Bottling wine?

[impulserush]

Can I bottle my wine the same way I bottle my beer? I rack into a bottling bucket and have at it.

 

[Evets]

What I do is just put my bottling wand on my auto-siphon and go straight from carboy to bottle. No need to use a bucket if you're not adding priming sugar.

 

[Yooper]

I rack gently to the bottling bucket, and bottle with the bottling wand- just like for beer.

 

[impulserush]

Thanks, do either of you use a filtering system?

 

[Yooper]

No, I've never filtered any of my wines. I make many wines, and so far only had one that in retrospect I wished I'd filtered. (The 2006 dandelion would have been more brilliant if I filtered it).

 

[nakros]

All the wines I've made from kits, I've filtered. It only costs $10 or $12 for the rental of the machine and the pads, so I figured, "Why not?". I'll probably try without filtering at some point.

My apfelwein is ready to bottle (a bit over 2 months old), and is remarkably clear. I could easily read a book through the carboy it's in. I definitely won't filter it.

 

[summersolstice]

I own a Buon Vino MiniJet filter that I've used once - it's a PITA and now I just bulk age. That takes care of degassing and filtering.

I bottle directectly from the carboy or barrel.

 

[Texron]

I have a Buon Vino Minijet filter as well. I have only bottled one batch of wine and I filtered it. Like Solstice said it is a bit of a PITA but the wine sure ended up brilliant. I plan to give some of my wine as gifts to clients so want absolutely no haze or sediment. I have a Gewurztraminer ready to bottle and am weighing my options. I would really like it to be very bright-but we'll see.

BTW-I have two batches of Apfel wine made according to Edworts recipe and they have both been cooking since 15 March and are a long ways from being clear, I have thought about running them both through a course filter to help them along-but am trying real hard to just leave them alone.

 

[SueMac]

Has anyone compared the clearing time between what they call "natural apple juice" that is a bit heavier in body and darker in color (not quite to cider color/body) and regular golden tone apple juice? I'm assuming that the regular golden tone is likely to clear faster?
I'm just curious because there seems to be a lot of folks with Apfelwein that hasn't started clearing at around 4 weeks. While temperature and yeast choice are factors, I"m wondering if this is the most common aspect...I, too just started my first batch with "natural apple juice". With a thread almost 500 pages long describing something tasty: I WANT MY APELWEIN!

 

[EvilTOJ]

With natural apple juice there's more particulate matter, so it does take longer to clear. You can add finings like bentonite and also try crash cooling it to help with sediment fall out faster.

 

[gimmebeer]

If I've racked it at least three times (primary to secondary, secondary to clarifying, clarifying to bulk-aging carboy) I just go straight to the bottle. Anything less, I usually to to the bottling bucket first.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

What I do is just put my bottling wand on my auto-siphon and go straight from carboy to bottle. No need to use a bucket if you're not adding priming sugar.

Exactly what I do. Regards, GF.

 

[malkore]

Thanks, do either of you use a filtering system?

granted I've only done one wine, but a lot of mead and beer.

never had to filter. good use of fining agents, and patience...plus gentle racking...you should have clear wine with no sediment.

 

[gregbathurst]

When I bottle wine i use a brewing wand but also have a jug to top it up a bit. i don't like a lot of headspace in case of oxidation, and always add a bit of SO2 before bottling because it also helps prevent oxidation.
When it comes to sediment, most of the best french wines will throw a bit of sediment, no-one seems to complain.