First time bottle cleaning.

[maglorski]

Have a random assortment of bombers, 0.5 litre, and Grolsch bottles for my first batch.

Have them soaking right now to get the labels off (removed the rubber seals off the Grolsch). I swear some brewers manage to figure out how to weld those labels on...

Just looking for general consensus for a proper initial clean.

I do have a tub of oxi-clean in the laundry room...will that do in a pinch or should I pick up the brewers wash?

My plan was:

- rinse after the labels are removed;
- soak in oxi-clean (or other) for a few hours then a scrub with a bottle brush;
- rinse in dishwasher;
- StarSan day of bottling.

As it is my first go-round I'm not looking at adding more equipment at this stage...if possible

Yay? Nay?

Thx in adv!

[Hobbitfu]

My understanding is oxi and pbw are very similar. As long as the bottles are free of any debris inside you're great and ready to sanitize on bottling day.

[GAM]

Bleach and a good rince (I dont recomend the dish washer) is the cheaper way to go. Snap the seal and you can do it when you want.

I never bothered with label removal.

Sandy

[mumblecrunch]

In terms of getting the labels off, if soaking them doesn't work, generally heating them over a stove burner or with a paint stripping gun and peeling them does work. Heat may not work after they've been soaked depending on the label.

General observations, having delabelled a bunch of bottles in the last few years:

• If you've got a little glue residue left on a bottle and it's annoying and sticky, apply some cooking oil and leave it for a few minutes then you should be able to scrub it off. Try not to get any oil in the bottle and make sure you clean the bottle really well after doing this. Most of the time this is more trouble than it's worth, but it does work.
• 12oz bottles, especially big-brand beers (e.g., Keith's) are fine with an Oxyclean/PBW soak. Often times the ink comes right off the front of the label at the same time the glue comes off the back.
• Labels that are more papery (e.g., Propeller) are generally better soaked.
• Labels that are plastic or plastic backed (e.g., Uncle Leo's) tend to come off better with heat.
• For Hell Bay and Gahan don't even bother with trying to soak; the label will come off leaving the glue still firmly stuck to the bottle, and then the bottle will stick to everything.

[Hobbitfu]

If you soak with oxy/pbw, you're not likely to need to scrub.

I like to delabel, but can bit OCD the dishwasher will.

Likely only rinse outside...

[Hobbitfu]

Ouch that post was ugly!

[Keith]

I cleaned about a thousand bottles when I started. All Grolsch. Here was my process.

Fill tub with hot water and a concentrated PBW or Oxyclean Mix. Submerse and fill each bottle (gaskets removed). Let soak until water can be comfortably touched.

Remove Labels. While bottles are still full with cleaning solution scrub the insides with a brush. Rinse the bottles well. (Jet washers are the cats meow).
Sanitize with Starsan, put on bottle tree to dry. Once Dry, I'd cap and put in a milk crate for storage until I needed them.

If they sat for a extended period of time, I'd rinse the bottles of dust, and give them a dunk in some starsan as a precaution.

[maglorski]

Great, thx to all for the advice.

@Hobbitfu: yeah, I'm with you on removing the labels, more of an OCD thing at this point. I'll be taking a brillo pad to them today to try and get the stubborn ones cleaned today.

[Hobbitfu]

If you soak bottles in pbw or oxy some labels will simply float off in an hour or two. Except those really sticky glues...

[Keith]

If you soak bottles in pbw or oxy some labels will simply float off in an hour or two. Except those really sticky glues...

I don't think I ever had to scrub a grolsch label off.

[Hobbitfu]

Yah they should come off smooth. Ones like Petit Sault though can come off if heated, will not come off with pbw. Trial and error with some bottles!

[Lucas]

I have a spray bottle of Goo-gone from Canadian Tire for removing that really sticky glue. I soak to in soapy water (just plain old dish soap) to remove the paper and then spray with Goo-gone if there is any sticky glue. It comes off with just a little bit of scrubbing most of the time. I make sure not to get the Goo-gone inside the bottles.

I find the most important part in cleaning the inside of bottles is rinsing them right after they are poured out. Letting them sit with a little bit of beer/sediment left in the bottle for any extended period of time leads to the hard stuck-on bits that are tough to remove. For the inside I usually don't bother with a wash in PBW or Oxi-clean, I just have a bottle washer that attaches to a tap and shoots water up into the bottles at a fairly high pressure. Judging by what everyone else here does this may not be quite good enough, but I have never had infection problems, even with beers aged in the bottle for over 6 months. I sanitize with a vinator.

[Keith]

I have a spray bottle of Goo-gone from Canadian Tire for removing that really sticky glue. I soak to in soapy water (just plain old dish soap) to remove the paper and then spray with Goo-gone if there is any sticky glue. It comes off with just a little bit of scrubbing most of the time. I make sure not to get the Goo-gone inside the bottles.

I find the most important part in cleaning the inside of bottles is rinsing them right after they are poured out. Letting them sit with a little bit of beer/sediment left in the bottle for any extended period of time leads to the hard stuck-on bits that are tough to remove. For the inside I usually don't bother with a wash in PBW or Oxi-clean, I just have a bottle washer that attaches to a tap and shoots water up into the bottles at a fairly high pressure. Judging by what everyone else here does this may not be quite good enough, but I have never had infection problems, even with beers aged in the bottle for over 6 months. I sanitize with a vinator.

I only gave the recycle depot bottles a good scrub. Rest of them just got a good rinse with the jet of hot water followed by a splash of starsan and set to dry.