A year in!

[VinesnBines]

Buckets are only useful for a few minutes. In my opinion it would be better to rack to something with a smaller neck or opening, like a carboy or demijohn. I use beer kegs but keep the level completely full with no airspace. You can rack to the bucket, clean your vessel and rack back to back sweeten and add sulfites.

 

[Scooter68]

If you put your wine into a fermentation bucket to add stabilizer and back-sweeten I would not keep it in there for a week - I'd rather rack it back into carboys to prevent any unneccessary oxidation risk. (Or fruit fly attack)

I would have to disagree with vinesnbines on the sediment situation. A well aged wine will have almost zero sediment if properly racked and handled during the aging time. The only sediment would come from anything that precipitates out after stabilizing and back-sweetening. That was the reason that a one week wait was suggested by ARNE between stabilizing/back-sweetening. Unless you see signs of new sediment at the end of a week, there's no need to bottle the wine in any special way. Just be sure that it's well stirred after back-sweetening.

As to handling the extra volume after back-sweetening - I use 4 liter containers for my "one gallon" batches so I always have a little more than 5 bottles of wine when I finish bottling. (Even with a few minor spills when going from bottle to bottle. ) In reality I only use the true 1 gallon containers if I encounter a spill or shortfall in a batch volume. So all my 1 gallon batches are in fact 4 liter batches.

SO if you can find some 4 liter bottles (Carlo Rossi wine is sold in 4 liter bottles. ) You can easily accommodate the extra volume from back-sweetening. For me I normally put my wine into a fermentation bucket to back-sweeten and if I am bottling right away I fill the bottles from that OR if waiting a week, rack back into carboys and use the excess for some taste testing. (Seriously and it's a reward for the end of the wine making process)

4 liters = 135.25 oz

 

[Sunshine Wine]

If you put your wine into a fermentation bucket to add stabilizer and back-sweeten I would not keep it in there for a week - I'd rather rack it back into carboys to prevent any unneccessary oxidation risk. (Or fruit fly attack)

I would have to disagree with vinesnbines on the sediment situation. A well aged wine will have almost zero sediment if properly racked and handled during the aging time. The only sediment would come from anything that precipitates out after stabilizing and back-sweetening. That was the reason that a one week wait was suggested by ARNE between stabilizing/back-sweetening. Unless you see signs of new sediment at the end of a week, there's no need to bottle the wine in any special way. Just be sure that it's well stirred after back-sweetening.

As to handling the extra volume after back-sweetening - I use 4 liter containers for my "one gallon" batches so I always have a little more than 5 bottles of wine when I finish bottling. (Even with a few minor spills when going from bottle to bottle. ) In reality I only use the true 1 gallon containers if I encounter a spill or shortfall in a batch volume. So all my 1 gallon batches are in fact 4 liter batches.

SO if you can find some 4 liter bottles (Carlo Rossi wine is sold in 4 liter bottles. ) You can easily accommodate the extra volume from back-sweetening. For me I normally put my wine into a fermentation bucket to back-sweeten and if I am bottling right away I fill the bottles from that OR if waiting a week, rack back into carboys and use the excess for some taste testing. (Seriously and it's a reward for the end of the wine making process)

4 liters = 135.25 oz

Thank you so much for all the advice!

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Getting old labels off the bottles and getting them washed up! Any suggestions for printing your own labels? I'm getting excited!

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Uuuggggg...looking on Amazon for corks.... So many to choose from... Some are cheaper than others... I know you get what you pay for, but what's a good choice???

 

[bstnh1]

Uuuggggg...looking on Amazon for corks.... So many to choose from... Some are cheaper than others... I know you get what you pay for, but what's a good choice???

Try Widgetco.com. Their bi-disc corks are good. WidgetCo - Global Source for Corks, Wood Plugs, Rubber Stoppers, etc.

 

[bstnh1]

Getting old labels off the bottles and getting them washed up! Any suggestions for printing your own labels? I'm getting excited!View attachment 69961

The dishwasher might do a good job of removing most labels, but you'll need more than that to clean them. There are a lot of good cleaners out there for cleaning equipment and bottles. I've used One Step for years and have been satisfied with it.

 

[Bossbaby]

Check out Avery.com for designing a label, easy to use compared to most.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

The dishwasher might do a good job of removing most labels, but you'll need more than that to clean them. There are a lot of good cleaners out there for cleaning equipment and bottles. I've used One Step for years and have been satisfied with it.

Oh, I used googone on the labels that didn't come off easily. The dishwasher was just to clean them. I will use starsan to sanitize them unless that's not recommended. That's what I have used to clean everything when racking.

