Easy way to sterilise glass bottles

[MyQul]

just done this with bottles with ceramic swingtops and it would appear that some of the white tops got melted! The bottles are still too hot to handle so have to wait until I can inspect this. Won't be able to bottle it this weekend though, until I get new tops...

oops. I thought you planned to take the swing tops off? You can buy replacement swing tops from ebay or a lot of online homebrew shops. If your lucky yours might be the same size as grolsch ones and you can just buy a couple of bottles of grolsch

 

[Wonderwoman]

oops. I thought you planned to take the swing tops off? You can buy replacement swing tops from ebay or a lot of online homebrew shops. If your lucky yours might be the same size as grolsch ones and you can just buy a couple of bottles of grolsch

Turned out alright, I just took the red rubber stoppers off. I think you just missed my update-post, they must have crossed.

 

[wheazy_joe]

Okay turns out the Range bottles come with (very well imitated) plastic tops. I was actually lucky, they seem to withstand great heat, nly one melted totally, and one or two others got slightly deformed but are still functioning. I see now though what you mean with bottling day... how do you handle things, I mean literally, with your hands and contamination? I obviously washed them, then used anti bac hand gel and once I put the red rubber stoppers over the caps (what a pain!) I wiped them again with vodka. Is that enough or should I wipe or soak them in steriliser? Next time I will take the whole swing top off and just soak it in steriliser with the rubber stoppers still on.

Bottling day is tough. In terms of handling the bottles etc, as I said earlier I usually just double dunk my bottles, therefore my hands are constantly soaked with sanitising solution throughout the bottling process, don't worry too much as long as your hands are clean you will be fine.

 

[Leon103]

I have always wondered if this would work as I do it with jams and pickles etc.

I think I will give it a go next time. Do you lay the bottles down or stand them?

 

[MyQul]

I have always wondered if this would work as I do it with jams and pickles etc.

I think I will give it a go next time. Do you lay the bottles down or stand them?

stand em up

 

[FatDad]

Just tried this and it ruined 24 Coopers PET bottles - just kidding!

Yeah I used the oven method for jam jars and have always thought of doing this with bottles but as I already had the sterilising solution to hand when brewing I just sterilised them that way.

When the novelty of bottling wears off I don't doubt I'll switch to the oven method.

Do you think the bottles will stand being stacked on top of each other so I can fit more into the oven while they heat up in the oven (kind of like a pyramid of bottles)? Anyone tried it?

 

[Wonderwoman]

Just tried this and it ruined 24 Coopers PET bottles - just kidding!

Yeah I used the oven method for jam jars and have always thought of doing this with bottles but as I already had the sterilising solution to hand when brewing I just sterilised them that way.

When the novelty of bottling wears off I don't doubt I'll switch to the oven method.

Do you think the bottles will stand being stacked on top of each other so I can fit more into the oven while they heat up in the oven (kind of like a pyramid of bottles)? Anyone tried it?

to be honest I stacked them as I wouldnt have fitted them all in otherwise. Not sure if that was the correct way of doing it though!

 

[MyQul]

to be honest I stacked them as I wouldnt have fitted them all in otherwise. Not sure if that was the correct way of doing it though!

Your putting bottles in an oven - I don't think there is a 'correct' way of doing it

 

[Bevvied]

Thanks for the tip with this.
Made things easy peasy for me this morning.
Last night, washed bottles, put in cold oven.
This morning turned oven on, had shower and whatnot, time to turn oven off.
Hour or so later. began bottling, easy as you like.
Oh yeah, I stacked mine in oven, no problems.

 

[Maffa]

Interesting thread. Been kit brewing now for nearly 3 years and I've tried kegs but I've never managed to get a complete 40 pints out without about 25% spoilage, so I always bottle now.

I have to say I dislike bottling day just because of the sterlising time, but I will load up the oven when the latest brew has done and hopefully bottling day should become a passion again.

 

[Birkin]

I'm not convinced by this, I bottle condition all my beers and find a bottle tree with a bottle rinser to be extremely simple, quick and easy.

