Im freaking out. What have I done wrong?

[Xerxwine]

1 you did not inoculate so you are probably safe, if you had inoculated the bacteria are inactive under 15C therefore when it warms up bottles could explode
2 meta and hot water is an either or choice. in a factory with new glass bottles we just use hot water, if reusing bottles I might put the chemical in

I've bought new bottles. They look kinda delicate so i'm kinda afraid they might explode during corking or boiling for sanitization. I'll keep you updated.

Also regarding cork sanitization with sodium metabisulfite, wouldn't the taste of sodium get into the wine if i keep the wine bottle horizontally? I would love to know your opinion regarding this


Edit: in case i want to use K-meta for bottles? do i need to fill them up with k-meta or just a little amount + shaking is enough?

 

[Rice_Guy]

how much? a cork floated in sanitizer might pick up 0.1ml/ gm of liquid which is 1.5% Na meta therefore the risk is .0015gm meta which is say 10% sodium therefore you think the taste of 0.00015 gm sodium diluted into 750 ml would change the taste.

Also regarding cork sanitization with sodium metabisulfite, wouldn't the taste of sodium get into the wine if i keep the wine bottle horizontally?

Splashing is typical for bottles as well as corks.
note a cork floated in sanitizer for a month will probably develop mold and need to be tossed
A treatment of wine might be 50 ppm K meta/ 0.2 gm per gallon. There are calculators that give a specific dosage vs pH on winemakermagazine.com

 

[winemaker81]

Since I have two containers (10 litre and 6 litre=4.5 gallons combined) would it be too much to add 1/4 tsp k-meta (potassium metabisulfite+acid citric)to each container?

Don't add citric acid to the wine; that's for making a sanitizing solution. We use the term "K-meta" interchangeably, so your confusion is not a surprise.

1/4 tsp K-meta powder in each container is too much. Put 5 Tbsp pure water in a glass, add a scant 1/4 tsp K-meta and stir well. Add 2 Tbsp of the water to the smaller container, and 3 to the larger. This will NOT produce a smell like the K-meta water, which is a MUCH higher concentration of K-meta.

The hand corker should work.

 

[Xerxwine]

note a cork floated in sanitizer for a month will probably develop mold and need to be tossed

You mean once i soak it and cork the bottle, there is still a chance for the cork to develop mold?

1/4 tsp K-meta powder in each container is too much. Put 5 Tbsp pure water in a glass, add a scant 1/4 tsp K-meta and stir well. Add 2 Tbsp of the water to the smaller container, and 3 to the larger. This will NOT produce a smell like the K-meta water, which is a MUCH higher concentration of K-meta.

Sorry for being a noob, but by pure water you mean boiled water, right?

Also should i sanitize the bottles with potassium metabisulfite as well? or should i use sodium? in case I clean the bottles with sodium, do I need to wait for it to get dried?

Sorry if I'm asking a lot of question. Today my corker has arrived and I will probably start bottling.

Also regarding my siphon hose which is like the picture below, should i put the head inside kmeta water and suck the other side? would that be ok? I was wondering if drinking kmeta (of course by accident) could be dangerous

 

[Rice_Guy]

mold will grow if there is oxygen and a food source. The inside of the bottle is not a good environment for mold with no air and alcohol. The exposed cork can have mold if some wine leaks (bad cork) but most corks are good enough to prevent this.

You mean once i soak it and cork the bottle, there is still a chance for the cork to develop mold?
should i put the head inside kmeta water and suck the other side? would that be ok?

well I have sucked meta sanitizer, ,, which has SO2 which is toxic, ,, and wound up coughing for half an hour. BUT a decade later I am alive. , ,, and have done the same with a gas tank and wound up coughing for half an hour, but am alive. . . . .at the ppm which is used meta is about as toxic as gasoline. A lot of us have done it but we quickly decide to do something else as fill the tube in a flat bowl.

 

[winemaker81]

You mean once i soak it and cork the bottle, there is still a chance for the cork to develop mold?

No, the cork in the bottle won't grow mold inside. It was an illustration -- put K-meta water in a pan, float a cork, and leave it there for a month. Even though it's a sanitizing solution, with time it will lose strength and the wet cork will grow mold.

There are 2 schools of thought regarding corks. One action is to treat corks briefly with a sanitizing solution right before bottling.

The other choice is to take the corks from the original packaging only as needed, no treatment, and seal the bag well in between uses. This is what typically happens in commercial wineries -- open a bag of corks and dump it into the hopper of the bottling machine.

Both methods are fine -- use whichever you feel most comfortable with.