 

[Scooter68]

Yes on starsan to sanitize. If you are going to do a lot of this there is a handy tool "Vinator" that sprays the inside of bottles for you and collectsa the run off . $20-25

For labels Avery has an online label designer and you can order bulk packs of labels or standard Office Depot type packages of theme
AVERY PRESTA 94212 is a good size and it's "Removable Matte White paper" The round top labels pictured here are not going to fit all bottles. Keep in mind you can print the lables either way the label paper so tall or wide layout.

I finally broke down and bought a color laser printer for under $200. Toner is the costly stuff to refill but you can get 3rd party toner too, (Brother HL-l3210CW They are now up to $250.00 and I've been happy so far. Not photo quality but for labels....

Have fun you are so close to really enjoying the product of your time and effort and just as much fun - sharing it and watching faces light up on friends.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Yes on starsan to sanitize. If you are going to do a lot of this there is a handy tool "Vinator" that sprays the inside of bottles for you and collectsa the run off . $20-25

For labels Avery has an online label designer and you can order bulk packs of labels or standard Office Depot type packages of theme
AVERY PRESTA 94212 is a good size and it's "Removable Matte White paper" The round top labels pictured here are not going to fit all bottles. Keep in mind you can print the lables either way the label paper so tall or wide layout.

I finally broke down and bought a color laser printer for under $200. Toner is the costly stuff to refill but you can get 3rd party toner too, (Brother HL-l3210CW They are now up to $250.00 and I've been happy so far. Not photo quality but for labels....

Have fun you are so close to really enjoying the product of your time and effort and just as much fun - sharing it and watching faces light up on friends.

View attachment 69977

View attachment 69976

Thank you! Happy new year!

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Try Widgetco.com. Their bi-disc corks are good. WidgetCo - Global Source for Corks, Wood Plugs, Rubber Stoppers, etc.

Just ordered the corks! Thanks!

 

[Sunshine Wine]

So, I have a question...lol. I have blackberry wine that I am getting ready to backsweeten and then bottle. How do I know what to call it? I want to make my labels and wondered if I just call it Blackberry Wine or if it is considered something in particular depending on the ABV or sweetness, etc. Thanks for all your help this year!!

 

[cmason1957]

So, I have a question...lol. I have blackberry wine that I am getting ready to backsweeten and then bottle. How do I know what to call it? I want to make my labels and wondered if I just call it Blackberry Wine or if it is considered something in particular depending on the ABV or sweetness, etc. Thanks for all your help this year!!

It's your wine, you can call it Sherman if you want to. Home winemakers have no rules to follow. It's call it BlackBerry wine, but that's just me.

 

[montanarick]

Uuuggggg...looking on Amazon for corks.... So many to choose from... Some are cheaper than others... I know you get what you pay for, but what's a good choice???

my standard go-to are Aquamarc corks

 

[Bossbaby]

you could come up with a catchy label name that you would always use and the wine type would follow your name..

 

[Scooter68]

My "Brand Name" is because I do my wine making in the house where my Wife grew up and use Her Maiden name (Grandfather was German and we have this 'Affinity' for things German) So the brand name is "Heffner Haus Wines" or "Heffner Haus Cider" Along with a picture of the house. The rest is just the variety of the wine and details I want to include such as Month it was fermented, ABV, and sometimes the pH of the wine. Oh yeah and Dry, Semi-Sweet, or Dessert Wine. Think my second or third batch was Black Currant which in German is Schwarze Johannisbeere.

As mentioned call it what you want -get creative or keep it simple

 

[Sunshine Wine]

My "Brand Name" is because I do my wine making in the house where my Wife grew up and use Her Maiden name (Grandfather was German and we have this 'Affinity' for things German) So the brand name is "Heffner Haus Wines" or "Heffner Haus Cider" Along with a picture of the house. The rest is just the variety of the wine and details I want to include such as Month it was fermented, ABV, and sometimes the pH of the wine. Oh yeah and Dry, Semi-Sweet, or Dessert Wine. Think my second or third batch was Black Currant which in German is Schwarze Johannisbeere.

As mentioned call it what you want -get creative or keep it simple

Yes, the dry, semi-sweet or dessert was what I wondered about. How do I know what it is considered? Not sure how to figure ABV, either...lol. I'm leaning toward a table or dessert wine because I like it sweeter. Will keep researching! I'm going to go with my title on here: "Sunshine Wine". Just trying to figure out what all to put on my label. Thanks for all your help!

 

[SLM]

The wonderful thing of fermenting the blackberries in their flesh is the extraction of tannin that stabilizes the color.

How long do you ferment the berries in their flesh? The recipe I used says to not ferment the berries with their seeds because the finished product will be bitter. Not so?

 

[Sunshine Wine]

How long do you ferment the berries in their flesh? The recipe I used says to not ferment the berries with their seeds because the finished product will be bitter. Not so?

I had juice with pulp in it, but after initial fermentation, I strained it all out when I racked. So no berries left in the wine.