the 1st tranche of stupid Questions on wine by FRISP begins

Background, SWMBO is getting a tad peeved that Im having all this fun with Beer yet she is having to slum it with supermarket plonk.

I picked up a load of demi jons and 23 L carboys as part of a job lot of brewing kit I bought so seems wrong not to use them . So Frsipie boy is diving into vino de collapso.

but first some questions.

1) Storage: I detest bottling beer, but 6 bottles washed for Wine seems less onerous in my tiny mind. Now Wine is traditionaly stored in a 750ml bottle with a cork.... But I have hundreds of 660ml brown lager bottles laying around.. Is it feesible to store rhubarb or teabag wine in brown beer bottles using crown caps, Is theree a cork stopper that fits beer bottles or do I have to stop being a tight git buy a corker and green bottles..

2) i get the ferment and decant a couple of times thing. Finings I have my head round. But at what point is the campden tablet deployed to stop fermentation.. After clearing and before bottling? before fining? a fter teh hydrometer hits rock bottom?

3) any other chemicals needed to have to hand and what do they do.. saw something about piotasium sorbate or something.. no idea what it does..

Any guidance tips , idiotproof recipes gratefully recieved.

Frisp said:

Is theree a cork stopper that fits beer bottles or do I have to stop being a tight git buy a corker and green bottles..

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If you want to still be a tight git, you can rinse out 750ml bottles of supermarket plonk, save the cork and reuse them.

You can reinsert the corks into the bottle and whack them back in using a camping mallet or the sole of a sturdy shoe. (That's what I did in my brief foray into home vintnering)

brown beer bottle or any beer bottles work great for wine. clear flip tops look beautiful with wine in them . no problem capping wine in 660 ml brown bottles. i dont know of a corker for those type of bottles.

add then cambden whenever you want to stop fermenting. i like to add mine before bentonite but i dont think it matters. btw never bottle cloudy wine.

clear it then bottle it.

i thought k sorbate can be used instead of cambden but not sure

pectinase and yeast nutrients (DAP) is helpful in wine making imo


https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/supermarket-juice-wine-how-to-guide-and-recipes.49462/

chippy's thread kept me in wine for a few years while on a beer hiatus .


tons of fool proof recipes in there

good luck

edit . i used to go bottle hunting every thursday when recycling bins were out. got some really nice wine bottle that way and also learned who the real souses were in the neighborhood.

Agentgonzo said:

If you want to still be a tight git, you can rinse out 750ml bottles of supermarket plonk, save the cork and reuse them.

You can reinsert the corks into the bottle and whack them back in using a camping mallet or the sole of a sturdy shoe. (That's what I did in my brief foray into home vintnering)

Click to expand...

Like yer style..

fluketamer said:

brown beer bottle or any beer bottles work great for wine. clear flip tops look beautiful with wine in them . no problem capping wine in 660 ml brown bottles. i dont know of a corker for those type of bottles.

add then cambden whenever you want to stop fermenting. i like to add mine before bentonite but i dont think it matters. btw never bottle cloudy wine.

clear it then bottle it.

i thought k sorbate can be used instead of cambden but not sure

pectinase and yeast nutrients (DAP) is helpful in wine making imo


https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/supermarket-juice-wine-how-to-guide-and-recipes.49462/

chippy's thread kept me in wine for a few years while on a beer hiatus .


tons of fool proof recipes in there

good luck

Click to expand...

Thanks
Just found a link to Novatwist for reusing screwtop plonk bottles..

Agentgonzo said:

You can reinsert the corks into the bottle and whack them back in using a camping mallet or the sole of a sturdy shoe. (That's what I did in my brief foray into home vintnering)

Click to expand...

AHA meeting where you learned that? (amateur heathen association)

Frisp said:

Thanks
Just found a link to Novatwist for reusing screwtop plonk bottles..

Click to expand...

Quick thoughts. Dunee bang corks into screw top bottles. They are not built the same as a Corked bottle.

Please, please, don't use campden tablets. It will make your wine taste like homebrew. Hunt down some potassium metabisulphite. Add at 8g per 50l. It will make a stunning difference.

Air is your number one enemy.
Top up everything. Never leave anything with an air gap on top.

MashBag said:

Quick thoughts. Dunee bang corks into screw top bottles.

Click to expand...

Also, don't put screw-tops on corked bottles. They just fall off if you turn it up-side-down.

fluketamer said:

brown beer bottle or any beer bottles work great for wine. clear flip tops look beautiful with wine in them . no problem capping wine in 660 ml brown bottles. i dont know of a corker for those type of bottles.

add then cambden whenever you want to stop fermenting. i like to add mine before bentonite but i dont think it matters. btw never bottle cloudy wine.

clear it then bottle it.

i thought k sorbate can be used instead of cambden but not sure

pectinase and yeast nutrients (DAP) is helpful in wine making imo


https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/supermarket-juice-wine-how-to-guide-and-recipes.49462/

chippy's thread kept me in wine for a few years while on a beer hiatus .


tons of fool proof recipes in there

good luck

edit . i used to go bottle hunting every thursday when recycling bins were out. got some really nice wine bottle that way and also learned who the real souses were in the neighborhood.

Click to expand...

That would be me!

https://www.amazon.com/Ferroday-Swi...ds=flip+top+bottle+caps&qid=1716841665&sr=8-5

i have used these with good results. you can "cork" almost any wine bottle with them

MashBag said:

Quick thoughts. Dunee bang corks into screw top bottles. They are not built the same as a Corked bottle.

Please, please, don't use campden tablets. It will make your wine taste like homebrew. Hunt down some potassium metabisulphite. Add at 8g per 50l. It will make a stunning difference.

Air is your number one enemy.
Top up everything. Never leave anything with an air gap on top.

Click to expand...

good steer re campden I have 100g of Potasisum metab I use in my beer so all over than now.

So you saying fill bottles tiill they overflow and then seal ?

Frisp said:

So you saying fill bottles tiill they overflow and then seal ?

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Nope. Just like a supermarket bottle. Same as beer really.

Key thing is never leave wine with an air gap after fermentation. So DJ must be full. You may find to gather a lot of various sized DJ & larger bottles for this reason.

MashBag said:

Nope. Just like a supermarket bottle. Same as beer really.

Click to expand...

Im guessing, having read about degassing, we dont need to purge the bottles with C02?

MashBag said:

You may find to gather a lot of various sized DJ & larger bottles for this reason.

Click to expand...

When I bought the garage full of brewing equiptment It came with 5x23L glass Carboys, a couple of plastic carbouys and 4 1 gal demijons..

I take it we dont have as much control over ABV in wine the way we do in beer?

Frisp said:

purge the bottles with C02?

Click to expand...

Nope

Frisp said:

I take it we dont have as much control over ABV in wine the way we do in beer?

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Yes you do. Just the same. But again please don't aim for rocket fuel, you will destroy the flavour 11/12% max in a white.

What does Mrs frisp drink/like?

MashBag said:

What does Mrs frisp drink/like?

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medium dry rose

MashBag said:

please don't aim for rocket fuel,

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Id rather aim for under 13% . closer to 11 the better. keep her sober longer! She gets all "angry Hulk" on anything stronger !

Are we related
I appear to have married her sister

Well so much for that idea , trawled roung all my local supermarkets today and there is no grape juice to be had. online search says the same for supermarkest.. fleabay and scamazon are charging like the light brigade.. looks like im go9nna have to rebottle her £5 a bottle pink and pretend I brewed it..

on the plus side I have a Rhubarb outside that thinks its a triffid so its gonna make the ultimate sacrifice tomorrow .

Leave the skin on