Improvisation tips

[thebeerpig]

Here's a hint if you’ve got a hot water service in a cupboard at home that has room in it to build some shelves big enough to hold a brew from your fermenter. I built shelves in mine many years ago and have found it to have been the perfect setup for hassle free gassing up of my bottles and stubbies during the winter months here in central Victoria.

[Tricky Micky]

When using Stellarsan sanitiser on the interior of the 750 mm PET bottles what method is best for that? Assuming No Rinse. Also, what is the recommended dilution/ratio for optimum sanitisation? 

Also for the washing of the bottles I'm using as suggested here "Clean Boost" (Woolworths) is there a ratio scale for the optimum use as a washing agent?

Edited September 29, 2020 by Mickep

[Fergy1987]

8 minutes ago, Mickep said:

When using Stellarsan sanitiser on the interior of the 750 mm PET bottles what method is best for that? Assuming No Rinse. Also, what is the recommended dilution/ratio for optimum sanitisation? 

Also for the washing of the bottles I'm using as suggested here "Clean Boost" (Woolworths) is there a ratio scale for the optimum use as a washing agent?

I just fill a bucket with starsan and water.....then two bottles at a time dunk them in. Fill it up a bit give them a shake. Tip upside down to empty move onto the next two.

[Malter White]

1 hour ago, Mickep said:

When using Stellarsan sanitiser on the interior of the 750 mm PET bottles what method is best for that? Assuming No Rinse. Also, what is the recommended dilution/ratio for optimum sanitisation? 

On the advice of another clever contributor on here, I don't sanitise my PETs. He was a scientist of some nature and clearly smarter than me. I find an overnight soak in hot tap water (not boiling because they'll melt) with a sodium perc based laundry soaker and rinse out with water and drip dry is sufficient.
The reasoning is bacteria needs something to stick to. If your bottles are clean and dry there's no place for bacteria to stick and grow, so sanitising is not necessary. Plenty of brewers still sanitise though and if you want to that's fine too.

 

Edited September 29, 2020 by MUZZY

[amberfiend]

2 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

On the advice of another clever contributor on here, I don't sanitise my PETs. I find an overnight soak in hot tap water (not boiling because they'll melt) with a sodium perc based laundry soaker and rinse out with water and drip dry is sufficient.
The reasoning is bacteria needs something to stick to. If your bottles are clean and dry there's no place for bacteria to stick and grow, so sanitising is not necessary. Plenty of brewers still sanitise though and if you want to that's fine too.

 

ive been using one of them pump squirt bottle cleaners that go with the bottle tree to clean out my pet & glass bottles with stellarsan, now im wondering if they are potentially getting micro abrasions on the inside when placing them on the branches of the bottle tree ? i guess i will have no choice from now on to make sure i sanitise them if thats the case yeah ? i always fill and shake with warm water a few times as soon as ive emptied the contents of the bottle and place them upside down to drain in the dish rack etc prior to any kind of sanitization so they probably get exposed to microbacterial shit anyway ?

[Malter White]

5 minutes ago, amberfiend said:

ive been using one of them pump squirt bottle cleaners that go with the bottle tree to clean out my pet & glass bottles with stellarsan, now im wondering if they are potentially getting micro abrasions on the inside when placing them on the branches of the bottle tree ? i guess i will have no choice from now on to make sure i sanitise them if thats the case yeah ? i always fill and shake with warm water a few times as soon as ive emptied the contents of the bottle and place them upside down to drain in the dish rack etc prior to any kind of sanitization so they probably get exposed to microbacterial shit anyway ?

I don't know about micro abrasions or not as I've never used a tree. I don't think they'd be an issue though.
I also rinse mine asap after drinking the contents and then use the process mentioned above. It's been satisfactory for me. A few times I've ended up with some 'bathtub ring' around the neck of my bottles but I'm pretty sure now that was like krausen as I may have bottled the beer too soon before ferment was 100% done.

