Cleaning Beer bottles

[bigjohnsons]

This is my second year making syrup and I saved up new castle beer bottles, which are clear for syrup this year. How would you recommend cleaning them. Should I use hot water and a brush or should I buy one of those products from a beer making website to clean and reuse bottles. Thanks in advance.

[Tor Haxson]

The trick with re-using wine or beer bottles is to drain them immediately and rinse them well.

Do not let them sit with beer molding in the bottom and creating a residue that is hard to remove.

Get it right the first time.

I rinse them immediately and then stuff a paper towel into the neck to keep critters out and store them upside down so they drain well.

Bottle and cap while the syrup is hot enough to kill all critters and you should be fine.

--
Tor

[lpakiz]

I took a bottle brush, the twisted wire type, cut off the handle and crimped on a piece of new steel brake line tube for an extension. I chucked it in a cordless drill right by the sink. Hot soapy water, a heavy rubber glove on my left hand and I scrub the crap out of used bottles.
These are for friend and family, bartering, as well as the occasional extra helper. Snapple and iced tea bottles work fine.

[jmayerl]

After a good scrubing, I would think the star San from a brewer would be a good step.

[325abn]

What do you use for a cap?

[moeh1]

The home brew guys have you covered. Jet beer bottle washer after sanitizer is good for beer, probably good for syrup too. :) They make a brush just for swirling beer bottles too. I didn't search for best prices, just an example, shop around.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/jet-bottle-washer.html
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/bottle-brush.html

[bigjohnsons]

Thanks for the advise. That brush looks perfect, I tried fitting my baby's bottle brush in the beer bottle but that didn't work.

325abn A friend of mine gave me a cheep caper and I brought bottle caps on line for like 7$ for 144 of them. Very inexpensive.

I figured that I spend enough money on this hobby to give syrup away to family and friends that I would save somewhere. The New Castle are the only clear bottles that I could find that the label comes off. Plus it's engraved on the bottle "the one and only".
I am hoping to make around 6-8 gallons this year so that should be around 60 to 80 12 ounce bottles of tasty syrup.