sanitizing bottles and corks

[jimdolan]

I'm bottling for the first time, ( a mead). I'm using star-san to disinfect. The bottles are sparkling clean. I'm rinsing the bottles in the star-san. The directions say not to rinse however they will take a long time to dry and by then are probably no longer sterile. Will the residual sanitizer affect the wine, taste or aging? or should I rinse. Rinse water is non-chlorinated well water. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The mead turned out to be quite good and I would hate to screw it up.
Thanks, Jim

 

[roger80465]

The manufacturer of Star San and the users always say 'don't fear the foam'. I have never found it to cause an off taste. The bigger problem, in my opinion is that a significant amount of foam can make filling bottles a hassle. If you let them drain for 10 minutes or so, most of the foam should disappear and you should be fine.

 

[sour_grapes]

To allay my fears, I have tasted StarSan solution. It barely registers. Don't worry about it!

 

[dcbrown73]

What is the correct way to handle corks? At first I heard soak them in k-meta or whatever, others say don't soak them because it causes the cork not to seal properly. I suppose that due to them being wet when you insert the cork.

So what if I soak them first and let them air dry? Or place them inside a closed bottle with k-meta solution, but keep them raised above the solution like say on a vegetable seaming rack? (so the fumes take care of it)

 

[Johnd]

What is the correct way to handle corks? At first I heard soak them in k-meta or whatever, others say don't soak them because it causes the cork not to seal properly. I suppose that due to them being wet when you insert the cork.

So what if I soak them first and let them air dry? Or place them inside a closed bottle with k-meta solution, but keep them raised above the solution like say on a vegetable seaming rack? (so the fumes take care of it)

The second of your suggestions is the method I use. I keep KMS in a 5 gal bucket, set a cup inside of it and put a plastic steaming basket on top of the cup with the corks in it. I sits in there while the bottles are being filled.

If you soak your corks, they insert easier while wet due to friction reduction, but this can also cause them to back out after insertion if there's any pressure in your bottles. Additionally, when the solution dries, it can make your corks stick in the bottle and break apart when you uncork your bottles in the future.

 

[sour_grapes]

Many here use the "fumes of k-meta" approach (the second of your suggestions), as described by Johnd. It is known on this forum as "a corkidor."

 

[Floandgary]

I'm bottling for the first time, ( a mead). I'm using star-san to disinfect. The bottles are sparkling clean. I'm rinsing the bottles in the star-san. The directions say not to rinse however they will take a long time to dry and by then are probably no longer sterile. Will the residual sanitizer affect the wine, taste or aging? or should I rinse. Rinse water is non-chlorinated well water. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The mead turned out to be quite good and I would hate to screw it up.
Thanks, Jim

To clarify ,,, K-Meta/Star-san/et-al serve to SANITIZE. Far different from, and not to be confused with STERILIZE. The millions of containers on product filling lines around the world are sanitized, not sterilized. Many here simply dose their bottles with sanitizer after cleaning, then box 'em till ready for filling. Nothing wrong with re-sanitizing just before filling especially if bottles have been in storage for an extended time

 

[Floandgary]

What is the correct way to handle corks? At first I heard soak them in k-meta or whatever, others say don't soak them because it causes the cork not to seal properly. I suppose that due to them being wet when you insert the cork.

So what if I soak them first and let them air dry? Or place them inside a closed bottle with k-meta solution, but keep them raised above the solution like say on a vegetable seaming rack? (so the fumes take care of it)

Depending on which style of "cork" you are using; you would have to immerse them for a very long time before they could be considered "soaked". The correct size of cork will insure proper sealing regardless.. I've hand corked hundreds of bottles using natural corks (floating in K-meta sanitizer, 30 at a time at bottling) and have NEVER had a cork escape without the help of a corkscrew!!! Of course the not so big secret is to avoid bottling wine that is not stabilized or has a high level of CO2... EXPERIMENT ,,, cork a bottle with a totally dry cork, then one with a cork that has a little moisture. Feel the difference. Keeping it simple :>