I hate sanitizing bottles, does anyone have any ways you’ve found to do this quickly and easily?
Often, I fill a big cooler with Star San and drop my bombers in there, but it takes forever, uses a lot of sanitizer and is a mess.
Looking for something simpler that still gets 'em clean!
thanks!
I use the Vinator. A couple shots in the bottle, on to the tree and it’s ready. It really speeds up the process.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/vina ... inser.html:cheers:
I just use one of those bed pan thingys you get from the hospital. Uses about a gallon or less. holds 2 22oz at a time.
Just dip em in there swish around and dump back in. while you filling those throw 2 more back in.
I use bombers b/c they are just a little less “painintheass” than 12’s. My approach is to ensure that every bottle is well rinsed after drinking the brew. Irrigate, shake, drain, repeat a couple 3 times. Drip dry upside down and store. I use a large storage container for my Star San and submerge about 10 bottles at a time for bottling. Fill, shake and drain. Fill with beer.
And one little trick I found is to use the door of your dishwasher for bottling. It keeps all liquids contained and easily drained into the dishwasher upon completion.
+1 to the vinator and bottle tree. dude, that seriously halved the time it takes for me to bottle a batch.
Rinse/wash after use. Oven @ 350F for an hour. Super easy, just takes time. I usually put them in the oven the night before and have my husband fire up and turn off the oven so they are cooling when I arrive home from work.
Right before I bottle, I just shoot a couple of pumps of starsan from a spray bottle (set to a wide angle spray) into each bottle and then put them on my bottle tree. It uses less starsan, is faster, and much easier. I haven’t had any problems with it yet. A spray bottle is also cheaper than a vinator.
Agreed, way worth the purchase. That and a bottle tree to put them on makes sanitizing bottles much, much easier.
Agreed, way worth the purchase. That and a bottle tree to put them on makes sanitizing bottles much, much easier.[/quote]
+2 The vinator halved the time I spent sanitizing.
I use the vinator, but I saved on the bottle tree by buying an over-the-door hanging shoe rack and cutting the loops to give me six rows of vertical wire poles. It collapses down when I’m not using it, I can hang it from anything, or I can lean it up against the wall. They look like this before I get out the tin snips.
http://www.amazon.com/Neu-Home-Over-Doo ... 523&sr=8-7+1 to what Steppedonapoptop does. Use a fermentor or homer bucket. I can sanitize about 12-15 bottles at a time. And star san is good for a while. So when done, I throw a lid on the bucket and pull it out next time I need to sanitize.
BUT… I just bought a used single tap kegerator and converted it over to a 2 tap system! So I’ll be kegging my first 2 beers this weekend. I am SOOOO looking forward to NOT bottling! I have a Vienna Calypso IPA dry hopping right now and a Fest-Weise all ready to go. I’m so excited! I feel like at 6yr old kid on Christmas Eve.
Cheap garden tank sprayer set on fan spray and a tub…
@ Dobe12, thanks pal! No one ever agrees with my tactics 
Mike
I’ll add a +2 to dunking a dozen bombers in a bucket of StarSan and then bottle-treeing to drain. I let them soak for two minutes while I do something useful, like move the fermenters into place.
This is how I do it. Give each bottle about 5 sprays, put my thumb over the end or a piece of foil, then shake the bottle some. Then into the freezer, because I bottle from the keg.
+1 to the vinator. Got this when I was just making wine. Works great for beer bottles too. Just a couple squirts on the vinator and then onto the bottle tree to drain for a bit. I can get everything else ready while they’re draining.
So none of you give the bottles a quick 1-2 with a bottle brush before you sanitize? Even bottles that I rinse out after emptying, still get a little soak and scrub before I sanitize and air dry. Maybe I am doing way too much work?
I don’t worry about it if the bottles are rinsed right after being empty. If they’re allowed to dry out before I get to them, then I’ll give them a bit of a scrub. That’s pretty rare though. Nearly all of my bottles just get a rinse and then stored until it’s time to bottle.
+1. I rinse well with hot water after I pour a beer. Let it dry and then store. Sanitize on bottling day. I only scrub bottles that I haven’t yet already scrubbed.
Juggling bottles in a bucket of sanitizer is fine until you drop a slippery bottle back in and shatter 2-3 of them at once. Plus, sanitizer is terrible for drying out your skin. The Vinator and bottle tree is an indispensable piece of equipment for anybody bottling beer or wine.
