, empty, drain and Bob's yer uncle? Or do you still need to rinse?

And how much headroom should I leave? I seem to remember I used to aim for halfway up the neck, but I was never sure if that was right.
 
Headroom in the bottle... 1 inch / 2.5 cm is about right. No rinse sanitisers are good. Bottles need to be clean before sanitising i.e. after use, rinse with warm water a couple of times.
 
I use a no rinse sanitiser. You just add a couple of teaspoons to a bowl of hot water. I've become very lazy, though. I'd once forgotten to sanitise the bottles and had already added the sugar. I went ahead and bottled and had no infection problems. I stand my bottles upside down in the dishwasher and make sure they are spotless before I store them away. It may not be helpful for head retention, apparently, but it cuts down the workload.
I've now bottled dozens of brews using this method and have never had an infection.
 
Irrespective of how you prepare your bottles prior to bottling your beer, you will help yourself if they are properly cleaned after you have emptied them of beer including removal of any stuck on yeast film at the bottom. It just seems easier to use a bottle brush on two or three bottles after use rather than have to spend ages doing the same to lots of bottles later on.
 
Hi!
As the name says, you do not rinse the bottles after treatment with a no-rinse sanitiser.
There are several no-rinse sanitisers available - many members use Star San, which seems expensive, but represents good value because it can be re-used.
All no-rinse sanitisers depend on the bottle being scrupulously clean before sanitisation. As @terrym wrote, cleaning as they are emptied is very good practice.
 
I bottled this weekend and I soaked in oxi first, then washed with clean water and put them on the bottle tree, then as I was about to fill I used my squirty bottle of starsan to spray a couple of squirts inside the bottle and pour out, on the lip of the neck and squirt the cap before capping. And I found the bottle stick I have on the bottom of the tap gave a consistent level in the bottle neck for head space.
 
Thank you, gentlemen. Right ho, my bottles are indeed put away clean, so I'll get some of this no-rinse stuff and hope for the best!
 
I wash my bottles after use and store them with a plastic cap to stop any nasties getting in. On bottling day I remove the caps, give them a squirt with no-rinse sanitiser in the bottle washer and put them on the bottle tree while I get everything else ready.

Bottling is done straight from the FV using a bottling wand, when the beer gets to the top of the bottle remove the wand and it leaves the perfect headroom.
 
WierdFish said:
Bottling is done straight from the FV using a bottling wand, when the beer gets to the top of the bottle remove the wand and it leaves the perfect headroom.
Click to expand...
Makes sense to me so that's the way forward. Thank you!
 

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