Getting Ready to Bottle

[ScottyB]

I am going to bottle 6 Gallons of Finished Cabernet. When I sanitize my bottles do I rinse them after or just let them dry as is with the sulfite solution?

 

[DoctorCAD]

Rinsing all that sanitizer you just put on there off!

Naa...just let them sit, I bottle while they are still wet, as the sanitizing power is only available when wet. The small amount of solution left over won't even be detectable.

 

[ScottyB]

Cool thanks for the reply - that was my thought too.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Yes I agree - do not rinse

I have well water so I really should never considering rinsing, because of natural bacteria in the water

 

[RCGoodin]

I am going to bottle 6 Gallons of Finished Cabernet. When I sanitize my bottles do I rinse them after or just let them dry as is with the sulfite solution?

I've always wondered about this and never asked the question. I suppose you could rinse with bottled water and not worry about invasive bacteria.

My wife says that she will get an after taste from my wine when it's young that she does not like. I thought it may be from the sanitizer. It seems to mellow with age. I also thought it may be the first thirty day bottle shock I hear about.

Thanks for asking the question and thanks to those that responded.

 

[ScottyB]

Thanks for all the info - and Steve my all in one worked great. This was my first wine and it is now bottled. It was a Wine Eclipse Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon. Here's some pics of the Botteling Operations

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Thanks for all the info - and Steve my all in one worked great. This was my first wine and it is now bottled. It was a Wine Eclipse Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon. Here's some pics of the Botteling Operations

Sounds like you got bit by the wine bug -LOL

What's next ??

 

[ScottyB]

I have 6 buckets of Sangiovese and 3 lugs of Sangiovese grapes from California on order. I have 6 gallons of Chilean Malbec and Pinot Noir Juice aging right now! So yes I have the bug. I found a great deal on a crusher, wine press and some other equipment on Craigs list so I want to put them to good use.

 

[JohnT]

I have 6 buckets of Sangiovese and 3 lugs of Sangiovese grapes from California on order. I have 6 gallons of Chilean Malbec and Pinot Noir Juice aging right now! So yes I have the bug. I found a great deal on a crusher, wine press and some other equipment on Craigs list so I want to put them to good use.

Welcome to the cult...

You know when it is real bad when you consider taking a chain-saw to your cieling so that the new stainless steel tank can fit!

 

[tonyt]

Somebody is living right . . . Scotty fills the bottles exerting little effort except for holding a finger over the filler valve while his wife man-handles the floor corker.

 

[Thig]

I thought the bucket you were pulling from was supposed to be lower than your bottles?

 

[derunner]

Your Bottles look great! Couple points.

As someone mentioned with the allinone if you put your carboy lower, and you slightly overfill a bottle, it will siphon right back into the carboy and get each bottle to the same level.

2nd, someone pointed out to me after rinsing bottles with the sulfite solution, to let them set upright for 6 mins to allow the vapors to sanitize the bottles. SO2 vapors are heavier than air so if you put them on they bottle tree immediately some will leak out. I would not worry if did not do this as I've not had problems in the past, but it does make since. And of course be sure to sanitize your bottle tree or rack that your drain them in.

Good luck on your next bottling.

 

[LoneStarLori]

Somebody is living right . . . Scotty fills the bottles exerting little effort except for holding a finger over the filler valve while his wife man-handles the floor corker.

That is exactly what caught my eye too.
Put Momma on the phone, I wanna tell her she's got it backwards.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Thanks Derunner
I have been very busy lately - especially since I am helping my son on his enormous eagle Scout project - hopefully I will be able to post it later this week as This saturday should finish it all up.

 

[ScottyB]

Your Bottles look great! Couple points.

As someone mentioned with the allinone if you put your carboy lower, and you slightly overfill a bottle, it will siphon right back into the carboy and get each bottle to the same level.

2nd, someone pointed out to me after rinsing bottles with the sulfite solution, to let them set upright for 6 mins to allow the vapors to sanitize the bottles. SO2 vapors are heavier than air so if you put them on they bottle tree immediately some will leak out. I would not worry if did not do this as I've not had problems in the past, but it does make since. And of course be sure to sanitize your bottle tree or rack that your drain them in.

Good luck on your next bottling.

Yeah I moved the carboy to the floor after the first bottle! Learned the hard way. The rest went great.

 

[chrisjw]

I am going to bottle 6 Gallons of Finished Cabernet. When I sanitize my bottles do I rinse them after or just let them dry as is with the sulfite solution?

I suppose this is person preference. Before I bottle, my wine is already at a good free SO2 level. If I use a sulfite solution to sanitize bottles then I would let the bottles sit for 5+ minutes with the sanitizer and then I would rinse it. A sulfite sanitizer solution is very strong and stinks even after emptying a bottle. I don't want that extra sulfite and stink in my wine. If using something like Starsan no-rinse sanitizer, then I would probably not rinse (but I have never used it). After rinsing the bottle, I fill it and cork it ASAP.

If your worried about your rinsing water containing bacteria then either boil it first or use a distilled or RO water.