Bottles left in water-filled cooler (mold?)

Do you see mold? If so, then mold would be a problem and you should clean them really well or just toss them. If not, I'd say you are probably fine and normal rinse and sanitation on bottle day should be fine.

For some peace of mind maybe add a heat step in your oven or dishwasher.

If you're in doubt, throw them out.

 

Bottle brush and oxy-clean solution or pbw. Followed by sanitization procedure of your choice. I always go Star San but dishwashers on sanitize cycle are supposed to, you know, sanitize. The point is you need to clean out the mold before you sanitize.

 

nothing eliminates mold like bleach. nothing.

bleach has almost no place in a brewery, but a few minutes soaking glass bottles will remove mold. just be sure to rinse many times. if there is any indication of mold left behind toss the bottle.

Cheers.

 

How is it that you can get away with using Oxy-Clean! With your brewing equipment??? When my wife and I read the label, it was a pretty good indication to not use it for my beer equipment. Can anyone clear that up for me? I would like to try and save a few bucks on PBW since that crap is expensive, but well worth it.

 

Oxy-clean for a few hours, drain, rinse and then star-san or iodophor. Done.
Bleaching or sanitizing a dirty surface is just counter productive, due to the fact that its still dirty.

 

I triple rinse between the Oxy and starsan

 

How's that?

 

Sanitizer is only effective on completely clean surfaces. A cleaner can not sanitize and a sanitizer can not clean.

 

Bleach removes mold. That is why it is used to remove mold. It is also a very effective sanitizer. Arguably the most effective.

 

Agree with billandsuz. Bleach breaks down lots of biological cruds that you will encounter, including mold. I think what Relik may have in mind is that there aren't (to my knowledge) chemicals that clean and sanitize in one step. Bleach dissolves/breaks down lots of crud, but you still have some sort of contaminant (not to mention bleach) that needs to get rinsed off your gear (which billandsuz points out in his post). But therein lies the problem of using bleach as a sanitizer. You need to expose your beer to water after you bleach, so you need to have a sanitary way of rinse. In practice, it is really not difficult (I used to do this with my bottles), but a no-rinse sanitizer like star san is so much easier. And if you splash a little, it doesn't stain your clothes. It also doesn't smell like bleach.

 

Cleaning and Sanitation are two different processes with two separate goals.

You wouldn't just add bleach or Star-San to a freshly emptied carboy and call it clean would you?

 

Agreed. Bleach can be nasty stuff. My point is only that bleach is very effective. Cheap too. But it does have its downside. And should be used in only some areas of your brewery, and only if needed. Noting is better than bleach to remove mold. There isn't even a close second.

As for sanitizing bottles, bleach is not a no rinse sanitizer. But the matter of using a no rinse sanitizer with empty bottles is not so much of a concern in my book. That is just opinion and successful bottling for over 20 years, though it's mostly me being lazy.
Cheers.

 

The maker of Oxiclean says it isn't intended for dishware, coffee makers, etc. Basically nothing that touches food, like fermentors, for example. This likely means it contains ingredients that aren't approved for dishwashing. Many homebrewers ignore this because a lot of people use it for brewing gear and no one has died yet. Of course, if someone died from using Oxiclean, they would be unable to inform homebrewers. If you choose to use it, rinse well.

 

Bleach cleans and sanitizes. But bleach is not a no rinse sanitizer.
First and foremost, bleach is a sanitizer. It is very effective at removing bio gunk. Yeast crud. Hop junk. Mold
A little dish soap or other surfactant helps to lift away dirt, but it is usually not needed. Nothing is as effective at killing bugs.

Bleach must be rinsed thoroughly. And the rinsing with water is a concern in some situations, because the rinse water is not sanitized. So you have applied a non sanitized solution to your newly sanitized surface.

Star San is no rinse. Use as directed and leave it alone. Just add beer. That is a big advantage if you worry that your tap water is introducing bugs. For me that is not a concern.

Lastly, bleach is not compatible with stainless. Or clothing. But it works great on glass and rinses very well. Plastic sort of, not as easy to rinse. And if it isn't mixed with a foaming agent it wont penetrate.

I think we exhausted bleach.
Cheers.