I made a batch of apple wine and to make some sparkling wine out of it. First I would like to know if the bottles I have will take the carbonating pressure.They are clear,sloped neck and have small round bumps all around the bottom of the bottle. Is there a way to tell if they are good for carbonated wine pressures?
Sparkling wine bottles
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Its the thickness of the glass you have to worry about. Champagne bottles are good, regular wine bottles are not. Are your bottles heavy? That's probably the best indicator. Also, you could bottle it in beer bottles, they are thick enough glass to take the pressure of carbonation, like champagne bottles.
Champagne bottles are easy to spot. They have a distinctive shape, more like a bowling pin than a wine bottle. Also, consider that only wine from Champagne region of France can be called champagne. Prosecco, and other sparkling wines all will have the same champagne bottle shape.any of the bottles with that shape will be suitable for your carbonated wine.
yeah I know that wine only from that region can be called champagne ,was just using the word in general . I have "pear" shape bottles but were only bought for regular wine,thought there might be some markings on bottle to tell if they could be used for carbonated wine.
Not sure if there's a defining mark. I've collected a bunch of them for the same purpose, but I just go by shape.
Nope. I'm carbonating in keg.
jgmillr1
Well-Known Member
You are much better off just buying a couple cases of sparkling wine bottles from your local homebrew store. This way you will know that it can take the pressure and not explode with flying glass in your face.
I bottle my sparkling with a counter-pressure filler and set the CO2 tank up to 40-45psi. I believe beer is only typically pressurized up to 15psi or so ( any brewers here that can clarify this?) So, this would make me concerned that beer bottles would not be able to handle the higher pressure used in wine carbonation. You'll be fine if you just stick with sparkling/champagne bottles.
I bottle my sparkling with a counter-pressure filler and set the CO2 tank up to 40-45psi. I believe beer is only typically pressurized up to 15psi or so ( any brewers here that can clarify this?) So, this would make me concerned that beer bottles would not be able to handle the higher pressure used in wine carbonation. You'll be fine if you just stick with sparkling/champagne bottles.
Picking up my bottles tomorrow . Not cheap though $3/ bottle
Anyway got to get them. Anyone want to share some info on carbonating apple wine? I read a few recipes but all different amounts of sugar to use and techniques? Jgmillr, whats a counter-pressure filler?Would like to see your setup if you have any pics on hand.Thanks
Anyway got to get them. Anyone want to share some info on carbonating apple wine? I read a few recipes but all different amounts of sugar to use and techniques? Jgmillr, whats a counter-pressure filler?Would like to see your setup if you have any pics on hand.Thanks
andrewmaixner
Well-Known Member
Soda is generally carbonated to 30-40PSI. Soda bottles are generally considered a safe bet for force-carbonating, beside the fact that they are plastic instead of glass (safer).
You might have to do a good job of cleaning your sodastream afterwards, but honestly, if I had one, I'd try it,
jgmillr1
Well-Known Member
I bought my counter pressure filler from Amazon (link below). At $385, it is not cheap but for the pressures needed with sparkling wine, this was the way to go. If you have a corny keg system, you are already halfway there. There are other counter pressure fillers usually used for beer that can be frustrating when when used at 40psi. I don't have a picture handy at the moment, will try to attach one later.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N3D9POI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
$3/bottle seems steep. My local homebrew store has them on $14/case and normally $20/case.
The benefit of the counter pressure system is that you force carbonate in the corny keg and then attach the filler to the keg for bottling. You have complete control over the pressure. You also do not dose with sugar, so no yeast sediment or exploding bottles from over-dosing. The idea is that you pre-pressurize the bottle to the same pressure as in the CO2 tank. Then to fill, you bleed out some of the pressure from the bottle and the wine is gently pushed into the bottle. Go slow enough and you have no foaming. Gotta cap it right away or you'll get a geyser. Takes about 40sec to fill a 750ml bottle.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N3D9POI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
$3/bottle seems steep. My local homebrew store has them on $14/case and normally $20/case.
The benefit of the counter pressure system is that you force carbonate in the corny keg and then attach the filler to the keg for bottling. You have complete control over the pressure. You also do not dose with sugar, so no yeast sediment or exploding bottles from over-dosing. The idea is that you pre-pressurize the bottle to the same pressure as in the CO2 tank. Then to fill, you bleed out some of the pressure from the bottle and the wine is gently pushed into the bottle. Go slow enough and you have no foaming. Gotta cap it right away or you'll get a geyser. Takes about 40sec to fill a 750ml bottle.
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I have envy.
If I was doing more than this experimental batch of carbonated wine, I'd buy that thing. I've got this wine carbed at 50psi, and I'm putting off the bottling because I'm not sure how the heck to get it into champagne bottles now without a giant foamy mess.
My plan is to get the wine as cold as possible, just shy of freezing. Then fill from the tap with XX feet of beer line between the keg and the tap to reduce the pressure. I was going to try one of those flow control taps, but I doubt it would work.
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Go up to the kegging/bottling forum and ask the beer guys.
I bottle cider from my keg using a Last Straw filler. I find that with pressure about 5 psi I get no foam. But I carb at 13 psi, not 50.
I bottle cider from my keg using a Last Straw filler. I find that with pressure about 5 psi I get no foam. But I carb at 13 psi, not 50.
jgmillr1
Well-Known Member
I finally had a chance to grab a picture of my set up. Please excuse the clutter. Note that I do this near a floor drain for ease of cleaning or in the event of a volcano! I labeled the various parts you need in the set up: the keg, the counter-pressure filler, the CO2 tank and capper.
It is difficult to tell in the image, the CO2 line tees with one line going to the keg and the other line going to the filler to pre-pressurize the bottle. There is one liquid line from the keg to the filler.
If you don't care about how they look, 1 liter soda bottles (like you buy club soda and tonic water in) work great for sparkling wine, and you can reuse the original caps. I always fill a couple when I bottle a batch of beer so I can monitor how the carbonation is going (by squeezing the plastic bottle) I've pressure tested those bottles at 150 psi and they didn't burst.
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