Bottle Question: between fillings

This week I was bottling (using dishwasher to clean, then sanitize) when I had found one of my bottles had some mold in bottom. (Don't worry no wine was harmed.) I would like some direction on what others do with empty bottles. I do wash but is there another protocol between fillings?

I just rinse mine right after emptying, and turn upside down to dry. Never had any problems from that. When close to time to bottle, I wash them in the course of delabeling with OxiClean, rinse, and then use StarSan to sanitize right before bottling.

I do what Sour_Grapes does but sanitize with iodophor.

I remove labels, run the bottle brush, and rinse in hot water soon after consumption. They go on the tree to drip and when I have 12, into a case spout down. At bottle time they get KMS flush and then filled.

I rinse mine turn upside down to dry. At bottling I clean with drill mounted bottle brush, use vacuumpumpman's bottle washing/sanitizing kit and if I'm bottling that day put on tree to drain, if I'm just washing a batch of bottles I leave a little solution in the bottle and cap with a synthetic t-cork and store. Then all I have to do is drain and go.

The major protocol is to clean the bottle ASAP after drinking it. Left over wine will mold.

Also, if there is sediment in the bottle, make sure you rinse that out too. Mold can form on the sediment if not rinsed out completely.

After you have made sure it is clean, turn upside down to drain and dry. Then store them upside down until you are ready to use.

if bottle has mold discard. I found that even with all the cleaning and sanitizing something is leftover and tainted the wine.I eventually went to new bottles by buying from a local winery. saves all the labor in removing labels etc.since winery buys in bulk usually very economical around $10 a case.

I pick up new bottles $.6-$.7 each, so unless I empty the bottle and triple rinse it right away, I don't reuse bottles.

NorCal said:

I pick up new bottles $.6-$.7 each, so unless I empty the bottle and triple rinse it right away, I don't reuse bottles.

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Most midwest wine brewing shops charge at least twice if not three times that price. And if you have to have them shipped, it's even more. It's not so easy to find those deals outside of regions with lots of wineries around. I can't even get them that cheap shipped to my winery by the pallet load.

NorCal said:

I pick up new bottles $.6-$.7 each, so unless I empty the bottle and triple rinse it right away, I don't reuse bottles.

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Wow! That's a good price.

We rinse our bottles as they are emptied and invert to dry by gravity. We store them upside down in wine cases until we are ready to use them. At that time, we rinse with hot water and hit them with k-meta solution using a Vinator and put them on a tree to drain. When filling, we draw a bottle from the tree and fill. I believe a trace amount of k-meta stays in the bottle and that is a good thing.

Mold needs two things to grow and prosper, water and something to eat. If you are getting mold in your bottles, they have residual wine in them and they are damp.

I do exactly as Rocky does, except for the rinse prior to KMeta.

1) rinse when empty
2) dry on tree
3) store in case upside down
4) rinse with KMeta using Vinator
5) place on bottle tree
6) fill and cork