I wanted to relate today's bottling experience with the All-in-one pump set up. I bought the unit last year but had not used it until this week and that was only to rack from one carboy to another. My experience with the pump was limited, then, when I decided to try bottling.
I had three carboys of Cabernet Sauvignon to bottle and got everything set; bottles cleaned and sanitized, wine racked to a clean carboy, corks spritzed with k-meta, even mounted my corker on a table and screwed it down so I could work standing up. I began with the first carboy and, not unexpectantly, I had trouble with my first bottle getting the flow to stop. Little puddle of wine but let's move one. Second bottle, same thing. By this time, I was uttering what I explain to my bride are "technical terms" associated with wine making but which she mistakes for profanity. I was also wondering why people were unanimously pro AIO! I got so frustrated, I stopped using the AIO and moved the wine to a carboy with a spigot and filled the bottles from there. Tedious, but I got the first carboy done.
Being an old manufacturing engineer, I recalled that problems such as these are usually caused by one of two things, equipment malfunction or operator error. The unit seemed to be functioning as expected, so that was not it. That is when I had an epiphany! Somewhere in the cobwebs of my mind, I recalled sage advice from one of my many mentors: When all else fails, read the directions. Gee, it says here, "When bottling, always have the carboy lower than the bottle!" Duh!
Needless to say, after moving carboys 2 and 3 to a dolly on the floor, the bottling went (to use an Ohio phrase) slicker than snot! I think with some more experience and a fixture or two, I will be able to cork a bottle while filling another. I blew through the carboys in no time at all. Love this pump and highly recommend it (and also recommend reading the directions).
I had three carboys of Cabernet Sauvignon to bottle and got everything set; bottles cleaned and sanitized, wine racked to a clean carboy, corks spritzed with k-meta, even mounted my corker on a table and screwed it down so I could work standing up. I began with the first carboy and, not unexpectantly, I had trouble with my first bottle getting the flow to stop. Little puddle of wine but let's move one. Second bottle, same thing. By this time, I was uttering what I explain to my bride are "technical terms" associated with wine making but which she mistakes for profanity. I was also wondering why people were unanimously pro AIO! I got so frustrated, I stopped using the AIO and moved the wine to a carboy with a spigot and filled the bottles from there. Tedious, but I got the first carboy done.
Being an old manufacturing engineer, I recalled that problems such as these are usually caused by one of two things, equipment malfunction or operator error. The unit seemed to be functioning as expected, so that was not it. That is when I had an epiphany! Somewhere in the cobwebs of my mind, I recalled sage advice from one of my many mentors: When all else fails, read the directions. Gee, it says here, "When bottling, always have the carboy lower than the bottle!" Duh!
Needless to say, after moving carboys 2 and 3 to a dolly on the floor, the bottling went (to use an Ohio phrase) slicker than snot! I think with some more experience and a fixture or two, I will be able to cork a bottle while filling another. I blew through the carboys in no time at all. Love this pump and highly recommend it (and also recommend reading the directions).
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