Reusable Wine Bottles

[JustinTG]

It is in another town where we make the wine. I *think* it's the portuguese, but I don't recall.

 

[sour_grapes]

Are you leaving enough ullage?

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

I’ve almost lost a nipple, but haven’t lost a bottle yet.

 

[JustinTG]

Are you leaving enough ullage?

I think so because when we switched to store bought bottles, we kept the fill the same.

I'm trying to remember if we soaked them in (possibly too hot) water to remove labels. I think we did some, but even toward the end I know we didn't and still broke maybe 1 in 12.

I also used a Soda ash mixture to clean the inside before sanitizing. Maybe that could have weakened the bottles?

We do have some left over commercial bottles so as an experiment, I'll fill a couple dozen with water and do half with size 8 corks and half with 9. Sample size is too small but might give some intuition.

 

[ratflinger]

There is not much that will degrade glass. Are you overfilling the bottles? You have to have a small air gap. I have used virgin bottles and commercial bottles - I have found no difference. #8 corks are for less than 2 years, #9 are for longer. I use strictly #9 and then I don't have to remember if I used the right cork or not. Synthetic (Nomacorc) works best as they are not hard to remove as sometimes a #9 cork is.

 

[wineview]

My experience matches @wineview. My corker can put any cork into any bottle. I use #9 x 1.5" and have no problems. Some double-lever and hand corkers have problems with #9 corks, but IME not floor corkers.

Please post a picture of your corker. The following is mine:

View attachment 105233

Have you ever taken the jaws out and lubricated / cleaned them? I watched a couple of videos on the subject and not sure I want to get deep into the weeds. Assembling looks a bit tricky.

 

[winemaker81]

There is not much that will degrade glass. Are you overfilling the bottles? You have to have a small air gap. I have used virgin bottles and commercial bottles - I have found no difference. #8 corks are for less than 2 years, #9 are for longer. I use strictly #9 and then I don't have to remember if I used the right cork or not. Synthetic (Nomacorc) works best as they are not hard to remove as sometimes a #9 cork is.

Emphasis mine. This is also me -- I only buy Nomacorc Select 900, and never have to worry about which cork.

Have you ever taken the jaws out and lubricated / cleaned them? I watched a couple of videos on the subject and not sure I want to get deep into the weeds. Assembling looks a bit tricky.

I have not, although I'm considering it. If I do, as soon as the top is off, I'll take a picture of the jaws.

Most folks use cell phones for selfies. I use it for helping to remember how things looked before I took 'em apart!

 

[wineview]

Before taking pictures, number each piece to be exactly sure. There are four cubes under the cover. The tricky part is getting the spring and last jaw in place.

 

[joeswine]

I recently had a bottle with a chip on the top from a cork screw. I decided to use it. When I pushed the cork in with my Italian floor corker, the top of the bottle broke off and left wine on the floor and glass chards that could be used in Medieval warfare.

That’s a no , no

 

[wineview]

I purchased bottles my first year of wine making but the past few years its been pretty easy to obtain them from family / friends. For the first time ever, I have about 8-9 wines in carboys, and a need for 240 bottles but I realized not all the wines will be bottled at once. I like splitting a six gallon carboy giving me 15 bottles to drink while the rest bulk ages another 3-4 months. I've also noticed we are always recirculating bottles. Isn't this just a great hobby

!

I’m assuming you rack the remainder into a three gallon carboy.

 

[Rigney]

I think so because when we switched to store bought bottles, we kept the fill the same.

I'm trying to remember if we soaked them in (possibly too hot) water to remove labels. I think we did some, but even toward the end I know we didn't and still broke maybe 1 in 12.

I also used a Soda ash mixture to clean the inside before sanitizing. Maybe that could have weakened the bottles?

We do have some left over commercial bottles so as an experiment, I'll fill a couple dozen with water and do half with size 8 corks and half with 9. Sample size is too small but might give some intuition.

I regularly dry my bottles @ 120*F like I would labware, and sterilize my bottles in the oven at 340*F with a little foil cap for storage. Never had one crack from the repeated heating if I let them cool down slowly (just turning the oven off).

What a mystery. Not tried the soda ash.

 

[wineview]

I recently started going to a winery tasting room to obtain bottles. They are happy to have me haul them out. In the last month I probably removed labels from about 250 bottles. I soak in a PBW solution remove the label, rinse then soak in PBW again, rinse, and let air dry before storing. Since these bottles all came from the same winery, at this point I now know which labels come off easy and which ones are a b..ch. When it comes time for bottling, I soak in StarSan for a minute or so.

 

[wineview]

I regularly dry my bottles @ 120*F like I would labware, and sterilize my bottles in the oven at 340*F with a little foil cap for storage. Never had one crack from the repeated heating if I let them cool down slowly (just turning the oven off).

What a mystery. Not tried the soda ash.

How many bottles can you get into your oven?

 

[Rigney]

How many bottles can you get into your oven?

I can cram 24 bottles in there, just a standard oven... I think I put them in for an hour, let them cool, pull them out in the morning.

I have a tendency to do all my wine work randomly at 1am when I can't get to sleep. Makes less noise and easier cleanup, and more importantly a less angry wife in the morning

Drying at 120 varies on how wet the bottles are. I just don't like the condensation when I store them.

Easier ways to do it for sure, but it's so convenient to just bottle on a whim.