I am considering getting into making wine within a year or two. I have no experience with wine making at all. I have four grape vines in my back yard that I am considering making the wine from. I am sure that with only four vines I will only realize a small amount of wine at the end of the process. My questions concern bottle size when I get to that stage.
Question one: Does the size of the bottle matter? I am considering using beer bottles. The reason I ask is with such a small amount of wine that can be made from four vines, a 750 ml bottle would represent a large portion of the total I would make. I would prefer to open a small amount when it comes time to drink it.
Question two: Is the opening of a beer bottle the same diameter as a wine bottle? In other words, can I use the same type cork ss for a wine bottle?
Question three: Will other types of caps work or cause problems on a beer bottle besides a cork? I ask since I know someone who home brews and can borrow beer bottling equipment from him.
I would also appreciate any suggestions about making small quantities of wine such as I would be doing.
No, as long as you are using beer bottles capped with crown caps. These come in many sizes, but all take the same size cap. Hmmm, I'll correct myself. There are two crown cap sizes that I am aware of. One is 'American', the other 'European'. Most or all beer bottles you'll find in the USA will have 'American' caps and will be able to be re-capped using a 'standard' bottle capper. Bottles such as those holding lambic or gueze are capped using 'european' crown caps, and you'll need a 'european' capping attachment to re-cap these bottles. Depending on where you life, these 'standards' may differ. I'm in the US, and a capper caps 'American' capped bottles by default, and youmay need to ask for the 'European' capping attachemtn if you need it.
Fine and good.
You should not cork standard beer bottles. The bottles used for lambic or gueuze can be corked and also take a crown cap, but those bottles are not typical of beer bottles. For typical beer bottles, use crown caps only.
Yes, see above.
Great! You'll need to buy new crown caps, but being able to borrow a bench or floor capper will let you use the gear that you may be buying in the future, which will help you to choose the best gear for your situation.
Well, you didn't mention what volume you'd be working with. There are some historical threads on vine to wine volume estimations, a google groups search will serve you well there. I'd guess that you'll need a couple of carboys, some means to crush, and a press, as well as the usual odds and sods such as tubing, sanitizing agents, funnels, scales, and possibly some oak beans.
You might be very well served to consider making a kit wine before stepping up to making wine from your vines. Depending on where you live and the season there, you can do this before your vines ripen and you need to jump into the full scale harvesting, crushing, fermenting, pressing, racking mode needed for vine grapes. If you make a kit wine of a type similar to what your vines will yield, you'll be able to practice your skills prior to risking your grapes on your fledgling winemaking knowledge. You'll build needed skills, will be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor, and will be better prepared to face your first harvest and the winemaking process.
Thanks for the response. I am in the USA, Las Vegas to be exact. So I will be using American caps and will rely on my beer brewing friend for bottling advice.
Yes, I'll be doing a kit wine soon. Have a local brew shop that has given me some advice and will return there to buy the kit a juice from them.
You're city is going to be flooded with knowledgeable people this month. The Riviera Casino is where they are holding the National Homebrew Conference.
If you are a year or two away from making wine with your own fruit, I would suggest you get your feet wet by making a kit wine or two. They are easy, good ones make decent to very good wine, and you will learn a lot that will help you when you start using fruit. Fruit can be tricky the first few times but the kits are virtually fool proof.
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