Cheap long term wine storage?

[RoomWithABrew]

@Obadiah Boondoggle
I thought that I'd deleted all copies of that picture of my dad!!

 

[Nicks90]

Store it all in demijohns. If to go on your local free cycle and market place, I bet you will find dozens of demijohn going for pennies or free.
Or speak to your local tip manager. I bet he would be happy to stash them to one side for you if you were to 'donate' something back....

 

[Tommo 2]

I have always used Demi johns for bulk storage , wine stores best in bulk especially reds , would definitely say though if you do bulk store and use rubber bung always put some cling film over the bung first as the wine will pick up the twang of the rubber over time

 

[Kit-brewer]

Try a restaurant, they go through wine bottles and have given me bottles in the past.

 

[user 44889]

Go to your local recycling area often supermarket carpark etc they have bottle banks there which are usually overflowing. Take what you need or just wait there on a saturday morning and ask people for them.
You can of course put wine in beer bottles, coopers beer bottles are 750ml and then crown cap them.

Or get fussy at the bottle bank and collect champagne bottles then you need a bigger bell and different caps for your capper ( this is what I do).

If you can find a hotel that does weddings they will have loads of champagne bottles every weekend and a quiet word you'll be surprised they will often keep them for you.

I have done this at a Tesco supermarket and filled the boot of my car. Carrier bags and boxes full of bottles put on ground as no room in dumpster so no worry of damage. Also people came to Drop off while i was there so asked for their bottles and had some great conversations ref home brew.
Only downside is loads of cleaning when you get home........ but deffo worth the effort.
Also ask family and friends for their empties.

 

[Centiweasel]

Have a look at this shop,
I have never ordered from them online so I don’t know how much their postage is, but their bottles are cheap.
I go in person and only had good experiences so far.

https://do-it-at-home.co.uk/en/bottles/632-24-x-wine-bottles-glass-75cl-750ml.html

 

[Berry454]

I have always used Demi johns for bulk storage , wine stores best in bulk especially reds , would definitely say though if you do bulk store and use rubber bung always put some cling film over the bung first as the wine will pick up the twang of the rubber over time

Unfortunately I have looked on free cycle and it returned 0 results for demijohn.

I've tried eBay and the only ones in my local area are going for about £6 each. Not even close to being a cheap storage method unfortunately!

It would be ideal if I could actually find them cheap around liverpool or Manchester.

 

[Berry454]

Try a restaurant, they go through wine bottles and have given me bottles in the past.

Well I called 4 restaurants and asked. All of them refused. 2 of them said straight up no. 1 one of them put the phone down. The last one politely refused stating that they have contracts with recycling companies.

 

[Berry454]

Have a look at this shop,
I have never ordered from them online so I don’t know how much their postage is, but their bottles are cheap.
I go in person and only had good experiences so far.

https://do-it-at-home.co.uk/en/bottles/632-24-x-wine-bottles-glass-75cl-750ml.html

Unfortunately the price quoted is without vat. And postage isn't that cheap. Works out at over £1 a bottle.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

24 @ £15.47

https://www.bottlecompanysouth.co.uk/750ml-green-screw-top-wine-bottle-p-1929.html

 

[Tommo 2]

Unfortunately I have looked on free cycle and it returned 0 results for demijohn.

I've tried eBay and the only ones in my local area are going for about £6 each. Not even close to being a cheap storage method unfortunately!

It would be ideal if I could actually find them cheap around liverpool or Manchester.

Not surprised really new glass ones are now between 14 to sixteen pounds each, fortunately have had my twenty Demi johns for years. Just looked on eBay and spotted a few used ones at a really good price, well better than new ones at least , good hunting

y

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Charity shops often have them but as i found they don't know them as demijohns show them a picture on your phone you may get lucky as i did.

 

[user 44889]

In the last 2 years I've managed to get 9 demijohns from charity shops, price range from £1 to £3 each... you just have to keep nipping in and trying untill you strike lucky.
Good luck and don't forget the glass recycling centres, once found a Demijohn beside dumpster... in perfect condition.

 

[Poochops]

Unfortunately I have looked on free cycle and it returned 0 results for demijohn.

I've tried eBay and the only ones in my local area are going for about £6 each. Not even close to being a cheap storage method unfortunately!

It would be ideal if I could actually find them cheap around liverpool or Manchester.

The trick with Facebook marketplace, ebay, freecycle, gumtree etc is not to be in a rush, have a look every 2-3 days and bide your time. my Last buy off eBay was 10 for £23, a friend of mine bought 14 on an auction for under a fiver. If they’re more than £3 let them go they’ll be listed again for next to nowt Sooner or later. Just be patient

 

[AlBrew]

Unfortunately I have looked on free cycle and it returned 0 results for demijohn.

It might pay to post a "Wanted" message on freecycle, most of the useful stuff that is posted as "Offered" is gone within seconds in my experience. Your far more likely to get what you need by requesting it and reminding someone that they have it and had been meaning to get rid.

 

[Shirley Bassett]

If your local Indian does Cobra or the likes in the large bottles then they’ll normally give you as many 660ml bottles than you can carry.

I’ve always found that if you are on the scrounge, then it’s best done face to face, rather than over the phone.

In terms of asking pubs for bottles. Pre Covid, the closest pub to my office gave me over 500 magners and kopperberg 500ml bottles when I popped in and asked them if they had any empties. I just had to rummage through the skip sized bin on their car park.

I’ve found that every red wine kit I’ve ever done has a bubble gum smell / taste, and I’ve decided to stop making wine kits.

If anyone can help me to get rid of the problem, then your help would be appreciated.

Otherwise I’ve got around 60 screw top wine bottles that you can have. I live in Aberdeenshire if you wish to collect them.

Finally I admire your patience on keeping home brew for 14 months!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I’ve found that every red wine kit I’ve ever done has a bubble gum smell / taste, and I’ve decided to stop making wine kits.
If anyone can help me to get rid of the problem, then your help would be appreciated.

We usually make rose wine but have made the range make your own red wine in the past we didn't notice a bubble gum flavour and its one of their best sellers.

 

[Shirley Bassett]

I came to the same conclusion about not making red wine from kits, hence the offer of the bottles.

I’ve previously made:

Wilko 6 bottle red,
California Connoisseur 6 bottle Shiraz,
30 bottle Cellar 7 Malbec,
4 different WineXpert £50 reds,
They all have the same bubble gum flavour/smell, which starts to appear as the wine is degassed with a wand on a battery drill.

I’ll give the range red a go, and if that’s the same, then it’s 60 to 90 bottles in the recycling.

Apologies for hijacking the thread.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I’ll give the range red a go, and if that’s the same, then it’s 60 to 90 bottles in the recycling.

I don't think the MYO Red would impress any regular red wine drinker for the reason in this post -

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/the-range-myo-kits.95341/post-1058366

 

[ChrisT]

@Berry454 Where are you? I've got some demi-johns that are looking for a good next life. I got them as a job lot and am slowly cleaning them, too many for my needs but better than recycling which is where they were going!