Sunshine Wine
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No, I don't...
A year in!
- Thread starter Sunshine Wine
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Well, rather then risk your wine I would put it back in a carboy under a airlock for now until you can resolve this issue. It definitely needs an adjustment.
What size are the corks?
What size are the corks?
Sunshine Wine
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#8
Those are a standard size and should work just fine. I would order a hand corker for now until you can get this one working.
This is a link to a decent back up hand corker
https://www.amazon.com/Home-Portuge...qid=1610143686&sprefix=hand+bottle+cor&sr=8-3
This is a link to a decent back up hand corker
https://www.amazon.com/Home-Portuge...qid=1610143686&sprefix=hand+bottle+cor&sr=8-3
What is the source of the wine bottle? It doesn't look like a standard one -- Could it be undersized? A #8 cork should go in easily.
Sunshine Wine
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Most are from Biltmore.
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Biltmore (estate in NC) uses standard bottles, so while that bottle looks odd, it's within standard wine bottle specs. The wife & I visited Biltmore in August, and all the wines we tasted were in "normal" bottles.
You should wind up with about 1 1/2" - 1 3/4" space below the bottom of the cork.
TurkeyHollow
Turkey Hollow Winery
I think the 1/2" air space from the bottom of the inserted cork is the best target to shoot for. The withdrawal method can vary in results - especially if some of your bottles are flat bottom and some have a deep punt.
The picture you show does not look like a standard bottle. It looks like a bottle that takes a T cork. The neck is wrong for standard #8s and #9s.
For a quick test, get a standard corked bottle of cheap wine at the grocery store. Pull out the cork. Then re-cork with your red corker. If it works, the fault is your bottles. If it doesn't, then the fault is your corker.
#8 corks are smaller than standard wine corks and so should go in easily as they don't require as much compression. In your picture, the cork was badly mangled by something.
Regarding ullage, I shoot for 1/2 inch. More than that is just more oxygen.
Good luck. I'm guessing different standard wine bottles will solve the problem.
For a quick test, get a standard corked bottle of cheap wine at the grocery store. Pull out the cork. Then re-cork with your red corker. If it works, the fault is your bottles. If it doesn't, then the fault is your corker.
#8 corks are smaller than standard wine corks and so should go in easily as they don't require as much compression. In your picture, the cork was badly mangled by something.
Regarding ullage, I shoot for 1/2 inch. More than that is just more oxygen.
Good luck. I'm guessing different standard wine bottles will solve the problem.
Am I the only one who shoots for 1 1/2" ullage??? I've done that all along based on Tim Vandergrift saying you want ullage to be about the width of two fingers. Read that years ago and just stuck with it.
If it's working for you? It's fine.
In my early years, I didn't pay any attention to the ullage. I was told to fill the bottles to the brim, pull out the filler rod, and that was the correct wine level. Narrow bottles have more ullage, wider bottles have less -- the volume is the volume of the stick.
I've noticed differences in commercial wine bottles -- some seem to have more ullage than others, and while I haven't measured, 1.5" is a possibility.
Like many things, it may be that we're assigning more importance to ullage than is necessary. Yes, air contact needs to be controlled, but the range of acceptable ullage may be wider than we realize.
I just use my bottle filler and leave space left after pulling out. Leaves about an inch... I have never had an issue.
Maybe I should do some research.... Something new to worry about.
Maybe I should do some research.... Something new to worry about.
Scooter68
Fruit "Wine" Maker
I use 3/4 of an inch measured with my micrometer that's accurate to .01" 
Actually I just eyeball it. probably 3/4" or about the same as the cork diameter. I figure the oxygen is so little and since I store my bottle on their sides, very little additional O2 is getting in. I'm not keeping wines for 5 to 10 years. All of my original wine batches of 5 1/2 years ago are gone now and I figure most will never hit the 5 year mark. So I prefer to focus on what I view as more important, clean, sanitized bottles proper corking and then a shrink cap for good measure and looks. Having done that, I figure that's all that's really critical. As others have said wine making has been happening for centuries before we had any of our wonderful chemicals and equipment, some of which have only been around less than 50 years. I'm not too worried.
