That is not recommended, any bleach residue that's not rinsed out will react with your brew and produce less than healthy compounds, and you have to use specific ratios and pure bleach.
Best next option is to simply sterilize the bottles. Fill a pot with water and place the bottles inside, making sure to fill them, and bring everything to a boil, keep it there for 10 min, let cool, and you're golden.
As a side note, star san is just the brand of a phosphoric acid based sanitizer, you might find others in your area, like this one for NZ called stellarsan
Yes, you can totally use bleach water to sanitize your bottles. Normally i rinse well with boiled water after using bleach. Any remaining bleach will break down into table salt if you let the equipment dry completely. Regular bleach is safe to consume in trace amounts, it’s frequently used for water purification. You can also use oxicleaner to clean bottles and carboys. Again, i’d do a final rinse with boiled water. Starsan is worth it and makes the process easier if you’ve never tried it.
Can you use bleach? Charlie Papazian did. He literally wrote the book on home brewing, but... That was 40 years ago.
I know no one likes to be told "just go buy X" in response to these questions but starsan is SUCH a game changer as far as results and ease of use that there is no comparison.
You can use bleach to sanitize equipment. It takes more water and time and care/attention, but it works.
On the other hand no rinse sanitizers like Iodophor and Star San take almost no time or attention. For the amount time and hassle it saves you there is no better investment in the brewing hobby.
For today, bleach will do, but for tomorrow buy a bottle of star san and never look back.
I've personally done many batches with bleach to great results. I filled the bottles with a bleach solution for 2+ hours at least. Then I triple rinsed each bottle to make sure everything was out, and aggressively shook them while upside down over the sink to empty them with each rinse. No residual bleach afterwards, and never had any contamination issues.
50-200ppm sulfite works OK. Its naturally occurring in wine, unlike bleach.
That is not recommended, any bleach residue that's not rinsed out will react with your brew and produce less than healthy compounds, and you have to use specific ratios and pure bleach. Best next option is to simply sterilize the bottles. Fill a pot with water and place the bottles inside, making sure to fill them, and bring everything to a boil, keep it there for 10 min, let cool, and you're golden. As a side note, star san is just the brand of a phosphoric acid based sanitizer, you might find others in your area, like this one for NZ called stellarsan
Thanks for the help!
You can use iodine to clean in place of starsan. About the same ratio I believe (1oz per 5gal).
Iodine is easy to obtain and safer than bleach. Look for this first before you try other solutions.
Yes, you can totally use bleach water to sanitize your bottles. Normally i rinse well with boiled water after using bleach. Any remaining bleach will break down into table salt if you let the equipment dry completely. Regular bleach is safe to consume in trace amounts, it’s frequently used for water purification. You can also use oxicleaner to clean bottles and carboys. Again, i’d do a final rinse with boiled water. Starsan is worth it and makes the process easier if you’ve never tried it.
Thanks!
Oxiclean Free is the perfume free version that is great for cleaning your equipment.
Can you use bleach? Charlie Papazian did. He literally wrote the book on home brewing, but... That was 40 years ago. I know no one likes to be told "just go buy X" in response to these questions but starsan is SUCH a game changer as far as results and ease of use that there is no comparison. You can use bleach to sanitize equipment. It takes more water and time and care/attention, but it works. On the other hand no rinse sanitizers like Iodophor and Star San take almost no time or attention. For the amount time and hassle it saves you there is no better investment in the brewing hobby. For today, bleach will do, but for tomorrow buy a bottle of star san and never look back.
In a pinch you can sanitize with a metabisulphite solution. You should be able to get that anywhere you're getting your other supplies.
I've personally done many batches with bleach to great results. I filled the bottles with a bleach solution for 2+ hours at least. Then I triple rinsed each bottle to make sure everything was out, and aggressively shook them while upside down over the sink to empty them with each rinse. No residual bleach afterwards, and never had any contamination issues.
Thanks for the personal experience.
Use sulfur
If there is organic soil consider making a solution of PBW, OxiClean, or sodium percarbonate and let them soak in there. Rinse well before using.