Note on mold -- I used natural corks up until about 4-5 years ago. My cellar has a variable humidity -- in my area humidity varies from 30% to 30,000% (ok, maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit). A lot of my corks grew mold on the outside of the cork. I washed the top of the bottle to remove the mold before opening, and immediately tossed the cork. I switched to a synthetic cork (Nomacorc) and that solved my problem.

Sorry for being a noob, but by pure water you mean boiled water, right?

EVERYONE is a noob at first -- no need to apologize!

You can use any potable water -- some folks use distilled water, but boiling your water and letting it cool is fine.

Also should i sanitize the bottles with potassium metabisulfite as well?

It's a good idea to rinse the bottles with K-meta water -- do not rinse, just shake off the excess. While K-meta is recommended, NA-meta works just as well. If you have NA-meta, use it.

You put K-meta powder in the wine as a preservative and antioxidant, the little bit in the drops in the bottle just add a bit more. While wet SO2 gas is evaporating and protecting from contamination from the air.

Sorry if I'm asking a lot of question. Today my corker has arrived and I will probably start bottling.

Congrats!!!

Also regarding my siphon hose which is like the picture below, should i put the head inside kmeta water and suck the other side? would that be ok? I was wondering if drinking kmeta (of course by accident) could be dangerous

No picture was attached.

If you have a plain siphon hose, then yeah, you have to suck on it to get the siphon flowing. I have several auto-siphon units, which start the siphon with a pumping action. If you can get one, it's worth it!

I don't believe consuming a tiny amount of K-meta is dangerous, but it's nothing you want to do on purpose!!!

I have gotten some in my mouth before -- between the fumes and the taste, it will make you cough. I immediately rinsed my mouth out with water, and spit it out.

 

[Xerxwine]

I bottled my wine that night. It wasn't perfect. I mean i was flustered and confused and scared at the same time. I was stressed. I tried to do everything you fine people told me. I guess i could do 90% of the work correctly. I don't say 100% because sanitization is not easy. Once you need to take the siphon hose out, put it on the counter and then reuse it or your hand touches somewhere and you have to touch the equipment that are going to contact the wine.
Also the corks were super hard to push in. I had to boil them and pick them up from boiling water and instantly push them inside with my hand corker. But then again beside all of these, I guess everything went as planned.

Many thanks to @winemaker81 @Rice_Guy You guys rock. I highly appreciate your help during the process of my wine making.

I tasted the wine and it tastes good. But again I don't have experienced people like you her to taste the wine and tell me if it's good or not.

for my last question, I think I'm gonna make a white wine now. My question is can I try the same strategy that I applied in red wine making (adding 500 gram of sugar(for 25 kg of grape) and no yeast (go natural)) or is white wine different since there are no seeds or skin and just juice?

All the best

 

[winemaker81]

I bottled my wine that night. It wasn't perfect. I mean i was flustered and confused and scared at the same time. I was stressed. I tried to do everything you fine people told me.

Congratulations!

Now relax!

Wine is tolerant of things -- we go to great lengths to ensure sanitation as a protective measure, but wine can typically handle more "stuff" than we allow to touch it. We are being cautious to help ensure a good result -- but no winemaking process is perfectly safe. We simply do our best.

Also the corks were super hard to push in. I had to boil them and pick them up from boiling water and instantly push them inside with my hand corker.

Low end corkers can be difficult to use, but you go the job done!

Many thanks to @winemaker81 @Rice_Guy You guys rock. I highly appreciate your help during the process of my wine making.

I feel comfortable speaking for others, in saying that we help folks because we choose to. It's gratifying to pass the knowledge along -- folks I was mentoring a few years ago are now mentoring others. In a year or two, YOU may be mentoring others. You probably don't believe that now, but success breeds success, so you produce future wines, your confidence will increase.

I tasted the wine and it tastes good. But again I don't have experienced people like you her to taste the wine and tell me if it's good or not.

There is a simple test to determine if your wine is good -- do YOU like it? If so, it's good.

Will you make better wine in the future? Yes, if you keep making wine, yours will improve. There is always room for improvement. Put a bottle away and don't touch it for a year, then compare it to newer wines.

I think I'm gonna make a white wine now. My question is can I try the same strategy that I applied in red wine making (adding 500 gram of sugar(for 25 kg of grape) and no yeast (go natural)) or is white wine different since there are no seeds or skin and just juice?

It depends on the juice. If it's freshly pressed juice with nothing added, it's got yeast in it from the crushing process. If the juice has been processed at all (other than crush/press), then it may not so you'd be better off adding commercial yeast.

