Cleaning bottles?

[Slopdog]

So in a couple days it will be the first time i reuse my coopers bottles, all i have done is rinsed them for now. I got some coles nappy san type stuff, should i just chuck them all in a bucket with a bit of that, rinse them and then sanitize them? Do i need to scrub them? The IPA i made last seems to have left a ring of residue around the top.

Another question, do i need to replace the caps with new ones so they are sealed? Or just reuse the current ones?

Might be dumb questions but i appreciate the help. Thanks all

[Aussiekraut]

27 minutes ago, Slopdog said:

So in a couple days it will be the first time i reuse my coopers bottles, all i have done is rinsed them for now. I got some coles nappy san type stuff, should i just chuck them all in a bucket with a bit of that, rinse them and then sanitize them? Do i need to scrub them? The IPA i made last seems to have left a ring of residue around the top.

Another question, do i need to replace the caps with new ones so they are sealed? Or just reuse the current ones?

Might be dumb questions but i appreciate the help. Thanks all

Nah mate, just soak, rinse (maybe twice, depending on the nappy soaker), sanitise and fill them. Should be fine. If you reckon they're a little extra dirty, give them a longer soak and check. 

[Malter White]

If you've got a ring around the neck it might be you've bottled too soon and have achieved a mini krausen in secondary fermentation. Soaking in hot tap water, not boiling, with the Coles laundry soaker should get rid of it. If your bottles are clean they won't need sanitising but if you want to sanitise knock yourself out.

[Shamus O'Sean]

6 hours ago, Slopdog said:

So in a couple days it will be the first time i reuse my coopers bottles, all i have done is rinsed them for now. I got some coles nappy san type stuff, should i just chuck them all in a bucket with a bit of that, rinse them and then sanitize them? Do i need to scrub them? The IPA i made last seems to have left a ring of residue around the top.

Another question, do i need to replace the caps with new ones so they are sealed? Or just reuse the current ones?

As others have said, a soak in nappy san stuff overnight.  Start with pretty warm water, but not so warm to warp the bottles.  Shake empty in the morning and a good rinse will do it.  Use a teaspoon of nappy san per litre of water.

An option to consider, this is what I do.  When I empty a bottle, I give it 2 x rinse with warm water.  Then I add a half teaspoon of the nappy san stuff to a 750ml bottle.  Add warm water and swirl it around.  Leave overnight.  Rinse out 4 x in the morning.  Hang on a bottle tree or similar to  air-dry. 

Re-use the original caps.  I have re-used mine heaps over the years.  Some say to remove the tamper-evident ring before re-capping.  I never bothered.  Having said that, for batch two, I removed the ring before I used the caps.  It serves no purpose for homebrew. 

[BlackSands]

What I find MUCH easier, and a lot less work overall is to simply wash the bottles as I use them.  Often that just entails a hot rinse and a quick scrub with a bottle brush, followed by a blast inside with starsan, then capped and set aside until the next bottling day.  Takes just a few minutes.   I had in the past I'd often noticed the build up of a residue, a biofilm which I believe to be hop oils and this did seem to be more of an issue when regularly brewing hoppy beers. This residue is resistent to sodium percarbonate (nappy san etc).  These bottles I just filled with water and a cap full of bleach.  A few hours later they are sparkling clean at which point they were given a good rinse and re-capped ready for next time.  It's not something I've noticed in recent times however. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

18 minutes ago, BlackSands said:

What I find MUCH easier, and a lot less work overall is to simply wash the bottles as I use them.  Often that just entails a hot rinse and a quick scrub with a bottle brush, followed by a blast inside with starsan, then capped and set aside until the next bottling day.  Takes just a few minutes.   I had in the past I'd often noticed the build up of a residue, a biofilm which I believe to be hop oils and this did seem to be more of an issue when regularly brewing hoppy beers. This residue is resistent to sodium percarbonate (nappy san etc).  These bottles I just filled with water and a cap full of bleach.  A few hours later they are sparkling clean at which point they were given a good rinse and re-capped ready for next time.  It's not something I've noticed in recent times however. 

Agreed it is much better to do your bottle cleaning as you go, old Army Cookhouse saying "Clean as you go" 

I pretty much do that with almost everything, once you have it drummed into you at a young age, it's there for life. 

[jackgym]

Over time the Cooper's PET bottles will glaze over inside with old beer.

For the ring around the top, use a plastic bottle brush.

A teaspoon of bleach and fill bottle with water and soak overnight.

Next day rinse well and hang on bottle tree.

It's much easier to do this after drinking the contents so no bulk washing of 30 bottles later. 

StarSan them on bottling day.

 

 

[Spursman]

A cautionary note - be careful not to scratch pet bottles with a bottle brush. Apparently it creates an environment that is cosy for infections to thrive in.

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 minutes ago, Spursman said:

A cautionary note - be careful not to scratch pet bottles with a bottle brush. Apparently it creates an environment that is cosy for infections to thrive in.

It certainly can, a cheap bottle brush usually has a few metal bits that can do some damage but if you pay a bit more you can get a decent one from your LHBS.

[Tone boy]

On 4/16/2022 at 10:15 PM, Shamus O'Sean said:

When I empty a bottle, I give it 2 x rinse with warm water.  Then I add a half teaspoon of the nappy san stuff to a 750ml bottle.  Add warm water and swirl it around.  Leave overnight.  Rinse out 4 x in the morning.  Hang on a bottle tree or similar to  air-dry. 

