Hmmm interesting... I've always poured a beer and rinse the bottle. I get the bottle about a quarter of the way full, cover the top with my thumb, and shake the bajeezus out of it, then rinse again. The bottles got into a "dirty bottle" stash before that pile gets out of hand... Then they will get soaked from anywhere from 6-24 hours in oxiclean. They get rinsed again and dried. Before bottling, I sanitize my bottles in the dish washer with high heat. I've never had any issues, and I've never thought about using a brush... Maybe I will now after reading this.