# Let bottles get dry after washing with k-meta?



## geek (Dec 19, 2012)

Is it ok to bottle the wine if the bottle is wet with k-meta sulfite or preferred to let it dry first?


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## hobbyiswine (Dec 19, 2012)

A purist might say to let them dry on one of those fancy bottle racks. I clean my bottles and store them upside down. Then on bottling day i give them a rinse and a good shake with kmeta solution and put them back in the box upside down while i get my bottling hose and bucket set up. As i bottle i turn them right side up so there is usually a little kmeta solution on the inside of the bottle. You can smell the kmeta when you bottle as the wine pushes out the kmeta. Havent had any bottles spoil or taste "off" yet using this method.


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## TonyP (Dec 19, 2012)

geek said:


> Is it ok to bottle the wine if the bottle is wet with k-meta sulfite or preferred to let it dry first?



The bottle is sanitized by the SO2 gas given off by the K-meta, not by the k-meta itself. Thus, it is immaterial whether the bottle is wet or dry. Having said that, however, I wouldn't wait more than an hour or so after sanitizing.


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## roadwarriorsvt (Dec 19, 2012)

There is no problem bottling with a wet k-meta solution inside the bottle. We use k-meta to stabilize our wines so a small film of it in the bottle is fine.


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## Rocky (Dec 19, 2012)

Mine are surely a little wet when I bottle them. I clean and store bottles in cases until ready to used. They I rinse them out with hot water a couple of times, hit them on the Vinator and hang them on a rack. I want the trace amount of k-meta that is still in the bottle.


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## geek (Dec 20, 2012)

Thank you guys, wanted to confirm.


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## Tyroneshoolace (Dec 20, 2012)

So am I the only one that rinses the bottles wih water after the k-meta rinse? 

I feel that if I rinse I can better control how much k-meta is in the wine. That way when you do open your bottles your first glass or two of wine doesn't have a blast of k-meta on the nose


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## TonyP (Dec 20, 2012)

Tyroneshoolace said:


> So am I the only one that rinses the bottles wih water after the k-meta rinse?
> 
> I feel that if I rinse I can better control how much k-meta is in the wine. That way when you do open your bottles your first glass or two of wine doesn't have a blast of k-meta on the nose



Maybe. Some wine makers, including me, are sufficiently concerned about microbes in tap water that we don't rinse, except perhaps with bottled water.

Also, I believe it's common to add some k-meta during bottling anyway. I do, when the wine hasn't been treated for several months.


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## garymc (Dec 20, 2012)

I use a spray bottle to put a spritz of it in the bottle. Since it's the gas it gives off that sanitizes, I figure that's more of an instant release of the gas from the spray. Somebody commented, though, that I have an unknown quantity of it doing that. And since the spray I have is a sanitizing concentration instead of a concentration you'd use to add to wine, I'm thinking of 2 spray bottles, one for sanitizing carboys and equipment when I'm not imminently going to use them and a weaker one for the last minute spritz.

adding: What about rinsing or sanitizing and leaving the neck of the bottle where the cork will be placed wet? I've been advised not to wet the corks and it would seem to be the same difference to insert a cork into the wet neck of a bottle.


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## GreginND (Dec 20, 2012)

TonyP said:


> Maybe. Some wine makers, including me, are sufficiently concerned about microbes in tap water that we don't rinse, except perhaps with bottled water.
> 
> Also, I believe it's common to add some k-meta during bottling anyway. I do, when the wine hasn't been treated for several months.



I rinse my clean bottles with water. I don't worry about the small amount of microbes that could be in the water. After all my fruit wines are made with that water and I have adequate SO2 in the wine to protect it. I worry more about getting too much sulfite in the wine.


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## TonyP (Dec 20, 2012)

Gary, soaking or boiling a cork is a no-no, but having a slightly damp cork is not a problem. In fact, those using twin-lever corkers often dampen the cork (perhaps 2-3 minutes) for easier insertion.


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## geek (Dec 20, 2012)

On my next bottling I will put the corks in a strainer and pour kmeta solution through it.


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## TonyP (Dec 21, 2012)

geek said:


> On my next bottling I will put the corks in a strainer and pour kmeta solution through it.



An excellent approach.


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## Poormanfarm (Dec 21, 2012)

I don't use K-Meta. I use the iodine based product for sterilizing and so far I have not had a negative reaction in taste or smell. I can't remember the name at the present time but I am sure most of you know what I am talking about. Just came to me. Star San


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## Boatboy24 (Dec 21, 2012)

Poormanfarm said:


> I don't use K-Meta. I use the iodine based product for sterilizing and so far I have not had a negative reaction in taste or smell. I can't remember the name at the present time but I am sure most of you know what I am talking about. Just came to me. Star San



Iodophor is iodine based too.


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## TonyP (Dec 22, 2012)

Poormanfarm said:


> I don't use K-Meta. I use the iodine based product for sterilizing and so far I have not had a negative reaction in taste or smell. I can't remember the name at the present time but I am sure most of you know what I am talking about. Just came to me. Star San




I use Star San a lot, but it's not an iodine product. Star San contains Sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid and phosphoric acid. FYI, I created a Wine Making Talk article on cleaning and sanitizing.


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