"The moderator" <sparky@nospam.engineer.com> wrote in message news:<vrn4lfkm6l5bb9@corp.supernews.com>...[color=blue]
> I called the local (70 miles away) brew store and asked a bunch of newbie
> questions. One I forgot to ask was about the beer bottles and other
> containers used in the process.
>
> What is necessary to clean old bottles, fermenting jugs, etc? To they have
> to be boiled like canning jars? I heard that cleanliness is very important
> in brewing. Can the bottles be washed in the sink with a bottle brush?[/color]

You need two steps

firstly, bottles etc need to be clean so wash them with a bottle brush
to get rid of any gunk and stains that are in there.

Secondly you need to sanitise. The easiest way is to soak them for
30-60 minutes in a solution of 1 cupful of bleach to 25 litres of
water. I fill up my fermenter and put all my bottles, bottle caps etc
in there to soak.

If anything is badly stained then a 24 hour soak will breakdown any
organic matter etc.

I