www.nthba.org

I know, I know, switch to kegs..

I'm looking for an easier way to sanitize my bottles.. the bottles are already clean so that's not a issue..

right now, I make about a 3gal solution of starsan in a bucket. I dip each bottle into the solution and let it fill up.. I do this until I can't fit any more bottles in the bucket. I drain each bottle back into the bucket and put it into a rack to dry..

when I bottle , I usually spray the tops of the bottles before racking..

is there an easier way? no keg talk, I'm warning you..

Sounds about like the way I sanitize bottles. Except, that I soak them in the bucket of sanitizer, drain them and then cover them with a bit of foil. Of course, I am only sanitizing enough bottles to fill them from a keg for competition.

That's pretty much the way I sanitize my bottles as well. I don't think you are going to find a more automated way. As for keeping the bottle clean I'd go with Big Wally's way of putting foil over the top of the bottle to keep the nasties out.

Once I have mine washed I run them through a cycle in my dish washer without any detergent. Be sure to use the drying cycle. The heat will sanitize them. I can fit about 50 bottles in one cycle. When I bring them out I put them in a case box and cover the tops with plastic wrap. I store them that way for months until I am ready to use them.

When I go to fill the bottles I simply poke a hole in the plastic with the filler pipe. That helps keeps some pressure in the bottle and reduce over flow.

I clean bottles the old school way, like we used to before the hobby got fancy and all. I clean out all the stuff from my bathtub, rubber ducky, Sponge Bob toy and some other stuff I don't want to mention and fill it up with bleach water (yeah, that's right Melinda, good old laundry bleach right from the super market). I then let the bottles sit around in that for a while while I get everything ready. I then just rinse out the bottles really well with water and fill 'em up. Of course, most of my t shirts have little holes in them from splashing bleach water around but hey, it's not a fashion contest. Generally speaking, I seem to avoid bottle infections but I have to admit, I would rather keg any day. The other benefit is that the bathtub gets a nice cleaning once in a while.

If you use the bathtub, just be sure to dig the ball of hair out of the drain first.

To save StarSan, I make a small batch and put it in a spray bottle. I then spray a fine mist into each bottle (3 or 4 squirts) and let drain into a small bucket (i.e., the malt extract buckets from HomebrewHQ). Then just let it air dry. Never had an infection.

Of course Mr. Woodbrew, you have now severly screwed up your luck by boldly claiming that you don't get bottle infections. Hell, a little adversity once in a while is good for you, assuming naturally that it doesn't kill you.

Bill Lawrence wrote:Of course Mr. Woodbrew, you have now severly screwed up your luck by boldly claiming that you don't get bottle infections. Hell, a little adversity once in a while is good for you, assuming naturally that it doesn't kill you.

I said that I've never had an infection (yet), not "I do not get infections"