BeerBorg

If I run my bottles thru a hot cycle of the DW, is that enough before bottling for sanitation? They all were rinsed well after emptying and soaked a bit in oxyclean to remove the labels. I also plan on using the bottlebrush on them just prior to the DW just in case and to loosin any crud I may have missed.

Thanks again!

Yes, and no.

IF the dishwasher has a sanitize cycle then it theoretically will sanitize the bottles. Note that it's the temp that it reaches inside, NOT the water temp, that matters. Most water won't even go inside the bottles.

If it's a heat cycle that sanitizes, then that can be ok. If it heats water to that temp, and your dishwasher uses a product like Rinse Aid, then the beer MAY not have much head when you pour it.

I assume you washed them very good AFTER the Oxiclean soaking to get rid of any residue and the glue? Your "using a bottle brush prior to dishwashing" approach implies you're not rinsing them clean after - and the dishwasher won't clean them on the inside good enough.

So, based on what your wrote, no, because the bottle won't get clean enough inside.

I think Rick is spot on. The first time I use harvested bottles, I will give them a thorough cleaning inside and out with Oxyclean Free and remove the labels. This is when I use the bottle brush to make sure they are good and clean. They then get a thorough rinse with HOT water. My water is so hot that I have trouble holding on to the bottle at times. I use a bottle washer to rinse out the inside.



Then the night before I bottle, I run them through the DW on a high heat setting. No detergent or rinse agent. Then on bottling day, I still use Starsan on the bottles with my bottle rinser.



Might be overkill, but I haven't had any bottling issues. Some have used just the DW (after the bottles are thoroughly cleaned) to sanitize, but I feel more comfortable still using Starsan (or your sanitizer of choice).

I bake mine in the oven at 225 for an hour the night before bottling. I don't use any sanitizer on my bottles on bottling day.

If you have soaked the whole bottle in Oxyclean Free for a while to remove the labels, then rinsed well, you probably don't need to worry much about whether the dishwasher cleans them, just whether the 'sanitize' cycle heats them enough to sanitize. For comparison, I use 1-gallon carboys for test batches, and the first time I needed to clean one, I filled it with water containing 1-2 tbsp of Oxyclean Free and left it for a couple of hours while I did other things. When I got back to cleaning out its gunk (a.k.a. krausen), I ended up saying 'what gunk' because it was all dissolved by the Oxyclean. When removing labels from bottles, I make sure it contacts the whole inside and let it sit at least a day.

Well, I have no clue how hot my DW gets. It doesn't say 'sanitize cylce' on it so I reckon I better sanitize the way I'm used to.
I'm not familiar with Oxyclean Free either. My bottle says just Oxyclean. Is this something different? I did rinse them very well when I took them out of the OC soak and brushed them prior to their trip thru the DW.

Thanks again folks. Maybe soon I'll be able to share my knowledge and experiences with others who are clueless..lol.

Oxiclean free is not scented. You dont want to use anything scented on any of your plastic equipment. On glass it is ok as long as it is thoroughly rinsed.

I will add a couple of observations I have made over time.

First we have hard water and the Oxi-Clean Free, leaves behind a residue which I believe is soda ash and if left to sit for several hours it acts/or becomes a scale like a hard water deposit.

Second while Oxi-Clean Free does soften the label itself so it removes easily it still leaves a lot of label glue residue on the bottle AND in solution so if you soak labeled bottles on their sides to de-label them you will get glue residue INSIDE your bottles.

If you hold your bottles up to a light that is not florescent after cleaning them they should not have any water vapor spots, that signals there is still some microscopic debris clinging to that part of the bottle that can harbor bugs; your bottles should drain and dry uniformly and there should not be any cloudy areas visible when viewed under a light. They should be shiny and spotless and this is also when you can see if there are any flaws in the glass itself, you can see any cracks, bubbles or irregularities in a bottle and if so pitch it.

I believe that a bottle tree and vinator were one of the best investments we made of all our brew gear since we switched to glass bottles. But it is each home brewers choice as to what is convenient for the working area and schedule they have.

I will see if I have some pics that might help explain this post better.

You need to know the the temp of your dishwasher.

When using heat, a warewashing machine must be capable of a hot water rinse of 180°F (although not higher than 194°F. At temps 195°F and above is a cooking temp)

The water used for the sanitizing rinse should be heated within the dishwasher and not relying on an external hot water source. As others have stated Oxi leaves a residue. Myself I do not rely on any cleaner to also sanitize the bottles.

Luckily where I live we have very good, soft water, so I have not had a scaling issue. But scaling is something for others go be aware of. Using Avery labels, the paper does come off easily, but the glue has needed the long soak. There is initially a soapy residue, but a thorough rinsing has taken care of that.

use Avery's repositionable labels?? They peel right off

This discussion made me curious whether soaking my bottles in Oxyclean Free is leaving any aftertaste. I filled one bottle that had been left in Oxyclean Free for 24 hours, and then rinsed thoroughly, with our tap water (good quality being in the Sierra foothills) and left it for the day (14 hours), and poured it in a glass. I poured fresh tap water into an identical glass, let it sit for several minutes, and compared them. Even though my palate is becoming refined through comparing beers, becoming more able to detect off-flavors, I could not detect any difference.

Foothiller wrote:This discussion made me curious whether soaking my bottles in Oxyclean Free is leaving any aftertaste. I filled one bottle that had been left in Oxyclean Free for 24 hours, and then rinsed thoroughly, with our tap water (good quality being in the Sierra foothills) and left it for the day (14 hours), and poured it in a glass. I poured fresh tap water into an identical glass, let it sit for several minutes, and compared them. Even though my palate is becoming refined through comparing beers, becoming more able to detect off-flavors, I could not detect any difference.

Glad you got that result, but I'd argue that tap water that sits normally wouldn't taste the same as fresh tap water, and temp should matter in taste perception.

If one rinses Oxiclean Free well, with hot water, it should not be an issue.

If you know what model dishwasher you have you can look up what the temperature is on the heated dry. The dishwasher I have right now has a sanitize cycle but it doesn't meet the current temperature requirements to label it as a sanitizer but it does meet the time required at that temperature to sanitize with steam.

I rinse my bottles out after I pour the beer then I leave them in a collection area until I have 12 which is the perfect sinkful. They then get soaked in oxyclean and put back into the card board boxes they came in so they are covered and don't get dust build up inside them. On bottling night I just put them in the dishwasher and run the last rinse cycle to get enough water to create the steam during the dry cycle. While that's happening I sanitze my bottling equipment and caps then batch prime and when I am ready to use the bottling wand the bottles are all ready to go. I should note that I do not use a rinsing agent in my dishwasher.

Word of warning. I ran some MB 1 liter PET bottles through the dishwasher and melted them. I hand rinse and wash thoroughly after drinking, and then use the no rinse sanitizer bottling day.