 

[ratflinger]

Xerxwine - you really need to invest in a floor corker. The cheaper Portuguese unit is just fine, I've had mine for years with no issues. Cleanliness is more of a thought process, you make your plans and optimise your procedures to minimize contamination. It is practically impossible to sterilize, but you can sanitize. I am nowhere as clean as Winemaker81 is, but I have yet to spoil a bottle of wine, and I've had some on the shelf for 3 years. As for cleaning bottles I use a 2-step process where I soak in Easy Clean (peroxide based), which eats organics. I then rise that with Beer Clean (a no rinse chlorine sanitizer). When I started I only used Easy Clean, with no issues, but then decided I wanted to be 'sure'. I don't clean my corks, I take them out of the bag and use them, but I also never reuse corks either. You spoke of your bottles being thin, where did you get them? (sorry, didn't read the whole thread). From a supply store - you should be fine. From donations, etc - there you need to be diligent, some commercial bottlers are going with thinner, thus cheaper, bottles. Price on the original wine means nothing when looking at the bottle. I toss a lot of commercial bottles for their thinness.

Sounds like you are on the right path, just remember this is supposed to be 'fun', so don't worry too much.

 

[winemaker81]

While I agree that a floor corker is much better, @Xerxwine's situation may make that solution not feasible. A double-lever corker is still an improvement.

Cleanliness is more of a thought process, you make your plans and optimise your procedures to minimize contamination.

This may be the best description I've read. Form a plan and implement it as much as possible.

 

[Xerxwine]

I feel comfortable speaking for others, in saying that we help folks because we choose to. It's gratifying to pass the knowledge along -- folks I was mentoring a few years ago are now mentoring others. In a year or two, YOU may be mentoring others. You probably don't believe that now, but success breeds success, so you produce future wines, your confidence will increase.

I highly doubt I becoem that good to mentor others. But we'll see

There is always room for improvement. Put a bottle away and don't touch it for a year, then compare it to newer wines.

That's perfect advice.I'm gonna do that.

Today I checked the bottles. It's very hard to see the inside since the color of he glass is green. But I think there are some lees at the bottom. I think i bottled too soon. I read somewhere that you should lay bottles on its side. The bottles have been upright for the past few days. Should I go ahead and put them on their sides? Will lees get mixed with the wine?

you really need to invest in a floor corker.

I highly doubt I make wine more than twice a year at most. So I don't really need a pro corker. Also as I already mentioned I live in an Islamic country and it would be too much f a trouble to sell them.

Easy Clean

We don't have teh ready product here. I bought sodium metabisulfite and Potassium metabisulfite. Haven't used the sodium one yet btw

You spoke of your bottles being thin, where did you get them?

I bought it from a guy who made them. I saw an add on a website similar to craigslist.

Here are my bottles. There's one plastic bottle because I didn't have any bottle available since 2 of the bottles I bought had broken.

Sounds like you are on the right path, just remember this is supposed to be 'fun', so don't worry too much.

Thanks a lot man. I will be more relaxed next time

 

[Rice_Guy]

It is not too unusual to have sediment in a wine. The normal answer is to be careful pouring and let the solids in the bottle. ,,, I have had this too and for the one bottle that went into a contest I carefully siphoned the top of two bottles and corked the new clean one, ,,, and then drank the residuals at home.
Upright storage is not recommended with natural corks. Cork can dry out and extra oxygen enters the wine. This gets serious if you keep wine for ten years but for under a year you should be OK.

 

[winemaker81]

Today I checked the bottles. It's very hard to see the inside since the color of he glass is green. But I think there are some lees at the bottom. I think i bottled too soon. I read somewhere that you should lay bottles on its side. The bottles have been upright for the past few days. Should I go ahead and put them on their sides? Will lees get mixed with the wine?

Bulk aging at least 3 months is recommended. Next wine, wait longer to bottle. The lees is more unsightly than anything, it won't hurt you to drink it. One solution is to stand a bottle up a week before you use it, then carefully decant it.

After bottling, leave the bottles standing up for a few days. Pushing the cork into the bottle compresses the little air in the bottle, and it will equalize fairly quickly. If the bottle is on its side during this time, it may push wine out past the cork. After that, as @Rice_Guy said, it's better to lay the bottles on their side if using natural corks.

I use Nomacorcs, a synthetic cork, and can stand the bottles up. However, a lifetime of habit makes me lay the bottles on their sides.

 

[ratflinger]

Xerxwine - that's right, I forgot you are in a difficult situation for wine making. All-in-all I'd say you are doing quite well, you have little choice but to work with what you have.

Also, EasyClean is sodium percarbonate. Perhaps you have OxyClean there (it is a laundry stain remover). You just want one that has no perfumes or dyes added to it.