How to Clean Bottles with PBW
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- If you're planning to bottle your homebrewed beer, wine, mead, etc., it is important to start with a clean bottle prior to sanitizing. You can buy new bottles, but that gets expensive quickly! Reusing old bottles take a little time, but it can save a fortune over the years. In this video, I demonstrate my process for effectively cleaning used bottles using Powdered Brewers Wash. Get some here: amzn.to/3sJayuq . It's a decent sized container, so it will last a while!
What is the minimum soak time when using the PBW five star powder?
Hey, there. Lots of variables. Hot water helps speed it up. Movement really helps, too. If you were to build a spray or recirculation pump, you could do it in less than 30 minutes, I'm sure. The level of gunk is the other factor. I've cleaned bottles before (rinsed out after initially emptying, so not much crud in there) where I gave them an hour or two with hot water and pbw, and they were great.
What is pbw and where do you buy it?
Hey, there. It's Powdered Brewers Wash. You can usually find it in 1lb (or so) containers at homebrew shops. I also see you can purchase it on Amazon. I wound up buying a massive pail of it through a wholesale account I have, and it's lasted me years. It's a great product!
I read some posts of people saying you must rinse it with water, then some acid like white vinegar and then water again. But it seems to work with just water 🧐
Yeah, water works just fine. I've been using it regularly since 2009, and I haven't noticed any side effects...I think? 🤣 I know lots of home brewers who use it this way, including a solid chemistry teacher, so I feel good about it. Thanks for watching and the comment!
Thanks for this
My pleasure!
i wish i could see the dislike counter to know if this is good advice or not. it seems right tho
lol
thanks for posting
Hahaha! I love the skepiticism. This totally works. I started this back in 2009, when I started brewing, and still use this method today. I used to submit entries in tons of homebrew competitions across Canada (and made it to MCAB and NHC a couple of times), so I needed to have plenty of bottles clean and on hand for filling. I like doing this in the buckets, so they are completely covered; otherwise, the PBW water will drop a bit while it works, and it can leave a bit of a white crust on the inside of the bottle rim. I use hot water, let sit overnight, and give the bottles at least three rinses before turning upside down and drying. Quite a few labels come off nicely during the water soak. Any glue reside usually comes off with a rub of olive oil, and then you essentially have brand new bottles. Give it a whirl!
Or get this. The directions say to use 3/4 to 2 ounces per gallon. Make the solution and soak the bottles. You will use less product.
That's true about the quantity. When I use this bucket, it gets less than three gallons of water. I'm using less than 3oz of PBW in that, I'm sure. I would hesitate to use less product than that with bottles, as it's hard to see the inside, and I really want to ensure they are actually clean. 🤣 I like to add to the bottles, and some to the bucket, and then fill. Less direct handling of the bottles in the solution (holding them in to let them fill, rather than float), that way. I find that my skin dries out quickly if I'm handling that and Star San too much, even with washing my hands after. Thanks for watching and for the comment! 😁