[amberfiend]

47 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

I don't know about micro abrasions or not as I've never used a tree. I don't think they'd be an issue though.
I also rinse mine asap after drinking the contents and then use the process mentioned above. It's been satisfactory for me. A few times I've ended up with some 'bathtub ring' around the neck of my bottles but I'm pretty sure now that was like krausen as I may have bottled the beer too soon before ferment was 100% done.

yeah ive experienced a bit of that bathtub ring, it seems like if you rotate the bottles on an angle a few times the day after bottling it disolves into the brew or atleast when i looked in on something i just bottled the other day it worked like that, i havent had the issue on everything ive bottled just a few here and there, there was a few random floaty things in the beekeeper brew i made recently, not sure if they are a problem ? will see in a few weeks if they have settled or disolved in the bottles ? hopefully i wont die when i drink them ? although being free from paying bills could be good also ? lol

[Malter White]

@amberfiend I have always drank mine. I'm still here.

[amberfiend]

17 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

@amberfiend I have always drank mine. I'm still here.

i like living on the razors edge, so its full speed ahead on the strange floaty bits for me yeah lol

[John E Miller]

Tip: use a spray bottle to sanitize your bottles: cheaper than buying a vinator

[John E Miller]

Colour code your different beers with a cheap set of artists acrylic paints. 

I used to use coloured dot stickers to mark the lids, but ran out of different colours to use. There is a bigger variety of colours with paint, plus it is quicker to apply and washes off easy 

Edited October 16, 2020 by John E Miller

[John E Miller]

On 10/17/2020 at 9:44 AM, John E Miller said:

Colour code your different beers with a cheap set of artists acrylic paints. 

I used to use coloured dot stickers to mark the lids, but ran out of different colours to use. There is a bigger variety of colours with paint, plus it is quicker to apply and washes off easy 

Better yet, use oil pastels. Much neater. 

[Tricky Micky]

On 9/22/2020 at 11:13 AM, MUZZY said:

This is another tip I've shared before but I'm sharing again for the benefit of those new to the forum. Instead of buying an expensive bottle tree to dry bottles on I had a few of these baskets at home which are a great substitute.

 

On 9/22/2020 at 11:13 AM, MUZZY said:

 

Thanks to you Muzzy, a great idea. I'm rapt with this. Got my own happening now.

 

[Fergy1987]

My only improvisation tip is to cut off the end of your bottling wand put that in the tap, and attach some hose to it. Then chuck bottling wand in the other end and you have a super awesome long wand you can swing around as you bottle on the floor, down the hallway, in the backyard, the next suburb....depends on the length of hose I guess  

[Lettucegrove]

Here's a tip for pressure testing kegs when maintenance has been performed on them ie. replacing internal o-rings, posts etc. Rather than filled the whole keg with co2, or fill the whole keg with liquid and then pressurise with co2, just fill the keg with a little bit of hot water, seal up and shake. This will pressurise the keg and let you check for leaks.

Another tip, use your no rinse sanitiser in a spray bottle as the medium to test for leaks. It will bubble up like soapy water does when leaks are present.

[Tricky Micky]

Purchased this at Bunnings today for the Stellarsan sterilizer. Hoping to give the hand a rest from manually hand spraying those 30+ bottles for each batch. Works a treat so far.

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Purchased this at Bunnings today for the Stellarsan sterilizer. Hoping to give the hand a rest from manually hand spraying those 30+ bottles for each batch. Works a treat so far.

 

Looks fairly sturdy @Mickep  should do the job.

[Malter White]

6 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Purchased this at Bunnings today for the Stellarsan sterilizer. Hoping to give the hand a rest from manually hand spraying those 30+ bottles for each batch. Works a treat so far.

 

Hey Mick.
Knowledge is power and your tip is knowledge for some. Thanks for sharing it.
However, I don't sanitise my bottles. I rinse them pretty soon after use and then a day or two before needing them again I give them an overnight soak in hot water and sodium perc laundry soaker eg. Napisan. Then rinse and dry them inverted in the sun.
One punter on here with more brains than me, who has some science nous, suggested if your bottles are clean - they are clean. The sun will eliminate most harmful bacteria. Hence, sanitising is probably not necessary. It may have been @MartyG1525230263 that suggested it but I can't remember and I'm sorry for not remembering because it shortened my cleaning process markedly. So thank you Marty or whomever it was.
@Mickep I am NOT going to tell you to NOT Stellarsan your bottles because as the old proverb says, "Cleanliness is next to beeriness," but you might not need to be as surgically hygienic as you are being. Cheers.

