Well...that made a mess!

[Ivywoods]

I haven't been on this site much for a while. My wine has just been aging in the carboys. I decided to bottle some today to get ready to start some new batches.

Why on earth would this happen? It wasn't the neck that broke and it wasn't a screw top. The middle of the bottle broke as I was putting the cork in. When the glass hit the floor it shattered even more. I'm oa little bummed about it. I just finished mopping the floor.

 

[ratflinger]

There's probably not a real answer as to why - it's glass, it will break, sometimes it just does. Glad you didn't get cut on any of those shards.

I'd get a piece of cheap indoor/outdoor carpet and put down there. 2 reasons - next time maybe the bottle won't grenade so much and the carpet could help control the spill. Just roll it up, take it outside, hose it off, and let it dry.

 

[Scooter68]

Invest in some of those interlocking foam tiles/pads. I've seen them at Harbor Freight for about $10.00 for 4 of them. Easier to clean than carpet and broken glass won't get caught like it would in carpet fibers.

 

[CDrew]

You didn't leave enough ullage. That's air space between the cork and the wine. When the cork went down, Bernoulli's principle ruptured your bottle. No big deal. Leave 1/2 inch of airspace between the cork and the wine, and this will not happen.

 

[Arne]

-I have had i happen once with all the wines I have bottled. My thought was somewhere along the line the bottle was bumped and a weak spot/crack occured. With the pressure of putting a cork in out the sidewall came. Had glasses on because I always wore them. Now safety glasses come out while bottling. Arne.

 

[boppy1]

I've had this happen to me. The air space is probably the most cause for this to happen. I have been using this for years. It is a simple storage container (No wheels) for storing things under a bed. Just remove a portion of front if needed to accommodate the front leg. Sometimes gets a small crack on bottom but a piece of duct tape takes care of that. Using bottling canes gets proper air space for cork. Just fill to top of neck, lift to stop. When cane is removed, cork space is present. Occasionally there is a bad bottle. Makes cleanup easy with no runny mess.

 

[Ivywoods]

You didn't leave enough ullage. That's air space between the cork and the wine. When the cork went down, Bernoulli's principle ruptured your bottle. No big deal. Leave 1/2 inch of airspace between the cork and the wine, and this will not happen.

I use the "All in One" to bottle it leaves all the headspace about the same.

Invest in some of those interlocking foam tiles/pads. I've seen them at Harbor Freight for about $10.00 for 4 of them. Easier to clean than carpet and broken glass won't get caught like it would in carpet fibers.
View attachment 81746

That looks like a good idea. Actually there are several good ideas here. I think I will get some of those and then use the plastic tote under my corker. Is there any problem cleaning the joints on that when there is a spill? It seems like I'm always dripping some wine when I bottle or rack.

 

[Scooter68]

Well you could just take the interlocking pads apart and wash them or perhaps glue them together with a silicone adhesive. Personally I would just take them apart to clean. There are also some cut to length padding for work areas. I got some at Lowe's (On a rack of cut-to-length carpet runners and padding) That stuff has a slicker surface for spills. I'm probably going to get more of that for an area where I work and seem to keep dropping very tiny screws which bounce around or fall in the joint of the interlocking tile pads. Either way you are going to save your feet and possible stop a dropped bottle from breaking. This is the "By-the-Foot" vinyl runner pad at Lowe's. They may also have pre-cut and sealed ends version of this. It's very dense but soft.

 

[mainshipfred]

I had a bottle break like that once but I swear it was because I didn't have the neck positioned properly in the corker.

 

[Ivywoods]

That runner at Lowes might work for me. I will probably be making a run to Lowes in the next month or so. We don't have one here so I have to run to Bartlesville. I have a few other home improvement projects on the burner so I might just take care of several at one time.