Newest Threads

Psylon · 11-21-2009, 10:53 PM

Okay. So I'm making my 2nd batch, and I'd like to be a sparkling wine, if possible.

But we're using slightly smaller bottles for bottling. I'm not sure what they're called, but it's about the size of a large beer bottle. Slightly smaller than a wine bottle. If I recall, they were about 1 glass smaller.

They're also "capped" like beer bottles. They've got the metal caps. So my questions is this. If I go ahead and make a batch of sparkling wine, would I be able to use these bottles at all, or should I just invest in a bunch of actually proper wine bottles/corker/etc. ?

Thank you for reading.

Wade E · 11-22-2009, 12:26 AM

If you are making a sparkling wine then you need bottles that are designed for sparkling wine like used or new Champagne bottle. You can not use win e bottles as they are not designed for the pressure that a carbonated beverage has or you could have exploding bottles.

Psylon · 11-22-2009, 02:21 AM

Cool. Like I said though, these are more like beer bottles. And they're also capped like them. They're like 700ml (approx). I looked it up once...they're about 3 oz smaller than a wine bottle...a little less than one glass. I'm not sure what they're called, but they're the same size as beer bottles I've drank out of before, and that's carbonated...

/confused

**Leanne** · 11-22-2009, 08:34 AM

My advice: Go for proper champagne bottles. Explosions are not the fun they sound.
Also, the metal caps don't give you the extra safety and flexibility that corks do. If it is going to blow then the whole bottle will blow. Safety first please.

Wade E · 11-22-2009, 01:01 PM

Are they made for Sparkling wine or Beer cause beer is much less carbonated so the bottles may not be made for that type of pressure.

Psylon · 11-22-2009, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wade E

Are they made for Sparkling wine or Beer cause beer is much less carbonated so the bottles may not be made for that type of pressure.

Aaaah. Yeah, I was afraid of that.

I think they're made for beer. I didn't realize that they were that much different. I'm glad I found this forum! Nothing less cool than a peach flavored glass-grenade. :-/

Wade E · 11-22-2009, 08:08 PM

There is quite a difference in the carbonation levebetween a beer and a sparling wine. I have both kegged as we speak and carb my sparkling wine at 20 and my beer at 8 psi.

Malkore · 11-23-2009, 04:40 PM

Yep, regular beer bottles won't hold champagne like carbonation.

I sometimes buy fruit lambic beers and the bottles they come in are very thick, like a champagne bottle.

The other thing about sparkling wine is the sediment. if you carbonate in the bottle, sediment will form. With commercial champagne they do the carb stage with the bottles inverted so the sediment forms in the neck. then they freeze the neck area, remove the frozen yeast 'plug' and top off with champagne, cork, and off to market it goes.

Or...you could cheat. Keg the wine and force carbonate it, then serve from the keg, or bottle it using a beer gun.
I keep some raspberry mead on tap, carb'd up to beer CO2 volumes.

Psylon · 11-23-2009, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malkore

Or...you could cheat. Keg the wine and force carbonate it, then serve from the keg, or bottle it using a beer gun.
I keep some raspberry mead on tap, carb'd up to beer CO2 volumes.

Huh. Now THAT is an idea.

Yeah, my girlfriend's father came over with some Lambic bottles, and those seemed pretty thick. On one hand, it would be a good excuse to drink lambic, but on the other, I would need to buy a corker. And in my teeny pad, space is kind of a commodity.

But I like the idea of just having some sparkling peach wine "on tap" as it were....Hmm....you've given me much to think about.

Mud · 11-23-2009, 09:30 PM

I have the cheapest corker available, the kind that's a tapered plastic sleeve and a ram, and it's no big problem. It's not elegant, but unless you're bottling a lot it'll do the job. A 5 gallon batch produces about 20-25 bottles, depending on racking loss...That's not too much to put up with a clunky tool, in my opinion.

Take it for what it's worth, but as a carpenter I work with hand tools constantly. You sort of learn to put up with stuff instead of spending all your money on convenience items. 'Sides, I'd need a bigger truck after a while.