Sanatizing Bottles in Dishwasher.

I`ve been helping out at a near by brewery lately, and they do something that seems to make life alot easier on them. Their labels are baked on at very high temps, so when they remove the labeled bottles from the cases to be filled, they are already considered sanatised. Just a quick swish of the neck and mouth of the bottle in a sanatizing solution, and its ready to be filled.
I haven`t started homebrewing yet. However I`ve been wondering if it would be safe to rinse my bottles, after cleaning them thoroughly, in my dishwasher and using the heated dry cycle to sanitize them Then just sanatize the mouths, like I do at the brewery.
Has anyone tried this?

When I first started brewing beer, I bought used bottles from the local Bud distributor for $ 2.00 per case (12 oz 24 ea).
Cleaning these was a major pain, they are returns from the local bars, and usual have sat awhile after being consumed, and not just a few had nasty mold growing in them, amongst other crud.
I spent hours cleaning them and stripping off the old labels with hot water, a brush and soap / sanitizer.
After that wonderful experience, I decided no more, and I now buy new bottles from the local brew shop, they are more expensive at $10 per case, but they are clean and in better overall condition.
The only exploding bottles I ever had were some of those "Used" ones I first started with.
If you are starting with NEW bottles all they should need is a rinse of hot water and perhaps a dip in some sanitizer for the neck and opening. The bottles are sanitized when they are heated and formed.
I always rinse my own bottles right after drinking the beer, so my bottles are fairly clean at all times. Some of my beer I give out to friends, so the bottles don`t always come back clean. I just give them a look and a scrub if they need it with a bottle brush.
And yes I do put my bottles into the dishwasher for a good hot wash and dry, I do this on the day I need them and then just pull them out and use them. Haven`t had an infected bottle yet, so it works for me.
A brush and bottle washer works best for cleaning bottles, a dishwasher will clean and sanitize bottles also, but it won`t clean up cruddy bottles.

You should always sanitize your bottles and caps directly before bottling. It is unlikely your dishwasher is heating your bottles above 180F, which is required to kill the germs (i.e. pasteurization). Those temps tend to break common beer bottles. The easiest method I have found is to use a bottle tree to hang the bottles on when bottling and give them a rinse with a no-rinse santizer like idophor.

I use my dishwasher all the time. After I drink a beer I rinse them clean..On bottling day I load my dishwasher with bottles..put B-Brite in the soap compartment..use the pot scrubber function and sani-rinse function on my dishwasher.. Bottles come out clean and hot. Works every time..no infections. John

Who da thunk? I`ll try that.

-Ryan

There was a study of using the dishwasher in Zymurgy a couple years ago. Basically, they cleaned the bottles, ran them through the sanitizer cycle of a dishwasher, and took cultures from the "sanitized" bottles. Nearly every one showed bacterial growth. I know there are a lot of people out there who use dishwashers for sanitation and have never reported any problems, but based on this study I feel like it`s just a motter of time before you get an infection. I`m not trying to change anybody`s mind on this, just presenting evidence on the other side you veryone can make an informed decision. To me, it`s so easy to sanitize the bottles with Iodophor that I`d rather not take the chance.

minutes of work) and hang them on my bottle tree (which was also soaked in idophor).

I wash my bottles right after using. Just before I bottle, I stick them in the dishwasher.
I was warned a long time ago that soap (dishwasher detergent) would ruin beer. Something about the head....
So I never used it when I was doing a load of beer bottles. I took the "no spot" thing out of the dishwasher too.
Any thoughts on this? I never had a problem.

That sounds about right to me. I was thinking about cleaning out all the "no spot"/jetdry type stuff out as well just to be safe.... not that it works anyway. heh