Bottling Day With The Hoffart Auto Bottle Filler!

[vacuumpumpman]

Thanks

After reading it again this morning, I understand how it works now, Very similar to the Allinone - I know after I bottle 30 bottles - I typically will only have 1 - 2 tablespoons of wine in the overflow bottle. That's we're I was getting confused.

 

[ibglowin]

Correct,

You can't overfill your bottle and all bottles are filled to the exact same height but you can if your not paying attention overfill the overflow bottle I suppose. The valve allows you to speed up or slow down the flow and let you get your next few bottles ready, grab a few corks, cork a bottle etc. I marked the valve where i like the flow with a sharpie and that alows me to go back to a nice flow. This is so nice as I can sit in a chair at eye level (thanks to the vacuum pump) and not have to squat or sit on the floor which I did the first few years using a bottle wand or Buon Vino Auto Filler etc which requires gravity flow.

 

[beardy]

I see this is a couple months old but is there a plan to look at somewhere like instructable or something? I would like to make one but I dont think I'm seeing everything in the video...

 

[olusteebus]

I built mine pretty much by studying post 12

 

[ibglowin]

I don't know of any official parts list. If you have questions on anything ask away and we will do our best to answer them. Unfortunately the guy who built it (Rick) is no longer posting or online anymore.

 

[cimbaliw]

no art about it but a simple solution. I hang my bottling gizmo from a retractable key thingy and it works well.

 

[Rocky]

What do you all do with the wine in the overflow? Is that lost wine or is it used? I was wondering because I always see a clear bottle for the over flow and I thought if it were used, one could place a green bottle there (when bottling red wine) remove it when it is filled or near filled and replace it with an empty bottle. Or am I all wet on this?

I need to find a convenient way to bottle wine because I don't like the alternatives that I am using at present.

 

[RCGoodin]

The All-in-one pump does all this and more, so, why re-invent the wheel? Get with Steve and buy his unit. You'll never look back.

Steve, I just used the de-gassing head and it worked great. Thanks again for a great product and your outstanding customer service....

 

[RCGoodin]

What do you all do with the wine in the overflow? Is that lost wine or is it used? I was wondering because I always see a clear bottle for the over flow and I thought if it were used, one could place a green bottle there (when bottling red wine) remove it when it is filled or near filled and replace it with an empty bottle. Or am I all wet on this?

I need to find a convenient way to bottle wine because I don't like the alternatives that I am using at present.

You can replace the overflow bottle at any time. There usually isn't very much overflow though. It's my tasting wine at the end of bottling.

Once you get this, you will wonder why it took so long to buy it. And, you will never go wrong with Steve's personal customer service.

 

[ibglowin]

The amount of wine in the overflow is totally up to you. It only goes to overflow if you don't shut off the valve when it reaches the top tube. If you shut off the valve just before then nothing goes into the overflow. I usually end up with about 2-3 ounces. It ends up being my taste sample along with any left over in the carboy.

I have a mark on the valve body that gives me a nice flow rate that allows me time to cork the previous bottle, and then sit back down to slow the flow rate down at the very end so virtually nothing goes into overflow.

What do you all do with the wine in the overflow? Is that lost wine or is it used?

 

[ibglowin]

I absolutely hated bottling before I got this, now I actually look forward to it. Its easy to set up, no more spills or mess whatsoever. I can sit at my workspace instead of squatting on the floor with a gravity bottle filler. I can bottle a carboy in about 40 mins by myself.

I need to find a convenient way to bottle wine because I don't like the alternatives that I am using at present.

 

[cimbaliw]

Hey Rocky, once you start vacuum bottling you will develop a technique. For example, at the start of the process, with the carboy and bottles sitting on a desk, there will be continued (after vacuum release) siphon until you raise the bottle above the level of the wine in the carboy. It's a really nice way to slowly fill the last 1/4" of the bottle or so. Obviously, as the carboy drains you fill exclusively by vacuum which may involve some foaming of the wine in the bottle. Yesterday, 30 bottles filled, about 1T of overrun in the tubing. Filled and double levered hand corked in 30 minutes.

 

[robie]

Before I started vacuum bottling I would regularly waste a half bottle of wine and make a total mess. I seldom get any wine in the overflow, each bottle is filled to the exact same level, and the only wine I waste is if when moving from one bottle to the next, I get a single drop off the tip of the spigot. In the end, when filling thirty bottles, I doubt I waste a tablespoon of wine.

I still don't like to bottle; I just don't like scraping labels and washing all those bottles. My wine room is too small for doing the bottling, so I have to carry everything upstairs to the kitchen, than take it all back down again when finished. But the vacuum bottling system sure helps.