[Journeyman]

43 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Purchased this at Bunnings today for the Stellarsan sterilizer. Hoping to give the hand a rest from manually hand spraying those 30+ bottles for each batch. Works a treat so far.

Just some advice. Take that back and get one of these. I went through 3 different types of the one you have and they last maybe a few weeks before the bottle loses pressure - funny it's NOT the spray mechanism but the bottle.

But this one I have for both my sodium perc and my stellarsan and they work great. And only $9.50

[Tricky Micky]

6 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

Just some advice. Take that back and get one of these. I went through 3 different types of the one you have and they last maybe a few weeks before the bottle loses pressure - funny it's NOT the spray mechanism but the bottle.

But this one I have for both my sodium perc and my stellarsan and they work great. And only $9.50

Thanks for the heads up JM. Are they at Bunnings mate? 

[Tricky Micky]

33 minutes ago, MUZZY said:

Hey Mick.
Knowledge is power and your tip is knowledge for some. Thanks for sharing it.
However, I don't sanitise my bottles. I rinse them pretty soon after use and then a day or two before needing them again I give them an overnight soak in hot water and sodium perc laundry soaker eg. Napisan. Then rinse and dry them inverted in the sun.
One punter on here with more brains than me, who has some science nous, suggested if your bottles are clean - they are clean. The sun will eliminate most harmful bacteria. Hence, sanitising is probably not necessary. It may have been @MartyG1525230263 that suggested it but I can't remember and I'm sorry for not remembering because it shortened my cleaning process markedly. So thank you Marty or whomever it was.
@Mickep I am NOT going to tell you to NOT Stellarsan your bottles because as the old proverb says, "Cleanliness is next to beeriness," but you might not need to be as surgically hygienic as you are being. Cheers.

Hey Muzzy, I remember the thread too just can't remember who this was attributed to.  My bottle cleaning is started as soon as I've downed the contents, like most who bottle here I rinse the bottles out thoroughly immediately after use and are then given a half a teaspoon of sodium perc and left to soak for a day or so then rinsed again. So they should be clean even without the Stellarsan. I'll read up a bit more on this for sure Muzzy, thanks for the heads up mate.

[Malter White]

2 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Hey Muzzy, I remember the thread too just can't remember who this was attributed to.  My bottle cleaning is started as soon as I've downed the contents, like most who bottle here I rinse the bottles out thoroughly immediately after use and are then given a half a teaspoon of sodium perc and left to soak for a day or so then rinsed again. So they should be clean even without the Stellarsan. I'll read up a bit more on this for sure Muzzy, thanks for the heads up mate.

Whoever it was made a lot of sense to me. Maybe because what they said meant less work but it still made sense. In layman's terms it was "bacteria needs something to stick to. If the bottles are clean and dry there's nothing to stick to."

[Journeyman]

14 minutes ago, Mickep said:

Thanks for the heads up JM. Are they at Bunnings mate? 

Yes... Same shelf area. And on my Sod Perc one I have removed the metal spray attachment because beer line fits right in there, snug as, and I have a carb cap on the other end I can just snap on my beer line disconnects and pump the cleaner into the lines.

[Classic Brewing Co]

18 minutes ago, Mickep said:

My bottle cleaning is started as soon as I've downed the contents, like most who bottle here I rinse the bottles out thoroughly immediately

I do exactly the same as I feel that sorta shortcuts the whole cleaning/sterilizing process. Of course I am vigilant with pre bottle filling, working as a cook for many years taught me that.

[Marty_G]

@MUZZY Yeap, that would have been me with that tip. 

Once the bottles are clean and there is no substrate for the bacteria to grow on they can not grow. It is simples as that.  That is why when you get new bottles they can be used immediately.  Back in the day I just gave them a rinse out to remove any dust drier them in the sun and they used them either  that day or next.