Well my last post was about places to buy things for bottling, Joe said he used a spray bottle to sanitize the bottles so that set me to ponder the subject. How do you prepare, i.e.., sanitize bottles prior to filling them? Do I need a Vinator? Or are there easier, cheaper means to do it and is a bottle tree a good investment?
So many questions, so little time!
Dan
A bottle tree is indispensible to me - it's the best way to dry bottles once you've washed or rinsed them. The Vinator is also handy for spritzing the inside of bottles with a sulfite solution. I do that and then let them drip dry on the bottle tree.
Ed
New bottles do not need sanitizing. Wineries never sanitize their bottles. But they never use used bottles.
Used bottles should be washed with a cleaner that will not leave a film and then dried. Then store them properly, preferably neck down in wine bottle boxes and they can be used "as is" at bottling time.
Ray
Absolutely! I have 2 of them that hold 90 bottles apiece, but I never fill them all the way - maybe 2/3 of the way - because they get very heavy and hard to move.
Tom S
Earlier this year I did fill a 90 bottle tree to the top. I was apprehensive as it got fuller, but I have to say it seemed very stable - but I don't think I'd try to move it, I made sure it was exactly where I wanted it when I started!
Ed
Ray, Are you comfortable with this method when the bottles are stored up to two years and in an environment seeing outdoor influences, like a garage occasionally does?
I leave my bottles very clean and hopefully neck down, but I would never fill any of them stored in my garage for 2 years without a sanitizing rinse.
Ray, Are you comfortable with this method when the bottles are stored up to two years and in an environment seeing outdoor influences, like a garage occasionally does?
I leave my bottles very clean and hopefully neck down, but I would never fill any of them stored in my garage for 2 years without a sanitizing rinse.
Care to guess how wineries sanatize their bottles - They don't. They get them from the manufacturer who has them stored in who knows what environment and then fill them without even washing. At the commercial winery where I worked the bottles were made in Mexico and I doubt the Mexicans took pains to even clean the bottles.
Danny, Apologies, I have been traveling.
Here is what I do;
I have a bottle tree; it's as necessary as a corker as far as I am concerned. I also use a jet washer with hot water for rinsing.
New bottles: I rinse on the jet washer, hit it with a shot of detergent (I mix up a good glass cleaner, (Alconox) in a quart spray bottle and use it as needed to clean everything, any decent deteregent is fine.)
Rinse 3 times on the jet washer
Give the bottle a final shot of 1% sulfite/ citric acid
Hang it on the tree to drain.
Used bottles get the same treatment except I add a swabbing with a bottle brush once I hit the bottle with detergent.
If the bottle came from outside of my control I usually soak them for a bit and pretreat with a 10% bleach/tap water spritz. If I see visible mold, I soak the affected area with the bleach solution if I really want to keep that bottle. You would be suprised how often people return wine bottles unrinsed, it's just not something I would do.
I inspect used bottles once I have cleaned them by holding the base towards my eye and pointing it toward a light; that way if there is any mold in the punt I will see it; that's the area most likey to be infected.
If the bottles will be stored I store them upside down and just eliminate the sulfite spritz.
Once you do this a few times it becomes automatic and you just fly through the process. Some of what I do may be overkill but after getting a wine just right the last thing I want to do is screw it up by trying to save a little time in bottle preparation.
New bottles really don't need any attention if the box looks ok; As I uderstand it the most a winery will do when bottling is blow the bottle down to remove dust.
Hope that helps.
Joe
"patrick mcdonald" wrote in message news:nt7Ue.7556$ snipped-for-privacy@fe03.lga...
I have used bottles stored in the garage (stored neck down) without rinsing, but I usually put them on the bottle tree and blast the _outsides_ with a hose before filling.
Tom S
Depends on your environment. If you stored anything in boxes in the garage for 2 years down here in Houston, Texas, you would have roach eggs all over them. No I store them in boxes under my a bed. Amazing how many boxes you can store under a couple of king size beds and the space is wasted otherwise.
Ray
"patrick mcdonald" wrote in message news:nt7Ue.7556$ snipped-for-privacy@fe03.lga...
Reminds me of that old riddle - What is the difference between a rich man and a poor man?
Answer: The rich man has a canope OVER his bed.
In case you don't get it - the poor man has a CAN of PEE UNDER his bed.
The area I live in requires sanitation _and_ sterilization prior to bottling. Even with "cleaning" and storage upside down, critters such as ants, spiders, et/al get in and are sometimes trapped.
Oh, yes, I sanitize then sterilize before bottling!
Happy vinting, Jim L.
Jim, where do you live? I admit to having limited experience working for a commercial winery but my information both from personal experience and from others is that bottle sanitization is NOT done here in the Mid Atlantic area. As for me, I always throughly rinse my bottles after drinking the last drop and before bottling with new wine, run them through the dish washer (put in upside down) with the dishwasher on the Pots and Pans cycle with the hottest water setting and I do not use soap.
Southeast Georgia,
Jim L.
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