I too have read differing opinions on this, personally, I've not had a problem so far, although I've only been brewing since last October and have done just 7 batches to date.
I run a rinse before I put the bottles in, to make sure the dishwasher is clean - just in case there's any food bits still in there - I can never see any.. but just in case, I wouldn't want any stray pasta finding it's way into my beer !
After the rinse is complete, I load it up with bottles and run the full hot cycle, and dry cycle. takes 2 hours on my dishwasher. I do not use any detergent.
I've always gone in the other direction: rinse out the bottles after using, store them, then before bottling, hook up a bottle brush to my drill and soap/scrub/rinse/sanitize every bottle. I hate it, but I'm hesitant to use the dishwasher because I don't see how water can get shot all the way up the long neck and clean the bottle.
So do you guys just rinse your bottles like I do after using? (Dump out, add water, shake with your finger over the opening, dump, repeat once, and store).
I rinse out the bottle right after using, I usually do 3 or four rinse/shakes, so the bottles are clean but not sanitized before they go into the dishwasher, and while some water gets into the bottles, it's probably not enough to clean them, but thats OK, they were clean before they went in.
The heat and steam from the wash and dry cycles simply sanitizes, but does not clean - at least this works for me (admittedly my brewing career is limited so far)
If you're not sure - try it and see - use maybe dishwashed six bottles for your next batch, and mark the bottles.
My routine is to rinse a bottle 2-3 times after use and leave about
1/2 inch water in the bottle. After I accumulate a handful of bottles (by the basement sink), I sink them in soapy water, shake out and then rinse with a bottle washer attachment, dry, and store.
For use again, I simply drop the clean, dry bottles into my sanitizer solution, then rinse them with the bottle washer.
Scrubbing isn't necessary unless there is something sticking. I've never actually used a bottle brush for anything. I've had nothing in a bottle that wouldn't come off after soaking in TSP or bleach water. I've never had a problem that was traced to unsanitary bottles.
After I empty a bottle I simply rinse it a couple of times with water so that there's no sediment left in the bottom, then store it, just like you do.
Before the next use I sanitize the bottles, but haven't seen any reasons for further cleaning, since there hasn't been anything growing in the bottles. So far I haven't had any problems.
So if I were you I'd skip the drill/brush cleaning part and simply sanitize the bottles before use. Of course it's wise to check the bottles before sanitizing for mold or anything else growing in them. But if you've rinsed them properly then this is usually not a problem.
I don't have a dishwasher at all, so for the time being I've got to use some sort of sanitizing solution. However if I do get one at some point I'll definitely try sanitizing the bottles in it.
we rinse the bottles after using them( Of course we can't always count on our friends to do this), then before we bottle we run them through the dishwasher on a regular cycle, then we fill half the sink with sanitizing solutions, soak a few bottles at a time, rinse them with the bottle jet rinser and then put them on a bottle tree to dry, then fill them up. Never had a problem..extra clean I think :)
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