Bottling Q's

Im looking to start making wine. I was wondering if there was a reason wine is kept in large bottles and if there is any reason why i couldent bottle it in beer bottles.

Heres why; If i make wine it will be drunk in very rare occations, and in small amounts. I dont want to open a large bottle, use 1/4 of it and have it go bad becuase the next time i drink more is 2 months later.

Wine, especially sparkling, is under a lot of pressure (carbonation). That's why they are stored in larger (heavier) glass bottles.

I don't know where you live, but I've mentioned it before that with office Christmas parties coming soon you'll have a FREE source of champagne bottles if you go to hotels and ask for their bottles when they clean up.

Most of them are getting trashed anyway. You may as well benefit from it.

There's nothing wrong with bottling wine in beer bottles - beer bottles are thicker glass than standard wine bottles anyway. The only issue i could see a problem with is just how long you could age wine with a capped top. I can't think of any commercial companies who do that - screw tops yes, crown caps no.

If you don't plan to age it for years then it's a great idea. Just hope you have enough bottles to brew both!

I'd use the O2 absorbing tops for bottling wine, but there shouldn't be any problem using beer bottles. The old line was that you used natural cork to allow some O2 leak to help aging, but receint testing of plastic composition corks shows that's wrong. No O2 = no spoilage.

What do most people on this board cap with? The recipeis that im thinking about trying first are fruit wines that age to 6m and mature at a year. And im going to do 1 gal batches to start with until I find something I really like.

Im in minnesota, and all my brewing stuff sits in the basment wich will be around 60 all winter, is this ok for fermentation?

Who would I ask at a hotel for bottles? I have 12 cases of beer bottles right now but they fill up fast when i have events coming up.

OtherWhiteMeat said:

What do most people on this board cap with? The recipeis that im thinking about trying first are fruit wines that age to 6m and mature at a year. And im going to do 1 gal batches to start with until I find something I really like.

Im in minnesota, and all my brewing stuff sits in the basment wich will be around 60 all winter, is this ok for fermentation?

Who would I ask at a hotel for bottles? I have 12 cases of beer bottles right now but they fill up fast when i have events coming up.

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1 Gal is perfect - it'll let you experiment and find a wine to your taste.

60F is a little cool i'm sure for fermentation. I'm sure you can sneak a 1 gallon fermenter into your warmer house to start it! No space taken up there really - But your basement is perfect for racking to secondary to clear your wine.

Access to the bottle bins in hotels means you'll need to speak to the Bar Staff of course! Get in and ask when they're quiet!

If im going to make one gallon batches what do you use for the primary? All the 1 gal glass bottles say that they are secondarys.

A small plastic brew bin (about 2 gallon) will be perfect - Wine yeasts go crazy for the first few days (with all the extra sugar etc) so you're right in thinking the must will be up through the airlock on a 1 gallon glass container before you can stop it with some recipes!
I always start my wine in a brew bin with the lid not clicked down shut BUT ALWAYS weighed down with a heavy item. This stops anything getting in but allows the CO2 out. Once the crazy yeast start up is over a transfer to glass under an airlock.

Small plastic brew bins are really cheap to start up with and also easily replaced - they don't last forever because the surfaces scuff and offer chances for nasty bacteria to get in but they do the business if you're prepared to replace them regularly.

If i do a 1 gal batch, can I use a plastic 6 gal primary w/airlock like i use for beer? (not the same of course) Or is there a negetive reason for having all that extra space in there?

You can use the same brew bin for your beer! - it'll be food quality plastic. Close it off under the airlock as it's a big bin. With the extra space the must won't get to the top (which you don't want showering out of the airlock anyway!) but the yeast will use the extra oxygen till it really starts (Good in the primary!). Just make sure the airlock doesn't get 'blown out' dry to let nasties in. After a few of days (depending on recipe - when the air lock slows) rack to glass (you'll notice a lot more trub compared to beer primary in the bucket!) and put under airlock. That's when the fun begins!

I wont use the same bucket as my beer uses because it is stained with the odor of hops but my brewstore has them for $6 so thats why I asked if it would work. Thanks for all your help, im sure ill have more questions in the future.

OtherWhiteMeat said:

Who would I ask at a hotel for bottles? I have 12 cases of beer bottles right now but they fill up fast when i have events coming up.

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You'd ask the hotels for their champagne bottles. That's what I suggested.

I didn't know you were going to use beer bottles. I was only giving you a FREE source.

Buy a new brew bucket for your beer and try a wine with the old one. I'm always harping on here about people giving it a go - please try!!! Takes longer but get another beer on whilst it's in that glass 1 gallon!

Correct me if I am wrong, but if the bucket is retaining the hop smell still, then doesn't that mean that there is that scuffing that you were talking about, so it is providing a place for bacteria to grow as well?

Windaria said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but if the bucket is retaining the hop smell still, then doesn't that mean that there is that scuffing that you were talking about, so it is providing a place for bacteria to grow as well?

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No, any beer will retain an odor in a plastic bucket and its nearly impossible to get rid of it. Ive had it soaked in bleach all day long after my last beer and while it helped a lot, it still smells like hops.

HI im new here this is my first reply was going to reply somewhere else though have you tryed baking soda I make wine not beer though. I had some used pickle buckets and it got the smell out of 2 of them the other 1 I put not a lot of efort or time I mean. as for beer bottles they keep the beer air tight, but Id try to cram corks in most, but you might need a good corker or boil soak make sure their not held together by glue, and experimenting with a dozen or two

I'll post a link for what yeasts will ferment in that temperature 60 degrees

which is better at a low temp slower fermentation= more plesant flavor, and aroma(I think not sure about the aroma thing.)
http://www.honeycreek.us/yeast.htm#LavlinYeast

http://members.tripod.com/~BRotter/CalcInfo/wyeasts.htm

the above link you can go back pop up adds if do I warn you and get alot of informatoin I like the styles and design or sur lie batonnage( fermenting on lees). got to go now!!!!!!!!

An annoyance I have in bottling with PET bottles is they collapse (dent)
when sanatizing and sterilizing. That problem is solved with carbonating, but leaves the bottle less than full to the neck. Anyone have a solution to this problem other than obviously glass bottles?

OtherWhiteMeat said:

Who would I ask at a hotel for bottles?

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The catering manager? That's where I'd start, anyway.

Genghis77 said:

An annoyance I have in bottling with PET bottles is they collapse (dent)
when sanatizing and sterilizing. That problem is solved with carbonating, but leaves the bottle less than full to the neck. Anyone have a solution to this problem other than obviously glass bottles?

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Don't srew the lid on with hot water in. the water shrinks on cooling and causes the bottle to dent.
When emptying use the whirlpool technique to empty otherwise low pressure will cause the bottle to dent.

Just sterilize the bottles without the caps on. Pour the solution out and rinse. Never had PET bottles 'dent' when I used them.