# Bottle delabeling week!



## Wade E (Apr 4, 2007)

Well I have to delabel all the bottles I have to bottle up all my wine
so that I can clear out my basement for the 16th as the desftruction
crew will be coming. I did 40 last night have have another 40 soaking
right now. I hate delabeling with a passion! I have my bathtub full of
bottles and B-Brite. Between that and a razor blade it works good but
still very time consuming. I should have started this awhile ago but Im
a fly by the poants kinda guy ya know!


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## grapeman (Apr 4, 2007)

Ahhh demolition! That would be more fun than delabeling. Maybe you can sucker- errrrr- talk the demo crew into trading jobs. I know you have been "Wade-ing" a long time for this. Can't wait to see some pictures of the progress


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## Wade E (Apr 4, 2007)

More like "Wade-ing" in the baesment to get to my wines. The flow has
already started today from the rain we're getting. Chance of Sleet or
snow tonight!


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## grapeman (Apr 4, 2007)

We've had heavy rain all day except when it changed to sleet, back to rain, back to sleet , back to rain and now snow.They say about 4-6 inches here , more east of Lake Champlain(I would prefer them to be wrong myself).


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## Wade E (Apr 4, 2007)

Yes, its getting very old now but I do love the first big snow of the year!


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## Waldo (Apr 4, 2007)

Im right there with ya wade. My niece and her husband stopped by Wiedeker winery last week and bought me back 20 cases of bottles that I have been delabeling. I have them all done but 6......grrrrrr I hate it too but having free bottles lessens the pain somewhat


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## Wade E (Apr 4, 2007)

Sure does buddy. How many bottles at a time do you do? I get about 40 in the tub at once. Thank God for 2 bathrooms!


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## Coaster (Apr 4, 2007)

I'm doing a big push right now too as it looks like I'll be bottling about 200 this weekend. I have 3 or 4 more cases to go. I do 26 bottles at a time. I do 26 because they fit in the Wal-Mart tubI use to soak them and that's how many will fit in my dishwasher comfortably.


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## geocorn (Apr 4, 2007)

We cleaned out the home winery and found 28 cases of empties. I need to invent a way to clean them fast and easy. I could retire off of that invention!


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## Grant (Apr 4, 2007)

Now George


What a problem to have, to just find 28 cases of empties lying around the house. That would mean at some point they might have been full. We are hitting all the bottle depots trying to get enough for all that we are doing. We are keeping about two batches ahead.


Grant


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## Wade E (Apr 4, 2007)

28 cases of empties, someones back slacking in the winemaking department!



Do you have to clean all those for the bottling party?


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## geocorn (Apr 4, 2007)

We have been cheating lately and using new bottles everytime. As a result, the used bottles have been building up at home. My wife and I drink share one bottle a night and we have some neighbors that leave their empties outside of our garage.


10 of the cases are 1500 ml, which we hardly ever drink and therefore, hardly ever use. Consequently, I just realized that we have several cases of bottled 1500's that are probably 2-5 years old. Will have to open some up just to check them out.


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## Wade E (Apr 4, 2007)

Now thats a find!


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## Coaster (Apr 4, 2007)

I'm comng at the end of the month George I'll be happy to take the 1500's (empty or full



). We open 1-2 bottles a nite and more on the weekends (we just put in a deck, hot tub and fire pit so we have lots of company every weekend).


The bottle cleaning device has been invented. It cost ~$9,000 and some brew shops have em and rent em out for customers to come by and clean out bottles. And yes,I did consider one but I don't know where to put it yet



.


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## geocorn (Apr 4, 2007)

Like I like to say, "There is absolutely, positively, no substitute for dumb luck!"


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## Coaster (Apr 4, 2007)

Here is the bottle washer (bottom of the page in teh link below). I contacted them for the price.


http://www.liquidaction.com/CommercialBottleWashers.html


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## geocorn (Apr 4, 2007)

I'll put that piece of equipment on the wish list, but it won't hit the top 10 for quite some time!


You are welcome to the 1500's. When we prep the bottles for the party, I will set you the cases aside. Hope you don't mind, but you will have to clean them yourself. Always remember, I am a lazy wine maker!



I love to make wine, but I have never been into cleaning, much less cleaning and sanitizing. If in doubt, just ask the wife.


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## geocorn (Apr 4, 2007)

I have seen that before and used it. It is a wonderful contraption and when we upgrade the store, it is on the list. Look how easy it cleans carboys.


As an aside, I have considered selling purified water when I get a real retail store. Those outlets really do some volume and I can use the equipment for my wine making. I could call myself "Wine and Water".


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## Wade E (Apr 5, 2007)

Do I sense a write off?


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## Waldo (Apr 5, 2007)

wade said:


> Sure does buddy. How many bottles at a time do you do? I get about 40 in the tub at once. Thank God for 2 bathrooms!


I do about 3 cases at a time wade. I have one of those huge plastic storage tubs from wally world that I use to soak off the labels and then I have two of the laundry tubs I use for actual washing and rinsing.