Once the bottles are clean just empty the tree then fill the bottle rinser with starsan solution and spray the tree with starsan.

Give each bottle neck a dip in starsan, then a squirt on the bottle rinser and put it back on the tree for 20 mins.

This way sanitising the bottles doesn't take much more than half an hour including the 20 min wait time.

 

[Bigcol49]

I'm not convinced by this, I bottle condition all my beers and find a bottle tree with a bottle rinser to be extremely simple, quick and easy.

Once the bottles are clean just empty the tree then fill the bottle rinser with starsan solution and spray the tree with starsan.

Give each bottle neck a dip in starsan, then a squirt on the bottle rinser and put it back on the tree for 20 mins.

This way sanitising the bottles doesn't take much more than half an hour including the 20 min wait time.

Hi!
I understood that StarSan sanitises surfaces after 30 seconds, 1 to 2 minutes max.

 

[MyQul]

I'm not convinced by this, I bottle condition all my beers and find a bottle tree with a bottle rinser to be extremely simple, quick and easy.

Once the bottles are clean just empty the tree then fill the bottle rinser with starsan solution and spray the tree with starsan.

Give each bottle neck a dip in starsan, then a squirt on the bottle rinser and put it back on the tree for 20 mins.

This way sanitising the bottles doesn't take much more than half an hour including the 20 min wait time.

Star san is great as it's so convient but it doesn't kill absolutely everything e.g. wild yeast.

I'm a bit of a belt and braces man when it comes to sanitation. I oven my bottles after rinsing them, put a little cling film cap on them an then store them away. On bottling day I do what you do and use a bottle rinser, rack and starsan to make sure.

One thing I noticed before I ovened my bottles is that when I stored them away I would sometimes get a small amout of microflora growing on the inside surface. Which doesnt happen now because the heat for the oven has killed everything in them.

Also I've had more than one wild yeast infection. Ovening my bottles as standard means that if (and when) I get another infection I can narrow it down asier to where in my chain of brewing it's come from i.e. I'll know it's not in my bottles.

Ovening is just one alternative sanitising method to star san. Some people on the forum use boiling water as a sanising method or chlorine based sanitsers. I don't think one is significantly better than the other (although star san is super convenient)

 

[Dutto]

I sterilise Klinger jars and bottles in the oven for jams, pickles, chutneys and syrups because I only make a maximum of 5 litre batches and the oven is directly beneath the hob that I boil everything up on.

There's no denying that it is a great system. :thumb: :thumb:

However, I brew and bottle beer in 21 litre batches (requiring 42 x 500ml bottles) in a garage that is over 20 metres away from my oven so it's just not convenient.

For me, the ultimate steriliser is suitably diluted unscented Thin Bleach at 30p a litre from Tesco. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[chuffer]

Loving the post sterilisation suggestion of cling film and loom bands...will definitely be using that one

 

[Spoon]

Either you're all far more house proud or don't cook enough, anything that goes into my oven comes out covered in a sticky film of grease!

 

[Brew_Mike]

One thing that you ought to be aware of, is that beer bottles are generally toughened, when you heat and cool them slowly you are putting them through an annealing process, which weakens them. Just something to be aware of over time and multiple cycles. it's not that important for Jams, preserves and pickles, but beer is a carbonated beverage.

Just a thought.

 

[Cwrw666]

One thing that you ought to be aware of, is that beer bottles are generally toughened, when you heat and cool them slowly you are putting them through an annealing process, which weakens them. Just something to be aware of over time and multiple cycles. it's not that important for Jams, preserves and pickles, but beer is a carbonated beverage.

Just a thought.

I've been `sterilizing' my bottles with boiling water, never having much faith in chemicals. Still using bottles from the 1980s and so far no problems.

 

[Brew_Mike]

Boiling water is 'ok' but 150-180C is past the annealing point of glass. . . and anyway, unless you are putting the bottles in a pot of boiling water they are not going to be at 'boiling' point