bottle cleaning

My young bloke wants to start brewing beer, he was given a heap of old bottles, some had been at the bottom of a "Res" for years, full of mud etc.

I soaked them for a week started rinsing then attacking with a bottle brush (just water) and cordless drill, then mild Detergent - which is good because it gives a white back ground to spot any stains.

But some bottle have a deep stain like a water mark, does anyone have a secret method of removing the said stains.

I thought diluted bleach, which i used to use to sterilse (20ml to a litre of clean water) my bottles when I brewed, I sold all of my gear 11 years ago, wish I had kept the 500 bottles though, all crown seals.

Stevo

Bleach works,let them soak
Finish off with a sterile wash,same as you used on your wine bottles

cheers nrb, we bottled a wheat beer (tin) with SAAZ hops last week so i'm looking forward to trying that, very refreshing - i hope

What you need is caustic soda, this is what is used in industry. Buy the caustic soda at Coles mix into water pour solution into bottles and leave for a week this will break down the bonds of organic matter. Then use a stiff brush to clean the bottles, rinse with water.

Then sterilise with Phosphoric acid buy at brew shops.

You do not want to use household detergents to clean brewing equipment - they contain anti foaming compounds that kill the head of your beer.

Also bleach can give you off flavours in your beer and should not be used either.

Unscented Napisan or other cleaner which contains sodium percarbonate is a go to cleaner for brewing equipment.

Works better with hot water. Let it soak a day or so and rinse.

Google it on a brewing forum like AHB, for full info.

Stevo,
there is a thing where glass pick up "iridescence", like an opal colouring. Its a change in the nature of the glass itself (oxidation or etching, I cant remember) and cant be removed except by removing the surface glass. If that is what you have found, no normal cleaning will get rid of it. I dont know if it will have any effect on the beer itself, but it will look bad. Bottle collectors could tell you more.

Regards
SWK

Hello, thanks everyone for the above info, we don't seem to be able to get into the old bottles, as the new brews are disappearing after 3 to 4 weeks, but we did use bleach on some bottles then brewed a Morgans wheat beer, it made my guts curdle, nice colour, good head (beer talk, not filthy talk, well sometimes:D), will leave that one for a while, its a month old, good summer beer.

Love the Muntons range, especially the bitters at cellar temp about 13c.

Cheers
Stevo

I wish they made a keg with a large diameter screw top, I'm over cleaning bottles. I've still got last years brew in their fermenters, think I'll give it to the snails eating my lettuces.
Cheers & beers.

Huon, a mate has Kegs but he went back to bottles for a while but now does both, I couldn't taste that much difference but he has been doing it for years.

Another mate found some of his dads old beers in the shed, 10+ years old, tired a couple, NOT very smooth - sour would be a better word.