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Bottle washing

CR

Grandmaster Brewer
Joined
Aug 24, 2009
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I wash by hand:
Before bottling day I  Soak 'em in Bleach vinegar and water for  some unspecified period to get all the stuck on bits loose and flowing.
Then, a rinse and  on bottle day I wash 'em in star san solution.  drain 'em in a dishwasher rack and bottle.

Historically my arms and hands always take a beating from all the immersion in base or acid solutions.  Gloves only sort of helped untill the fluid gets in ''em and it always has.  I always  end up with my hands deeper in the  fluids than the tops of the gloves and splashes  do their part too

So I tried OBGYN veterinarian gloves that go up to the shoulders.  A disposable box of 100 for under $10.00
Wearing nitrile heavy gloves over then for toughness and grip,  I can handle anything and no worries about getting soaked.
Super~!!  Dry hands~!! the whole process not a lick of sanitizer touched my hands.
I got them at
www.jeffersequine.com




 
Man I'm just a slacker

- I make sure all bottles are well rinsed with no crud in them ASAP after serving
- I store them in a closed cabinet or closed plastic bin to reduce dirt / dust

bottling day

- one sink has hot water with some non-scented non-dye dish soap
- 6 bottles soak for a few minutes in the soapy water
- I bottle brush them well --all six go into the next sink for rinsing
- 6 more soak while I rinse the ones i just washed 
- the rinsed bottles go into the dishwasher - repeat
- I run them thru on the sanitize cycle a few hours prior to bottling

21 batches and no problems so far
 
Lately I've been doing 6 gallon batches, filling some bottles and putting the rest in a keg.
I rinse them well after use.  The day before I'll soak them in a moderate bleach solution.
Before using I rinse with one of those nifty bottle rinse things that fits on the tap. 
I hold them all to the light, and if any still has any crud in them after soaking all night in bleach it's time for the recycle bin.
Any that aren't immediately used get covered with a foil and stored. 
Those I don't bother recleaning before use, I just peel off the foil and fill them up.
 
I to like to bottle half of each of my 11 gallon batches.  I like the 22's but after mush deliberation, my favorite bottle is of the 5 gallon size. :)

Jet washer + StarSan = easy bottling.

cheers
 
sickbrew said:
my favorite bottle is of the 5 gallon size. :)

Must make for one hell of a huge BELCH when you are done with that "bottle."
I wanna see the U tube video.  ;-p
 
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