filling bottles

[Putterrr]

Equipment I have built comes from other forum members that have posted there projects over the years. There are lots of ideas if one has the time to search through old posts

Wade first posted about vacuum pumps and how we could use them for racking, degassing etc

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f71/how-rack-wine-electric-vacuum-pump-25630/

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f71/how-degas-electric-vacuum-pump-25629/

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f71/how-degas-your-wine-vacuum-pump-11098/

rhoffart posted a home made bottle filler "My $10 bottle filler " Unfortunaltely the original pictures are no longer available but there are some and a uTube link on page 3

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f3/my-10-bottle-filler-15026/

Mine is a version of Rick's without the solid arm. This allows me to do any size bottle. The vacuum pump I got off ebay for $105 total but did have someone bring it up from the states.

Edit: I have also since added the whole house filtering unit. I think the first one I saw was posted by Wade E but not sure if he was the first one to come with that or not. Since then there has been allot posted on filtering which has taken the trial and error out of getting the correct housing and filters.

Thx everyone for sharing your ideas.

cheers

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Thanks Putterr for all those links -
Yes there is an updated filter tutorial as the filters that Wade used - changed their design to a hard insert which would ruin the housing and cause leakage. The filter housing is an updated part # as they dont have very many of the cheaper version that Wade first was using and the updated one is only 5 dollars more.
Here is the complete tutorial -

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f71/tips-tricks-using-whole-house-filter-37737/

 

[diywinemakers]

Great work Putterrr! Very nicely done. I guess that ball valve in your system acts as a switch that turns vacuum on/off?

 

[Putterrr]

Correct. I could just lift up my fill tubes but its easier with less vacuum pressure. The pump keeps running the whole time. The fill head on yours doesn't seem to have much problem lifting while under vacuum. My vacuvin stopper is kind of stuffed into the bottle and takes bit of wiggling to remove it

cheers

 

[wineinmd]

Coming from the homebrew world, my first thought for bottling was to use my autosiphon to get the wine from the carboy into my bottling bucket and then using the spring-loaded bottling "wand" to fill the bottles. Are there any inherent problems with that approach? Looking at a couple older threads, it looks like that would be OK. I'm used to filling 50 12oz. at a time, and I'm planning on doing 20 or so 750ml bottles, plus 20 12oz. bottles. I'm the only wine drinker in the house, so the bigger bottles will be to share and the smaller ones are for dinner and sipping on the couch at home.

Also, the kit directions at several points say to sanitize and then rinse well. I use Star San when brewing/bottling and it says not to rinse. Is the rinsing a function of using a different kind of sanitizer or is there something in Star San that has a negative impact on the wine? My kit arrives today and I'm planning on starting tomorrow. Just want to make sure I'm not getting off on the wrong foot.

Thanks!

 

[jswordy]

Coming from the homebrew world, my first thought for bottling was to use my autosiphon to get the wine from the carboy into my bottling bucket and then using the spring-loaded bottling "wand" to fill the bottles. Are there any inherent problems with that approach? Looking at a couple older threads, it looks like that would be OK. I'm used to filling 50 12oz. at a time, and I'm planning on doing 20 or so 750ml bottles, plus 20 12oz. bottles. I'm the only wine drinker in the house, so the bigger bottles will be to share and the smaller ones are for dinner and sipping on the couch at home.

Also, the kit directions at several points say to sanitize and then rinse well. I use Star San when brewing/bottling and it says not to rinse. Is the rinsing a function of using a different kind of sanitizer or is there something in Star San that has a negative impact on the wine? My kit arrives today and I'm planning on starting tomorrow. Just want to make sure I'm not getting off on the wrong foot.

Thanks!

The whole idea with wine is to minimize exposure to air. The more air, the more chance for it to "turn" from oxidation, ruining the flavors. There's also increased chance for introducing acetic acid bacteria, which will make it vinegar. So we winemakers are paranoid about minimal oxygen exposure after must turns to wine.

I'm a throwback, I have a vac pump I bought from Wade but still prefer my siphon fill valve.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/plastic-spring-tip-bottle-filler.html

It's cheap, simple and does not involve a lot of parts and tubing to clean. I transfer my wine to a clean carboy, then siphon fill the bottles. Is is slower? Yes, but I can run off 100 bottles fairly rapidly with the system I have.

There is no need to rinse after using Star-San or other oxidative cleaners. Many experts in home brewing and winemaking will tell you all you are doing is risking recontamination through the rinse water.

Of late, I have been placing my visually clean bottles in the dishwasher at high heat with hot dry and no soap, and running a cycle. They are sterile when they come out, ready to go. I'm lazy.

Best of luck!

