BeerBorg

Got close to 16 cases of bottles a few weeks back, need some of them for upcoming bottling next week. This week I am engaged in an every other day WASH 45 or BUST program, where I wash the max that my bottle tree holds, let them dry for 48 hours, and then wash another 45. So far I've washed 87 twelve ounce bottles and 3 22 ounce bottles. Only 262 more dirty bottles in inventory, which includes old inventory also, and I've got 86 bottles to go back to the store (short, or tall ones with finicky labels), and a handful to toss.

Goal is to have enough for next week's bottling of 10 gallons (102 normal 12 oz bottles), plus have another 8 cases of clean bottles ready to go, and then another two or so cases of not washed bottles in inventory for the future if needed. So I guess that I have another 4 or 5 days of washing over the next few weeks...

Yes, I know I could keg. Yes, I know kegging is "easier", despite the posts by a bunch of people having difficulties with it. I don't need kegs with 6 beers consumed per week. And this surge is due to me replenishing my inventory.

I stopped 'washing' bottles a long time ago.

What I do:
- Pour beer
- Immediately rinse bottle with warm water 1-2 times
- Fill halfway and shake a few times
- Pour out and fill with hot water

I let that sit until the end of the evening and then I put upside down to drain.
The next day I put the bottle back into my storage area for next use.

Before it gets used again, I simply rinse with water and sanitize.

If I see that there is something that I can't rinse out the night I use it I may try to scrub it. Otherwise I just recycle it.

I only drink 4-6 beers a week myself so there isn't a lot of work involved. It saves me from having to clean a bunch at once later.

I do the same. These are bottles from others - so I'm washing the initial crud (if any out of them), their saliva, dust, the occasional bug, and removing labels from those that have them. Once I've done this, I don't do it again unless the bottle doesn't come clean with my normal process which is the same as yours except I use a drop of unscented dish soap.

I feel your pain Rick, when I first started to use glass bottles I got quite a few cases from a local bar that I am friends with the owners. They were really nasty and I had to work hard cleaning them. I think the initial Oxi-clean soak to remove the labels also helps a lot with the bottom sludge as does a little bleach in hot water soak. I have way more then enough bottles now and when people offer me some I usually say thanks but I'm good. I do like Kealia and yourself minus the unscented dish soap, although I have read your postings on it and think it's a good idea. I know I'm very fussy on rinsing as soon as I pour and before I even take a sip. Bottle washing sucks.

This makes me even more excited to go pick up the 5 corny kegs I found on Craigslist on Friday. Dear god that is a crazy amount of bottles to wash! I don't care if I only drank 2-3 beers per week, i'll stick with kegging Although having 6 taps helps with variety. I still have 6 cases of empty bottles though for competitions and sharing when needed.

Since getting my kegging system up and running, I've only been using bottles for the 2.5 gallon batches, although that's essentially half my output. In the meantime, I've been putting a lot of my empties into the recycling bin every week to reduce my inventory. The amount of bottles I had accumulated was crazy, and I'm glad to have some of that space back.

FedoraDave wrote:Since getting my kegging system up and running, I've only been using bottles for the 2.5 gallon batches, although that's essentially half my output. In the meantime, I've been putting a lot of my empties into the recycling bin every week to reduce my inventory. The amount of bottles I had accumulated was crazy, and I'm glad to have some of that space back.

I've stopped bottling.... Pour some into growlers if I need to trade or bring some to an event these days.

Even if I kegged, I'd still bottle some beers. There are some I make that I like to keep around 8, 12, 18 months even to see how they change with age. Don't think a keg is a good option for that.

Kealia wrote:I stopped 'washing' bottles a long time ago.

What I do:
- Pour beer
- Immediately rinse bottle with warm water 1-2 times
- Fill halfway and shake a few times
- Pour out and fill with hot water

I let that sit until the end of the evening and then I put upside down to drain.
The next day I put the bottle back into my storage area for next use.

Before it gets used again, I simply rinse with water and sanitize.

If I see that there is something that I can't rinse out the night I use it I may try to scrub it. Otherwise I just recycle it.

I only drink 4-6 beers a week myself so there isn't a lot of work involved. It saves me from having to clean a bunch at once later.

I do the same with a couple of exceptions.

I rinse 3 times with the hottest water available.

I collect a weeks worth and fill each with sanitizer. After I drain the sanitizer I store the bottle neck down in the case and use them with no further cleaning.

In 3 years I've never had a bad bottle from a sanitation standpoint. I had some bad beer but that was my doing.