Cleaning new/used bottles and sanitation

[TNFISHRMAN]

I have been trying to chase a problem that I am having with my wine that shows up approximately three-five days after bottling and can't seem to find anything wrong. All wines are cleared properly and pumped through a Buno Vino filter pump before bottling. I am down to wondering if it could be in my bottle preparation. Could someone go through the steps of cleaning newor used bottles for preparation to bottle? Then add the steps one must take to sanitize right at bottling time? Maybe I will see something that I am not doing properly. Thanks, Lynn

 

[Hippie]

Are you rinsing the bottles very well? If you are using bleach or any kind of soap, you need to rinse alot and several times. With new bottles, sulphiting is all that is required. You need a Vinator and a bottle tree to sit it on. Have those?

 

[geocorn]

I wash my bottles with Easy Clean first to get out the visible debris and rinse well. Then I sulfite them with the vinator and place on the draining tree (like Hippie recommended) just before bottling.


What are you noticing on day 5 after bottling?

 

[TNFISHRMAN]

George, I am having somthing that appears like fall out (lees) about 3-5 days after bottling. The Green apple Riesling that I just finished, my wife wanted it sweeter than normal so I decided to use the Wine Conditioner since it has some sorbate in it to sweeten. I noticed the sediment after approximately the 4th day. It was 4days before I turned the bottles on their side. A batch of Blackberry did this also about the first of July. Most of the bottles I am using are new.


Hippie, I do have a Vinator. I use it religously. I do not use Chlorine bleach or soap on bottles only Hot water and Sulphite solution. I have bottles that are dirtier than normal that I am using B-brite on right now, but have not used those yet.


During sulphiting I will use the Vinator and coat the inside of bottle well with approx. 3 pumps on the Vinator, then hand on bottle tree for an 1-2 hours until I am ready to bottle. Sometimes the bottles are still a little wet with Sulphite solution. Boy, I sure wish I could figure this out.

 

[geocorn]

It sounds like your wines are not clear when you bottle them. I would suggest that you wait a while longer to bottle, use some Super-Kleer or use a filter.


A little sediment will not affect the flavor, just the appearance.


As an aside, Rieslings and fruit wines can take longer to clear.

 

[peterCooper]

What is a Vinator? I looked in the catalog and saw ap icture but I'm not sure
what it does or how it works.

I don't use a bottle tree, After cleaning and sanitizing, I put them upside
down in the dishwasher (clean of course, and it has a sanitize cycle). They
are only there a few minutes while I'm bottling.

 

[geocorn]

The Vinator is a device that shoots sanitizer up into the bottle. It makes sanitizing easier.


You can use the dishwasher as a drainer, but do not use the dishwasher to clean or dry your bottles. It is not necessary.

 

[masta]

You put your sanitizing solution in the vinator and place a bottle upside down over the spray nozzle. Pushing the bottle down will spray the solution up inside the bottle...it has a spring inside which pushes the nozzle back up.


A vinator and at least one bottle tree area must have for wine making junkies!

 

[TNFISHRMAN]

George, I had let both the batches clear to where your could not see anything suspended with a flashlight. You could even read a magazine through it. Then just as a precaution I filtered with the Buno Vino mini-jet and #2 filters. So do you think there still could be issues with it not cleared properly?

 

[geocorn]

Could it beice crystals? It does sound a little odd.

 

[TNFISHRMAN]

I don't think it is ice crystals because it has not been chilled. Its got me stumped.

 

[geocorn]

I 'm stumped. Maybe someone else has some thoughts.

 

[AAASTINKIE]

http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=4800



you have to have one of these, brass bottle washer, there is no way a
dishwasher can clean a wine bottle the correct way, the neck is too
small.

the bottle tree is nice but if money is an issue you can dip the
bottles is a bucket with sanitizer and put them on the dishwasher racks
to drain OK.

I get my bottles from the redemtion center and if any have mold in them
they just go back, I don't go any further with them, the good ones get
washed with the brass bottle washer, then into the bathtub with a touch
of bleach and soak for an hour before taking the labels off.

They get sanitized just before bottling.

 

[Hippie]

I think George meant acid crystals. They do not usually occur with that type of winekit. What color is the sediment that falls out in the bottles? We will get to the bottom of this.

 

[masta]

This is very puzzling since you say if shows up so quickly after bottling

if was fines they would have be very tiny after going through your filter and most likely wouldn't drop out that fast.


I have made over 120 kits reds,whites and the Island Mist types (roughly 20 of these) and have never seen any fines drop out in the bottles and some are 2 years old.

 

[TNFISHRMAN]

I may be messing up, but I added a round of Super Kleer KC to it yesterday. Hopefully this will clear it up. I only worry because it has been sweetened. Will any of the sugar and flavoring come out sinceI am Clearing it again? Masta, How long will you let your kit wines set after adding clarifier?? This particular one set for three weeks and was clear as a bell. I talk to the owner of a local winery and supply store here and He said that sometimes you need to let the kit wines set longer than what they say and even after chilling you may still have some sediment fallout. Comments welcomed, Lynn

 

[masta]

After adding the fining agent to kits I usually let them settle at least 3 weeks before bottling. They go directly to the wine cellar after a few days which is set for 57 degrees. The whites are usually put into the fridge after opening and still have never seen any fines drop out after 2 weeks.

 

[peterCooper]

I wasn't using the dishwasher to clean, just to drain. It's a handy place to
put things, assuming it's empty.

I make up a solution of cleaner, clean and bottle brush each one. Then
sanitize with k-meta, then put in the dishweasher to drain for about 30
minutes.

Works from another perspective too. I run the dishwasher and then put
everything away before I start, keeping the rest of the house happy so they
can't complain when I take over the kitchen

 

[peterCooper]

After bottling, and before labelling, is anyone using a special technique for
getting the expterior of the bottles 'bright'? I seem to end up with a residue
like spots on galss after being run through the dishwasher without a rinse
aid.

 

[Hippie]

When you take them out of the dishwasher, sulphite them, then continue holding them upside down while you runwarm tap water over the outside surface, then hang them on the bottle tree to drain. You can pick each one up by the bottom with a clean dishtowel to avoid fingerprints, but they will eventually get all over the bottles sooner or later.