 

[tanddc]

Coming from the homebrew world, my first thought for bottling was to use my autosiphon to get the wine from the carboy into my bottling bucket and then using the spring-loaded bottling "wand" to fill the bottles. Are there any inherent problems with that approach? Looking at a couple older threads, it looks like that would be OK. I'm used to filling 50 12oz. at a time, and I'm planning on doing 20 or so 750ml bottles, plus 20 12oz. bottles. I'm the only wine drinker in the house, so the bigger bottles will be to share and the smaller ones are for dinner and sipping on the couch at home.

Also, the kit directions at several points say to sanitize and then rinse well. I use Star San when brewing/bottling and it says not to rinse. Is the rinsing a function of using a different kind of sanitizer or is there something in Star San that has a negative impact on the wine? My kit arrives today and I'm planning on starting tomorrow. Just want to make sure I'm not getting off on the wrong foot.

Thanks!

It is best NOT to rinse the start-san. It breaks down into organic molecules once in contact with your wine so there is no need to rinse. Rinsing increases the chances of infection.

Tim

 

[wineinmd]

The whole idea with wine is to minimize exposure to air. The more air, the more chance for it to "turn" from oxidation, ruining the flavors. There's also increased chance for introducing acetic acid bacteria, which will make it vinegar. So we winemakers are paranoid about minimal oxygen exposure after must turns to wine.

I'm a throwback, I have a vac pump I bought from Wade but still prefer my siphon fill valve.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/plastic-spring-tip-bottle-filler.html

It's cheap, simple and does not involve a lot of parts and tubing to clean. I transfer my wine to a clean carboy, then siphon fill the bottles. Is is slower? Yes, but I can run off 100 bottles fairly rapidly with the system I have.

There is no need to rinse after using Star-San or other oxidative cleaners. Many experts in home brewing and winemaking will tell you all you are doing is risking recontamination through the rinse water.

Of late, I have been placing my visually clean bottles in the dishwasher at high heat with hot dry and no soap, and running a cycle. They are sterile when they come out, ready to go. I'm lazy.

Best of luck!

Thanks. I wasn't sure if oxidation was a big issue in wine like it is in beer, but I probably could have figured it out since I had read about topping off a carboy for extended aging.

I have this bottle filler that I put at the end of my bottling tubing which is attached to the valve on the bottling bucket. Is the short amount of time it takes to siphon into the bottling bucket and then fill the bottles enough to cause problems? I've done it that way with beer, but I'm not sure how much more susceptible wine is. It probably spends around 10 minutes exposed to oxygen between starting the siphon and putting the caps on.

I never rinse my Star San, but going strictly off the kit instructions, that is what it was saying. I wasn't sure if that was the recommendation when using a different type of sanitizer or if it was bad information. Beer kit instructions are known to have some dubious directions and I wondered if that was the case here. Sounds like it might be.

I appreciate all the responses. I'm thinking my way through the process so I can be prepared as each step comes.

 

[NorCal]

With oxidation being a function of exposed area, time and total volume of wine, the amount of exposure that takes place during bottling is insignificant, assuming that normal care is taken.

 

[wineinmd]

With oxidation being a function of exposed area, time and total volume of wine, the amount of exposure that takes place during bottling is insignificant, assuming that normal care is taken.

Awesome. That's what I was hoping to hear.

I've gotten pretty good at eliminating loose connections on the tubing and splashing during transfer. The only exposed area will be the surface of the wine in the bottling bucket.

I'm getting excited. This will test my patience even more than waiting for a batch of beer to be ready.

Edit: It's here!

 

[sour_grapes]

my first thought for bottling was to use my autosiphon to get the wine from the carboy into my bottling bucket and then using the spring-loaded bottling "wand" to fill the bottles.

That is exactly how I do it.

 

[physics911]

I got one of the EC Kraus 3/8" foot valve type fillers.
While it certainly works better than pinching the tubing, it still dribbles quite a bit.
I bottled a batch of beer yesterday and after the first bottle I had to get a bowl to let it dribble over while I was getting the next bottle. Over the course of filling 48 beer bottles, I would say I lost about one bottle worth to the leaky tip. Losing that kind of volume isn't a big concern, but it would definitely be nice to have something which is drip-free.

 

[petey_c]

physics911, the only time I had any significant "drippage" is when I got a piece of hops stuck in the valve. Otherwise, I get less than half an ounce.

 

[Fiftyoon]

I have an enolmatic bottle filler. A little pricey, but it sure does a nice job of it.

John, I'm building an enolmatic like bottle filler. Would you be able to provide the dimension from the center where the nozzle attaches to the upright square tube to the hole where the spring attaches?

Thanks!
Bob

 

[JohnT]

John, I'm building an enolmatic like bottle filler. Would you be able to provide the dimension from the center where the nozzle attaches to the upright square tube to the hole where the spring attaches?

Thanks!
Bob

I will post some pictures of the filler against a ruler. Give me a day or two to take the photos.

 

[JohnT]

@fiftyoon, I hope this helps....