Using Same Better Bottle for Wine and Beer

[scp]

I have some interest in doing one of those Island Mist wine kits (and adding more corn sugar to increase the ABV!) I have 2 Better Bottles that I use for beer, and I can't stomach another 30 bones just for a wine fermentor, after paying 50+ for the kit, when I don't know if I am gonna like winemaking or not.

I am sure that this has come up before. I did a search and saw a comment regarding cider and beer in the same fermentor, but not for wine. I apologize if this is a topic that has been covered already.

My better bottles have zero beer smell, I clean them well with Oxyclean after every run (I have a water softener, so I don't have to worry about it leaving a film on my gear) and there is just a "plastic" smell in them when I am done. However, the bucket I did a run of cider in once will probably always smell like I did cider in it! This is why I am asking: I don't want my Better Bottle to smell like wine for all eternity, and I don't want my 50 dollar wine tasting like stout!

Thanks!

 

[Yooper]

I use the same carboys and better bottles for wine and beer with no issues.

I would caution about boosting the ABV with those Island Mist kits, though. The reason they are so low ABV is because they are ready to drink fast, and pretty sweet. If you boost up the ABV, it will change the balance of it and it might not taste quite the same. My friend loves those kits, and makes them often. Increase the ABV and keeping the about of the sweetness the same might not give you the results you would want.

 

[scp]

@Yooper_Brew: What do you clean your bottles with? I have read around and people have suggested SaniClean, but from what I see, it's the same as StarSan, just less bubbles.

 

[Yooper]

@Yooper_Brew: What do you clean your bottles with? I have read around and people have suggested SaniClean, but from what I see, it's the same as StarSan, just less bubbles.

Cleaning and sanitizing are different, and two different steps. I clean with oxyclean and hot water, soaking if I have dirty bottles. For sanitizing, I use star-san or Iodophor. I have used potassium metabisulfite for wine equipment sanitizing, before I started making beer, but I hate the smell.