Actually I just eyeball it. probably 3/4" or about the same as the cork diameter. I figure the oxygen is so little and since I store my bottle on their sides, very little additional O2 is getting in. I'm not keeping wines for 5 to 10 years. All of my original wine batches of 5 1/2 years ago are gone now and I figure most will never hit the 5 year mark. So I prefer to focus on what I view as more important, clean, sanitized bottles proper corking and then a shrink cap for good measure and looks. Having done that, I figure that's all that's really critical. As others have said wine making has been happening for centuries before we had any of our wonderful chemicals and equipment, some of which have only been around less than 50 years. I'm not too worried.
@Sunshine Wine how did you make out with your wine/bottling?
Sunshine Wine
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I have 35 bottles finished. The corks are not perfect, but they are sealed. I have let them sit up straight for a few days, so I will lay them on their side soon. I'm disappointed about the corks, but I have been told my blackberry wine is very good! Not too shabby for a first timer!! Thanks for asking!
Bossbaby
Senior Member
What is your next batch going to be??
Your welcome! Just wanted to make sure all went well. I'm glad that your blackberry turned out enjoyable. Not to shabby and a lot of fun right? Lol
Now on to your next fermentation ...wonder what it will be
What ever it is you can count on one thing for sure, knowledge gained is never wasted and there will be a whole lot more to learn!
Looking forward to your next fermentation journey.... good luck
Sunshine Wine
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Don't know! I got the home canned blackberry last year from a friend that got it from a friend that didn't have time to use it. It was a lot, so I couldn't make that much jelly! Found this forum and began my journey! Very interesting and I learned a lot!! Thanks to everyone who commented and gave me advice!! Y'all are awesome!!
Scooter68
Fruit "Wine" Maker
Everyone has their own likes and dislikes but if you will permit me to make one or two suggestions. Black Currant is a very tart juice ( I was introduced to it at the East Berlin Museum in 1971 - We thought it was alcoholic but it was just very tart) Anyway it makes an excellent dessert wine - I ran across a source of Canned concentrate from the company "Vintner's Harvest" Right now you can get a 96 oz can that makes a 3 gallon batch of a very solid flavor wine for $25.00. They also have the same size can of Blackberry Concentrate for $10.00 (It's past the "Sell by Date" but should still be good.) Since you've already made Blackberry the Black Currant would be a little different and not expensive at that price. Here's a link to the company that has both on sale right now. At least 2 other folks on this board have ordered it - my order came in yesterday and the "Past Sell By Date" on my cans is Sept 2020 for the Blackberry and I think they are pushing the Black Currant because mine have a "Sell by" Date of June 2021 of that should be fine. Those dates are not "Expiration"dates but just guidance to sellers that they are considered higher risk to not be good tasting after that Date. Found out through some research that those date are not driven by any national law but rather a patchwork quilt of state rules AND the states make them use different terms as well.
https://www.austinhomebrew.com/Vintners-Harvest-Fruit-Base-and-Puree_c_776.html
There are several other sources but most are going to be a bit more than this for their concentrate this just happens to be a good deal right now.
IF you want to go in another direction I've made a Pineapple/Mango wine that is really nice (Comes out a golden color) and you can use store bought Canned Pineapple Juice./Crushed Pineapple in natural juice and mangos (Bit messy to cut up but fun to nibble on while you do it.
In any case - Great that your first batch finished out nicely and go bottled up well.
By the way is your corker a second hand one? If so that might account for the problem with corks. It might need some adjusting or maybe in worst case, new jaws for compressing the corks. It sounds like it might not be closing and compressing the corks enough.
https://www.austinhomebrew.com/Vintners-Harvest-Fruit-Base-and-Puree_c_776.html
There are several other sources but most are going to be a bit more than this for their concentrate this just happens to be a good deal right now.
IF you want to go in another direction I've made a Pineapple/Mango wine that is really nice (Comes out a golden color) and you can use store bought Canned Pineapple Juice./Crushed Pineapple in natural juice and mangos (Bit messy to cut up but fun to nibble on while you do it.
In any case - Great that your first batch finished out nicely and go bottled up well.
By the way is your corker a second hand one? If so that might account for the problem with corks. It might need some adjusting or maybe in worst case, new jaws for compressing the corks. It sounds like it might not be closing and compressing the corks enough.