This is what I do too. I don’ do anything else until bottling day when I give it a quick rinse with no rinse sanitizer - just poured from 1 bottle to the next.

Sometimes hoppy beers can leave that ring around the neck of the bottle. After a while I give them an overnight soak with water and 10ml of bleach per 750ml bottle.  Rinse extra well. That gets rid of the buildup inside the bottle.

I use glass bottles FYI

[Tone boy]

And while we’re on the subject of cleaning bottles, I found a few of these really old bottles at the op shop recently. 
They appear to have been buried, most were full of dirt and whatever else and pretty nasty. Probably spent the last 60 years under a shearing shed or in a farm gully as was the practice back in the day! I have soaked in sodium percarbonate, scrubbed with bottle brush and soaked again with warm water and bleach. 
They have cleaned up pretty well except for a few remaining black stains that don’t come off with my bottle brush. 
Id love to get these old festive bottles back in service (the crown tops are great and look like they will seal). Any ideas how to get them pristine after such a long time? 

[Classic Brewing Co]

29 minutes ago, Tone boy said:

And while we’re on the subject of cleaning bottles, I found a few of these really old bottles at the op shop recently. 
They appear to have been buried, most were full of dirt and whatever else and pretty nasty. Probably spent the last 60 years under a shearing shed or in a farm gully as was the practice back in the day! I have soaked in sodium percarbonate, scrubbed with bottle brush and soaked again with warm water and bleach. 
They have cleaned up pretty well except for a few remaining black stains that don’t come off with my bottle brush. 
Id love to get these old festive bottles back in service (the crown tops are great and look like they will seal). Any ideas how to get them pristine after such a long time? 

I would try Bi Carbonate of Soda with a bit of water, fair amount in the bottle, let it soak, shake it up & let it sit for a while, if that doesn't do it chuck them.

[Tone boy]

2 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I would try Bi Carbonate of Soda with a bit of water, fair amount in the bottle, let it soak, shake it up & let it sit for a while, if that doesn't do it chuck them.

Thanks Phil I’ll try bicarbonate, can’ see it being stronger than bleach, but something different to try though.  I won’t be chucking them out though - I am determined to clean them up.

[Classic Brewing Co]

23 minutes ago, Tone boy said:

Thanks Phil I’ll try bicarbonate, can’ see it being stronger than bleach, but something different to try though.  I won’t be chucking them out though - I am determined to clean them up.

Yeah I know what you mean, I use it a lot for stuff, it's quite surprising though. I would keep the bottles too given their age, I have a few boxes of the original Pickaxe bottles to clean one day.

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Tone boy said:

Thanks Phil I’ll try bicarbonate, can’ see it being stronger than bleach, but something different to try though.  I won’t be chucking them out though - I am determined to clean them up.

Have you got one of those hand held steam cleaners ? I used mine on a couple of stubborn stains in some older bottles, it worked well.

[Tone boy]

42 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Have you got one of those hand held steam cleaners ? I used mine on a couple of stubborn stains in some older bottles, it worked well.

I haven’t got one but that’s a good idea cheers. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 minutes ago, Tone boy said:

I haven’t got one but that’s a good idea cheers. 

I have one of these, it comes with heaps of attachments, great around the house etc.

[DavidM]

Lay them on their side with the stain/problem facing down, once filled with the appropriate cleaner!

[Oldbloke]

8 hours ago, Tone boy said:

And while we’re on the subject of cleaning bottles, I found a few of these really old bottles at the op shop recently. 
They appear to have been buried, most were full of dirt and whatever else and pretty nasty. Probably spent the last 60 years under a shearing shed or in a farm gully as was the practice back in the day! I have soaked in sodium percarbonate, scrubbed with bottle brush and soaked again with warm water and bleach. 
They have cleaned up pretty well except for a few remaining black stains that don’t come off with my bottle brush. 
Id love to get these old festive bottles back in service (the crown tops are great and look like they will seal). Any ideas how to get them pristine after such a long time? 

Upside down in the dishwasher. The caustic soda in the washer tablets will fix it.

Edited June 30, 2022 by oldbloke

[BlackSands]

On 6/30/2022 at 10:18 AM, Spursman said:

A cautionary note - be careful not to scratch pet bottles with a bottle brush. Apparently it creates an environment that is cosy for infections to thrive in.

I've been hearing of this for years though I'm not actually aware of any solid evidence to support the claim so I do wonder if it is largely unfounced in practice?   Of course if you use something harder  than a soft nylon bristle brush you could well be asking for trouble but my personl experience is that it's a not been an issue for me - so far.  I've been brushing PET bottles (when needed) for years with a nylon brush - it certainly leaves no visible sign of scratching and I haven't had a problem with widespread bottle contamination.   And... myabe I've just been lucky so far?   Dunno, but I do wonder if this is just another one of those homebrew myths that is largely unsubstantiated.    There does seem to be this tendency in homebrew circles for things that are thought to possibly be an issue subsequently then being widely accepted as being an issue, without evidence.        And, having said that there are "no scratch" bottle brushes available online which tend to imply scratching could be a thing, but that could also be just another example of manufacturer simply inventing a problem and then providing the perfect product to solve it!  Not entirely uncommon!

So, I'm not necessarily saying that brushing PET's doesn't have the potential for scratching and hence a subsequent contamination risk...  just more that until it's proven to my satisfaction I'll likely continue to brush PET's when I need too!