bottle sanitation

[Bill Carwile]

Hi everyone.

I have been making small amounts of cider from my little backyard orchard for several years.   Some of it is pretty good and some not so good.  But I am still very much a beginner.

I usually run my bottles through the dishwasher using the high-temp + sanitation setting on the dish washer then drain and air dry over night before bottling the next day.    

I did this a couple of days ago in preparation for bottling but life got in the way and I did not get the bottling done on the next day as planned.   I did have a slight amount of film yeast on the surface prior to racking just before my intended bottling but I cleaned it up with a paper towel and sprayed the surface with 5% Sulfite solution per the instructions in Claude's book and then I added 5% sulfite solution  at 20 PPM.

Should I sanitize again and wait till the day after washing to bottle or is it O.K. to use the bottles now that I sanitized a couple of days ago?  I don't want to risk any contamination issues in the bottle.

Thanks much.

Bill CArwile

[terryc...@gmail.com]

I am no expert and also make small batches of cider from my eight tree orchard. I am a bit of a sanitation freak when it comes to bottles (which mostly are recycled over and over again... I get them from a sporting group who drink lots of beer!!!!). 

So, just before bottling I will clean with detergent (sometimes even PBW) flush with water and drain. I follow this with an internal spray of Starsan for a few minutes, drain then flush with boiled water and drain until dry(ish) again. I tried the dishwasher but wasn't really sure if it did a good enough job on the inside of the bottles.

I guess this sounds a bit long winded and complex but with small batches it doesn't take too long and I haven't had any bottle contamination or taste issues doing it this way. Maybe a bit "belt, braces and safety pins" but it works for me.

[Casa de Oro Cider]

When I have bottled home batches, I  simple make sure the bottles are clean with color and fragrance free soap, removing the gross debris first. Then I let those dry. After which point I will either do it 1 of 2 ways:

1) If the bottles were previous used for other things, I will spray with PBW then an acid-sulphite wash (2.5 & 300ppm), then rinse, let dry (or dry-ish) if I'm in a rush, then spray starsan then fill.

2) If the bottles are new, depending on what's handy, I will spray either my acid wash or starsan, let it drain, then fill.

I do about 12 bottles at a time. I usually work with 750ml.

Hope that's helpful.

---

Anthony López
Maestro Sidrero

www.casadeorocider.com

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[Patrick McCauley]

I've never used a dishwasher. All I do is rinse my bottles immediately after using them, then dunk them in Starsan for a minute or two right before bottling. Occasionally, they'll be sitting on the bottle tree for a up to a week before bottling, though I try not to wait that long. Occasionally, I have to give the bottles a little bit of a brush out with my bottle brush if there is any gunk inside, thoroughly rinsing shortly after I use them gets them really clean.

Pat McCauley

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[Bill Carwile]

Thanks,

I have used a rinse with SO2 plus citric acid in the past then a good rinse then air dry before bottling and I have used Star San but the last couple of times I have simply run them through the dishwasher on high heat plus sanitize as recommended in Claude's book with success. 

I'll be awahy a few days this week so I will wait and do tge dish washer thing again and also a rinse with Star San to be safe.

Thanks much.

Bill

I guess this sounds a bit long winded and complex but with small batches it doesn't take too long and I haven't had any bottle contamination or taste issues doing it this way. Maybe a bit "belt, braces and safety pins" but it works for me.

On Friday, June 14, 2024 at 11:32:55 PM UTC+10 Bill Carwile wrote:

Hi everyone.

I have been making small amounts of cider from my little backyard orchard for several years.   Some of it is pretty good and some not so good.  But I am still very much a beginner.

I usually run my bottles through the dishwasher using the high-temp + sanitation setting on the dish washer then drain and air dry over night before bottling the next day.    

I did this a couple of days ago in preparation for bottling but life got in the way and I did not get the bottling done on the next day as planned.   I did have a slight amount of film yeast on the surface prior to racking just before my intended bottling but I cleaned it up with a paper towel and sprayed the surface with 5% Sulfite solution per the instructions in Claude's book and then I added 5% sulfite solution  at 20 PPM.

Should I sanitize again and wait till the day after washing to bottle or is it O.K. to use the bottles now that I sanitized a couple of days ago?  I don't want to risk any contamination issues in the bottle.

Thanks much.

Bill CArwile

[Bill Carwile]

Thanks.   You do more than me.   I always rinse my bottles well after drinking a bottle and then either run through the dish washer on the high heat setting + sanitize the day before bottling and let the bottles cool on a drying rack.    I think I'll waitg and do the same later this week and maybe also do a Star San rinse.   Thanks.

Bill

 

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[Bill Carwile]

Thanks.   I think I'll do the dish washer thing later again later this week the day before bottling and dry them on a drying rack and maybe also do a Star San rinse too.

Thanks,

Bill

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