Bottling in reused screw-top bottles

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giacomo

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Kells, Ireland
I'm about to bottle my first batch of mead, and I wanted to know: is there a reason why I shouldn't reuse screw-top bottles if they're adequately sterilized?

It's a still wine, nearly all the bottles I can easily get are screw-top, I don't have a corker here (and can't afford one ATM), and the only reason I can think of to avoid them is if they're not quite airtight. I'm planning on letting the mead age awhile too, so it'll sit in the bottle a non-trivial amount of time.

But assuming they're clean and airtight, is there a reason to avoid using the original screw-tops?
 
No idea what others think, but I do it and its fine to me. Your wine will turn to crap overnight if its opened and half drunk though, so you'll have to drink the whole bottle instead :p
 
I met a guy at my lhbs that was talking about how he no longer corks anything. says he has 200+ bottles and they are all twist tops and he loves em, and has been using just those for 2 years now.

RobWalker.. why would the wine turn to crap evernight? or was that the hard to detect in print sarcasm train?
 
Mine seem to turn vinegary to some degree despite resealing and still being in a sanitized bottle - after they've been opened to drink I mean. Not ruined, but not quite as good as it was. Saying that it could probably be solved by using one of those wine saver topper things after opening instead of the screw top...
 
I'd assume that was the oxidation after opening rather than the bottle itself.

Right. It's the same reason a bottle of wine (purchased) tastes different the next day after opened. They sell all sorts of devices (like vac-u-vin) to help remove oxygen after opening to help preserve the wine, but it's better to just bottle in the size bottle you'll be drinking in one sitting.
 
The only issue I can see with a screw top is the air space. Commercial wineries use argon to force the oxygen out of the neck before they cap/cork. Most home winemakers don't have that option, so their wine will have a larger amount of oxygen in contact with the wine. Even if it ages properly in the bottle, once you open it, the oxidation process will be much quicker.
 
The only issue I can see with a screw top is the air space. Commercial wineries use argon to force the oxygen out of the neck before they cap/cork. Most home winemakers don't have that option, so their wine will have a larger amount of oxygen in contact with the wine. Even if it ages properly in the bottle, once you open it, the oxidation process will be much quicker.

That's interesting. It makes me wonder if a screw cap may well be better than a cork because you will probably have much less air in the bottle. Is there anything to stop you from filling the bottle to the very top if you use a screw cap?

I can see that you might be concerned that a small fermentation in the bottle might give you an over pressure problem but other than that, is there any advantage to there being any air in the bottle? If there was not then bag-in-box looks like the only way that a home brewer could exclude all air from their wine. (Fill the bag to the top, snap the tap in place and, with the tap open, slowly press on the bag so that all of the air is expelled and you just get one drop of wine coming out of the tap. Then close the tap and you are done.)

Clearly you are not going to age your wine for years that way but it is probably OK for 6-12 months. (The bag in box wines that I can buy in the shops come with a best before date that is 10 months away which suggests that the producers are going on a 12 months lifetime.)
 
Bottle bomb risk is one - if there's only even a slight amount of sugar in there, it could easily blow, compared to that inch of safer space you'll get by leaving a gap...
 
That's interesting. It makes me wonder if a screw cap may well be better than a cork because you will probably have much less air in the bottle. Is there anything to stop you from filling the bottle to the very top if you use a screw cap?

I can see that you might be concerned that a small fermentation in the bottle might give you an over pressure problem but other than that, is there any advantage to there being any air in the bottle? If there was not then bag-in-box looks like the only way that a home brewer could exclude all air from their wine. (Fill the bag to the top, snap the tap in place and, with the tap open, slowly press on the bag so that all of the air is expelled and you just get one drop of wine coming out of the tap. Then close the tap and you are done.)

Clearly you are not going to age your wine for years that way but it is probably OK for 6-12 months. (The bag in box wines that I can buy in the shops come with a best before date that is 10 months away which suggests that the producers are going on a 12 months lifetime.)

You have to have some air in the bottle for atmospheric changes. No matter how much you combat it, air pressure and temperatures in your house fluctuate. As this happens, the level in the bottle will rise and fall. With a cork, air can move through the cork if needed. With a screw top, more air (rather Argon or Nitrogen depending on the winery) space is available to absorb these changes. If you fill it to the top with no air space, you will have leaks on hot days and a void of air (without the protective pillow of Nitrogen or Argon) on cool days.

When it comes to the bag-in-box idea, the air in the bag could be eliminated, but over time, the plastic will allow air through. The original winery who used it probably ran micro bubbles of Nitrogen or Argon through it for a good amount of time before they bottled it in order to remove all the oxygen. That way, the wine can stand to absorb some air over time. This is assuming that the wine is consumed before its short shelf life is over. Like I said before, with bag-in-box, consume it fast. I could see quick recipes like skeeter pee doing well with this method.
 
Also, a good way to remove all of the air from your wines for long term storage is as follows.

1-Rent a small argon or nitrogen tank from airgas (or similar)
2-Buy a regulator
3-Buy a fish tank bubble stone and tubing to make it all work together
4-Use the bubble stone to bubble the wine for 5 minutes before bottling
5-Remove the stone from the tube and fill the neck of the bottle with gas just before the cork goes in.

If you follow this method, your wine will last a very long time. You can use screw tops and not worry. You can even use the bag in box (bubble it when the wine is in the bag as well) and it will keep for the 6-12 months that you are looking for.

Total cost for this set up is probably around $200, but it will last forever in the small amounts you will be using at home.
 
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