Everytime I bottle my wine, LOL

[Teamsterjohn]

Today I bottled my wine, and the Ferrari bottle filler started leaking, so I went to my bottle filler tube that worked until I started to fill some bottles with the big bump at the bottom of the bottle. So I removed that and was left to just use the tubing with the clamp at the end of it. And that worked out fine for me. So for the next time, im going to order the Buon Vino auto filler.

 

[robie]

I still use the little bottling wand, with the stick valve on the end. I have pretty good luck with it, but bottling, in and of itself, it always a hassle.

For bottling I put the wine in a fermentor bucket that has a spicket on the bottom. I have found that as the bottle starts getting full, I can use the valve on the spicket to slow the flow way down. That gives me more control.

I know I should spring for a nice auto filler, but from what I have always heard, they are sort of a pain and hard to regulate. I guess if all your bottles, for a given batch at least, are exactly the same, it wouldn't be so hard to regulate. Some of my bottles have the dimpled bottoms, some don't.

Maybe the real problem is that I am just too cheap!

 

[JohnT]

I would offer that it all depends on how many bottles you expect to fill. For a limited amount (say a carboy's worth), I would agree with Robie.

If you plan to fill much more, then I would recomend the ENOLMATIC bottle filler. I have had mine for about 10 years and is a nifty machine!

The bad news is that it is very expensive ($350).

 

[robie]

I would offer that it all depends on how many bottles you expect to fill. For a limited amount (say a carboy's worth), I would agree with Robie.

If you plan to fill much more, then I would recomend the ENOLMATIC bottle filler. I have had mine for about 10 years and is a nifty machine!

The bad news is that it is very expensive ($350).

For me, over the long haul that filler would be worth that price. I'm sure it would last me for the rest of my wine-making life. My wife and I share about 1 bottle of wine per day. I make only enough wine for us, and don't bottle very often, so I doubt I will ever get a nice filler. It's just hard to shell out that much at one time.

For mist-styled wines, I typically don't bottle them. I put them in the wine-on-tap bags and serve it in the little stand. It is very convenient because the mist wines don't tend to last very long.

 

[Runningwolf]

Robie I have the Buon Vino auto filler as many folks on here do and I love it. I use it if I am only doing one batch and not filtering. Other wise I use the enolmatic but like said earlier its an investment. If you know you're going to stick with the hobby and make lots of wine its worth the investment now so you can enjoy it.

 

[robie]

Robie I have the Buon Vino auto filler as many folks on here do and I love it. I use it if I am only doing one batch and not filtering. Other wise I use the enolmatic but like said earlier its an investment. If you know you're going to stick with the hobby and make lots of wine its worth the investment now so you can enjoy it.

I know I will continue making wine... for sure.
I previously have read where the Ferrari didn't seem to perform as well as the Buon Vino filler. The Ferrari seemed to drip and leak a lot.

What about the situation where some bottles have the deep dimple in the bottom and some have flat bottoms; will the Buon Vino care or does it shutoff strictly by height of wine in the bottle? I guess the real question is would it have to be readjusted to go from a dimpled bottomed bottle to a flat bottomed bottle?

 

[xoltri]

Bottling wine for me is not so bad...it's only 28-30 bottles. But a 6 gal batch of beer is about 68 bottles so that's a lot of work. I use the bottling wand and it works great.

One person said they cut of one side of the little guard on the bottle wand and that helped with the punted wine bottles. I just position it so it hits the center of the punt. Or actually my wife does...we usually bottle together. It goes a lot faster with 2 people.

 

[JohnT]

One other advantage to the enolmatic is that there are kits available that allow you to make use of the vacume pump in racking. In other words, if you are storring in demijohns, and want to rack, you can use the enolmatic to vacume pump wine from one jug to the next while both sit on the floor!

 

[Runningwolf]

One other advantage to the enolmatic is that there are kits available that allow you to make use of the vacume pump in racking. In other words, if you are storring in demijohns, and want to rack, you can use the enolmatic to vacume pump wine from one jug to the next while both sit on the floor!

Yes but they are a piece of crap for carboys. I bought one. If you just use the same technique and a two hole bung it will work.

 

[BIGJEFF]

Yes but they are a piece of crap for carboys. I bought one. If you just use the same technique and a two hole bung it will work.

Yep, I get the same results with a 2 hole bung & a 20$ aquarium pump!!