OVHA Chat

has anyone ever tried the aluminum bottles we just capped a few of them my cousin gave me. He has alot more I can have and woundered of there was any risks involved

I bottle them for my dad, he retired from Alcoa and digs'em. Probably about a year now, no problems.

great cus i can get about 10 trash cans full

Holy cow!
Now I will warn you that you can't watch them fill so you just have to make sure you watch them close filling.

best thing is no LABELS to peel off and clean

Zach,
Sanitize, Sanitize, Sanitize.
Dish washer, no soap, heated dry..

Just a thought.

I usually rinse with a water jet then soak them for a couple days in star-san

Not to worry, our diligent sanitization methods have proven themselves effective. Although I do have a Shark steamer I want to use in the bottles right before filling. Maybe hold the bottles upside down and let the steam shoot into the bottle and run out. Just sounds like a good idea. I'll post if it is worth it or if its been tried, how bout it?

Thanks,
Mike S

Why do you say no soap?

zach spaetti wrote:I usually rinse with a water jet then soak them for a couple days in star-san

I wouldn't soak the aluminum bottles in star-san any longer than needed to sanitize them. Star san is an acid sanitizer. Soak them in PBW or oxyclean an alkaline cleaner with surfactants.

sirgiovanni wrote:Why do you say no soap?

Aluminum can contain scratches and the soap can get stuck in them. May cause a off flavor or other nasties.

Ok. I've been doing mine in the dishwasher with no probs, my dishwasher is fairly new though and I only use the liquid gel packs. Not sure if that has made a difference for me.

I thought that star san would not cause off flavors in trace amounts we have had good luck with it When we soak the bottles we don't make it very stong because them are in the solution so long

zach spaetti wrote:I thought that star san would not cause off flavors in trace amounts we have had good luck with it When we soak the bottles we don't make it very stong because them are in the solution so long

If you're soaking the bottles to clean them, star San is not a good cleaner. Alkaline cleaners are better at getting rid of organic gunk. Star San when mixed as directed has a ph below 3. I would be concerned that the acidic star san would oxidize the aluminum bottles leaving enough residue to create a metallic flavor in the bottled beer. The contact time of star San's 30 sec-2 min for sanitization isn't long enough for excessive oxidation to build up.
But if you're happy with your results. That's all that's important.

Star San is not a cleaner it's a sanitizer. You can't sanitize a piece of dirty equipment.