Screw-cap glass bottles -anybody try them?

[jethro]

I am a newbie making my first two batches of homemade wine using RedStar Pasteur yeast and Welch's grape juice already mixed in the jug. I ony drink dry wines. So it is my intention to make my wine bone-dry.

My initial winemaking procedures

I started brewing my first 1-gallon batch August 30th.
starting SG was 1.101 in one jug and 1.121 in the other. (When I say "brew", I mean I uncapped the jug, threw the yeast in, added enough sugar to get my SG in the 1.085 to 1.100 range for dry wine. Nothing fancy.)

I started brewing my second 1-gallon batch two weeks later. I put both jugs into one fermenting bucket. Starting SG was 1.092

On Sept. 22nd, both jugs of my first batch read 1.001 SG and neither bubbles nor foam was visible in the must of either jug. So I recombined the two jugs' must and sealed it into a glass carboy.

I looked back through the beginner's forum to Oct. 2011 and didn't see an answer to this so I thought I'd ask.

My question

I have a bunch of 750mL glass bottles w/ screw-on plastic bottle tops. Has anybody used these to seal the air out of homemade wine?

I am guessing if I screw the plastic bottle caps onto wine in glass bottles, I would first have to add some kind of chemical to the wine to kill the yeast, in order to avoid an explosion. What is this chemical called ?
Or I could kill the yeast by boiling my wine, but I don't reckon boiling would improve the taste of my wine, eh?

I have read enough to understand the two different processes of turning must into wine, the aerobic process followed by the anaerobic process.

My equipment

I have a hydrometer and two 1-gallon glass carboys with bungs and airlocks. I have one 1-gallon plastic fermenting container. For my first batch of must, I just divided my yeast in two and cast it into the original plastic jugs.

I do NOT have money to buy more equipment, as in corking machinery.

Yes, I corrected all hydrometer readings to my 76F room temperature.

My plan

Now I read WinOutWest's post of 10-08-2011 saying that in order for the wine to taste good, it has to age a year in the bottle. So I guess I want to just stick my filled bottles down in the basement in a closet for a year before I expect my wine to taste as good as commercially-produced young wine. So my plan is to set my bottles upright on a shelf in the basement for a year and forget about them.
Don't feel good about waiting so long to find out how I did. But I don't wanna drink wine that tastes like must either.

 

[JohnT]

About the bottles... Are you planning to cork them? If so, DON"T.

The neck of a screw cap bottle is much thinner that the standard bottle. Also, the opening is slightly wider.

Bite the bullet and get some standard 750ml bottles that accepts a cork.

 

[garymc]

Your post looks like you're not biting any bullets or corks. Age your wine in the carboy and bottle in screw tops or mason jars or whatever. If it doesn't get down to .992 or .990 keep the bottles in the fridge and drink it as you need refrigerator space. You can bottle one carboy, then bottle the other when you've consumed the first one. More than one way to skin a cat.
edited to add:
If your wine is completely dry so that it won't referment and has enough alcohol to prevent spoilage you might not have to add potassium sorbate, the chemical you mentioned that will prevent spoilage and refermentation.

 

[GreginND]

I would definitely use the screw top bottles over a mason jar. The jars with the wide opening will have much more air exposure for the surface of the wine and it will oxidize more. The screw cap bottles should be fine. I would plan to drink the wine within a year of bottling though.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

Using screw tops is fine as long as you don't try to cork them. we also carry replacement caps for them so they have a good seal.
Mason jars will work but for short term storage, like two or three months.