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## JWMINNESOTA (Apr 5, 2007)

Im lucky enough to have several sources for bottles, including a friend of the wifes that tends bar, but my favorite source is a co worker, he's good for 3-4 1500's a week, thats where our favorites go!


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## kutya (Apr 5, 2007)

De-labeling bottles has to be one of the most time consuming jobs in wine making, but I'm always in for free bottles...


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## B M W (Apr 5, 2007)

I like the free bottles too, and have some great friends who keep me supplied. I had a bunch soaking in the bathtub when my son came home from the university, he went back to tell all his friends what a redneck family he has




. He calls the bottle tree my redneck Christmas tree, and tells me it's okay to be a redneck mom, just embrace it (he likes to tease)


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## NorthernWinos (Apr 5, 2007)

A friend has a supper club down where we use to live...a mutual friend lives near there and does maintenance work [closing in winter-opening in spring, and otherremodeling choresin exchange for meals] he picks up cases of bottles for us....They tend to sell about8 or9 brands...so most of the bottles match up pretty nice....they are more than happy to put the bottles in a box and set outside...more dumpster space for them....We just have to make trips to visit each other...which works out great...usually we give a case of wine or more for a car load of bottles...we are all happy...




When I get them home I sort them according to bottle type and color, turn them upside down, close and mark the boxes, stack in piles of each bottle type....store them outside in an old shed.


When I start a batch of wine or need bottles I bring them in from the shed...Soak them in the laundry tub in hot water, rinse with faucet jet blaster, use a bottle brush...more jet blasting, inspect against strong light...rinse....now I scrape with the paint-remover razor blade, scraping around the bottle instead of up &amp; down...[Thanks Masta



...great tip...duh...what was I thinking??] use a wire scrubby, green scrubby thingy...but a new razor blade gets almost everything off...I rinse well, put newspaper and clean paper towel in the case under the cardboard divider...put the bottles in upside down ...when its bottling day...I inspect them again against a bright light, soak in 1 Step or Straight A for a few minutes, rinse with faucet jet blaster, rinse outside of bottle, rinse with sulfite...fill with wine...


I kind of do overkill with washing and inspecting the bottles...once in a great while will find something undesirable at the second washing...






When we empty a bottle we rinse and store in boxes up side down, those are usually stored in the spare bedroom or in the sewing room on the treadmill...we have spiders and other little nasty bugs around here that have been found in bottles, so am sure they are always up side down...


Actually I don't mind cleaning bottles...do it on a day when nothing else is pending...it's a good feeling because you know you have wine on the way to be bottled....


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## Wade E (Apr 5, 2007)

Im suprised you dont use a beer cap on them after washing!



Thats a lot of washing there NW but its better to be safe then sorry right!


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## jobe05 (Apr 5, 2007)

Sounds like we have about the same bottle cleaning ritual NW.


Not over kill to me, just one shot of getting it right....... Mights well do it as right as possible....... 


I mean................... That's were my babies are going to live and grow up!


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## rgecaprock (Apr 5, 2007)

It is a dreaded job getting some of those labels off!! I have an apartment sink with a faucet that you can barely get a glass under....thought about offering to buy one of the tall faucets and have the apartments put it in for me.
Also thought about giving my wine friends anice bottle fullfor every 12 they give me empty..completey clean and de-labeled...or do you all think that is too much work for just one bottle...maybe every 6...huh?


Ramona*Edited by: rgecaprock *


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## geocorn (Apr 5, 2007)

Only thing I can say is that you never get more than what you ask for!


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## Wade E (Apr 5, 2007)

Do you have a bathtub as this is where I do mine now since every time I
go to use the sink to do this I get yelled at. Or you can do what
others do and get a brute or similiar container from Walmart or Target
that is big enough to do a bigger batch.


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## rgecaprock (Apr 5, 2007)

Yep, I'm sure...once they find out what a pain it is...but then again...it's worth it!!!


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## rgecaprock (Apr 5, 2007)

Wade, 
The Wallyworld or Dollar General Tub sounds like a plan. I know where there is a nice Rubbermaid tub in our closet with a couple hundred comic books that Curtis can't seem topart with.....after we sold all the valuable ones!! That will work just fine....lol
Ramona*Edited by: rgecaprock *


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## Mike777 (Apr 12, 2007)

geocorn said:


> I need to invent a way to clean them fast and easy. I could retire off of that invention!



An ultrasonic cleaning tub to do 6 at a time filled with a proprietary soap and orange oil solution and very rough plastic balls about the size of peas. Soak the labels till wet and stick em in the scrubber when most of the paper is gone.

Ok you get to retire and I get a free one. What else needs engineered?

(besides patience)


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## BrianD (Apr 12, 2007)

I use a large rubbermaid type tub for delabeling as well as sanitizing beer bottles with bleach.

But I've drilled out a hole and added the plastic spigot such as sold by George. That allows me to use this on the counter and easily drain it into the sink when finished.



*Edited by: BrianD *


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## grapeman (Apr 12, 2007)

That's a handy hint. I'll need to remember that one


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## Wade E (Apr 12, 2007)

Great idea there Brian!




*Edited by: wade *


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