Bottled the Australian Shiraz today

Maybe next time I'll get the calculator out before I start getting things ready. I can NOT understand why I couldn't remember that one gallon of wine will fill five 750 ml bottles. Well, I planned for only four per gallon -- with one extra bottle and cork -- for a five gallon batch. So I have 21 bottles corked and about a half-gallon in a jug. The young wine is very drinkable, so it is not going to waste. The final SG of the wine came out at .992. The color is a very nice red, as clear as the glass I poured it into. The bouquet is mild, but I expect it to grow with aging. I probably should mention that this is a Selection International kit. I did not do a good job of estimating head space to I've got four corks creeping out of the bottles. I've got some fresh corks soaking now, so that won't be a problem. I might even clean up a couple of bottles for the left over in the jug. That is, unless my sweetie-pie vetos it. She likes the flavor. I use spring loaded tube/valve thingy on the end of my siphon tube for filling the bottles. I usually add a little to the bottles because when I remove the filler, the displacement brings the wine down to the shoulder of the bottle, maybe a 1 to 1-1/4 inches below the cork.

All-in-all, the Selection International kit worked very well for me. The only deviation I made from the instructions was stretching the bottling out for five weeks after the final racking instead of the recommended two because of conflicts with other things. All conventional wisdom says that is no problem.

Reply to
Casey Wilson
Loading thread data ...

Casey:

A Selection kit usually yields about 30 bottles. There may have been other messages that I have forgotten explaining why you are getting

  1. Not sure which type of corks you are using, but soaking corks is not recommended these days.

Steve

Reply to
Steve

It goes back to when I didn't have a 6-gallon carboy to do the first racking. I have one now. As for soaking the corks, the last thing I read said soak 'em. Point me to a different reference, please.

Reply to
Casey Wilson

Also, the op talks about 75cl bottles. Standard size is 70cl.

Reply to
JR

No, it's 75cl, check you botttles.

Pp

Reply to
pp

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.