Bottling

[WTD]

Im wondering the bottling process. I have my wine in secondary demijohns and some is finished. when i want to bottle ill syphon into another 5l demijohn with some campden tablets. im wondering how long i can leave it before bottling without having to add more campden tablets.

can i syphon it onto crushed campden tablets and potasiam sorbate, then bottle 7 days later? or will it need more campden tablets after 7 days?

not aging these ones long as they are my first batches and i neeed to try them for learning purposes but i have 11.5l carboys now for secondary.

can i bottle a week later and should i soak the corks in a campden/water soution with a pedestal corker?

 

[bernardsmith]

To answer your last question first, soaking corks is not really a good idea. A dry cork makes a better seal. If you want to sanitize corks I would make a sanitizing solution using K-meta and pour the solution into a bowl. Above the bowl place a colander and into the colander place the corks. Cover the colander with a plate. You now have a sanitizing chamber where the SO2 gas sanitizes the corks.

You don't need to add more K-meta (Campden tabs) after a week. If the carboy is sealed from the air the free SO2 should inhibit oxidation and work with the K-sorbate for months. Indeed, once you bottle you are not going to be opening every bottle every few weeks to add more SO2. Treat your carboy like a very large bottle.

 

[jgmillr1]

If you want to sanitize corks I would make a sanitizing solution using K-meta and pour the solution into a bowl.

And dont forget to add an acid (eg citric) to make the solution more effective at evolving SO2.

 

[WTD]

can i add a tiny amount of campden tablet to one bottle and cork right away or will this create pressure and pop the cork or bottle?

im about to go to 3rd vessle and will have 1 bottle left over i will bottle right away and im wondering about pressure from a campden tablet

cheers

 

[WTD]

can i add a tiny amount of campden tablet to one bottle and cork right away or will this create pressure and pop the cork or bottle?

im about to go to 3rd vessle and will have 1 bottle left over i will bottle right away and im wondering about pressure from a campden tablet

cheers

im also wondering about when i put the cork in, do i stand it up for a day or so and then lay it down? if so why is this?

 

[jgmillr1]

The campden tablet won't create any pressure that will risk pushing the cork/cap off. Dose it as you need to.

The reason for keeping the bottles upright for a day is to allow excess pressure from the corking to be relieved. The cork will compress roughly its volume of air into the neck of the bottle, putting the bottle under some pressure. Keeping it upright can allow the air to squeeze by the cork and lower the pressure. If you turn it upright too soon the pressure can push some wine around the outside of the cork and pose a spoilage risk.

Frankly I find that the corker you use is a large factor in how much pressure is created. The hand wing type corkers seem to create a lot of pressure while the jaw type floor models (or commercial mechanized models) seem to not create as much pressure.

 

[WTD]

thanks, i have the red floor corker, looks like it squeezes it and it opens in the bottle? Easy to use. i set the corks to go in about 1mm below the top of the bottle. bottled 2 testers yesterday.

 

[WTD]

bottled a 3 bottles yesterday, well 2.8. one being a tad under full. still had campden tablet in it. left it for a day and a bit before just trying it.

tastes fine while drinking, but after i take a breath after drinking it it has an after taste soon after, not right away but it comes, one i assosiate with off stuff ive made before. colour is fine and initial taste is fine, just after a few seconds there is something im not sure i like.

could it be the open area above the wine after botting it can make it go off this fast even with campden tablets. campded was added at bottling, 1/2 a tablet to the bottle.

If i had to say a length it would be about filled to the bottom of the curve at the top of the bottle, not the top of the curve like it should have. maybe 2" below a long cork line however this one i didnt use a cork, can see the seal in pic
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hoping the 2 i filled up properly dont taste this way. is it safe to say the bottle being 3/4 filled even with campden tablet was what made it taste funny after?

EDIT: second glass in its tastin like crap.