New Post has been published on Learn How to Brew Beer - Start Home Brew .com
New Post has been published on http://starthomebrew.com/brewing-tips/how-do-you-store-bottles/
How Do You Store Bottles
The question of how to store bottles comes up from time to time. New brewers sometimes worry about keeping bottles clean or sanitized. Some brewers get concerned with dust that can make its way into empty bottles. Is there really anything to worry about?
The truth is that how you store bottles isn't as important as how you clean and sanitize them. When it comes to storing the bottles, you shouldn't be too concerned about keeping them perfectly sanitized since you will be sanitizing them before you put your beer in them again. Simply storing them upside down is sufficient to keep dust and small debris out of them. This is a good idea if your bottles are stored in a garage or other area that can get dusty or may be used for other activities that may cause the bottles to get dirty. A good example of this is the use of a saw in a shop. Sawdust can get into any place if wood is cut in a shop or garage without a good dust collection system.
As mentioned, how you clean and sanitize before you store bottles is an important consideration. It's a good idea to get in the habit of immediately rinsing your bottles after you finish drinking from it or pouring it into a mug. Unless you're filtering your beer, you are almost always going to have a t least some sediment in the bottom of your bottles. This sediment should never be allows to dry in the bottle after the beer has been removed from it. Trying to clean a bottle with dried sediment can be a pain, depending on the type of beer and the ingredients in the beer that contributed to the sediment. Just run about an inch of warm water into the bottle, swirl and shake the bottle, then dump it out. Usually rinsing a bottle 3 or 4 times right after removing the beer is fine for getting any noticeable sediment out.
It really isn't necessary to sanitize bottles before storing them, but you certainly can if you want to. As long as there isn't any dried sediment in them, a quick soak in sanitizer right before you start bottling your beer is all you need to do. If visible sediment is in a bottle after it has soaked in a sanitizing solution, don't use it. You can't sanitize a dirty bottle. If you want to use the bottle, you will need to use a bottle brush to really get it clean and then sanitize it again.
Don't forget that you should not use soap and water in your bottles for sanitizing them. If you use a mild soap and water solution at all, you can really hurt the head retention of the final beer. Even just a very thin film of soap residue in a bottle can ruin the head you'll see when you pour the beer. When a hot soap and water scrub is necessary, just be sure to rinse very well and use a sanitizing solution for a final rinse. Better yet, use one of the cleaning solutions specifically designed for homebrewing. Such cleaners or cleaner/sanitizers are formulated to not affect the head of the beer. Store bottles in a way to keep dust and debris out of them and all they will need is a quick soak and rinse on you next bottling day.