wine in beer bottles?

[lindaolding]

I'm wondering if there is a reason why wine could not be bottled in exactly the same way as beer. It is certainly easier to use a bottle-capper than it is to use a corker, and the smaller serving sizes might be handy sometimes. I'm thinking of bottling some of the current batch in the traditional way, and some as if it were beer. Has anyone already tried this?

 

[Caplan]

It can be done. I'd personally be a little wary of aging them for more than a year but that's just my own opinion - I've used small screw cap bottles as samplers before with no problems but didn't age the wine long term.

The 'use a few smaller bottles' idea is a good one - It allows you to use your wine to cook/give to sceptic friends/have one glass/etc, without opening a full bottle.

Worth a go with a few beer bottles - try 1 or 2 wine bottles worth of your batch if you're still unsure.

 

[OGB]

It can be done. I'd personally be a little wary of aging them for more than a year but that's just my own opinion - I've used small screw cap bottles as samplers before with no problems but didn't age the wine long term.

Why the concern about aging?

 

[Caplan]

Why the concern about aging?

IMHO I'd be concerned that a crown cap only needs to get knocked slightly or if not sealed fully then wine could oxidize/pick up an infection. Crown caps are a 'thin seal' when you think how they actually work compared to a cork that's about 35mm deep into a standard wine bottle.
However I make cider and beer and use crown caps for both (and cider needs a long time to mature) so I would consider aging wine for a year or two upright in capped bottles if i didn't own a corker but i'd be worried of aging it longer than that.

 

[cpfan]

It is certainly easier to use a bottle-capper than it is to use a corker

That probably depends on which capper & corker you have. I would guess that most people find a floor corker easier to use then even a good bench capper. My wife has much trouble with capping, but no problem with the floor corker.

Steve

 

[smurfe]

I don't see how properly capped beer bottles would be any different that wine bottles with screw caps on them. I don't see why the wine would age any different myself. I bottle in 750ml and 375ml bottles and notice no difference.

Smurfe

 

[JSin]

You can use beer bottles for some of your wine. We do about a case out of every batch of white wine in 12oz beer bottles for weekly sampling. This makes it easier to let the rest of our wines stay in the cellar.

 

[Luc]

I'm wondering if there is a reason why wine could not be bottled in exactly the same way as beer. It is certainly easier to use a bottle-capper than it is to use a corker, and the smaller serving sizes might be handy sometimes. I'm thinking of bottling some of the current batch in the traditional way, and some as if it were beer. Has anyone already tried this?

Hi there Lindaolding, I am Luc from Holland.
You must know now that winemakers are (and especially we over here in the OLD WORLD) very traditional.

So wine was put in bottles and a cork was put in to stop the nasties getting in and stop letting the wine out of the bottle.
Now this was invented a long long time before crown caps and before screwcaps.

So winemakers and winedrinkers are traditional and conservative people.
In France winemakers are NOT ALLOWED to put oak beans in the wine. The law concerning this has just changed this year. But if you do put oak chips in your wine you will lose your Appellation or AOC or whatever quality sign you may use.

To put things differently: loads of money are involved in making wine so to loose your AOC means you loose prestige and therefore you lose money as a manufacturer.
Therefore nobody uses crown corks or screwcaps exept the cheap winemakers who have nothing to loose anyhow.

And therefore there is no real research done in this field, and are the guys who depend on prestige not willing to experiment.

That does not mean it is bad. It just means it is not done professionally.

In the New World things are done differently. You use oak chips, and screwcaps.
Taste is here the issue and not prestige.

Therefore go ahead and just do it.
A system that is to withstand the pressure that beer builds up in a bottle is likely to be safe for storage even if it is storage for a longer period of time.

There is just one issue that keeps me personally away from crown-caps: and screw caps for my long-time-aging wine: it is not as romantic as pulling a cork.
Ok, ok call me a conservative traditional old f......

Have fun and enjoy,
Luc

 

[Caplan]

There is just one issue that keeps me personally away from crown-caps: and screw caps for my long-time-aging wine: it is not as romantic as pulling a cork.
Ok, ok call me a conservative traditional old f......

Ok then. Luc, you're a conservative, traditional old f.....

But seriously I'm glad some of the Old World is learning from the New World's use of modern technology to get wines to our glasses in optimum condition.

In the past I've had too many commercial wines that with poor quality corks and bad storage in stores/wholesalers have 'corked' (That musty smell...yuch!!).

Synthetic corks and screw tops has really saved the average wine drinker from this 'hit and miss' affair and the New World has lead the way with this.

And at least with the synthetic corks you still get to use your corkscrew!

 

[rmck1]

Does this also give you the opportunity to make sparkling wine without the facilities for champagne bottles?

 

[cpfan]

There are basically two ways to carbonate a beverage.

1. force carbonation where CO2 from a tank is forced into the liquid.

2. priming where yeast & sugar interact in the bottle to produce CO2

Both methods require a bottle and closure that can handle the carbonation. Doen't matter if it's a beer bottle or champagne bottle.

Beer bottles and champagne bottles(at least those I have seen) can be closed with a crown cap. Champagne bottles with champagne corks & a wire holder. I have inserted champagne corks with a beer capper (took two pushes). SOME floor corkers have a champagne corker attachment available (according to usually reliable Internet sources - I have never seen one). There is a simple tool for installing the wires but it could be probably be done by hand (or with pliers).

rmck1:

If that doesn't answer your question, you're going to have to try again because I'm not sure what "facilities for champagne bottles" means.

Steve

 

[rmck1]

Yes that answers my question. Thank You.

What I meant by champagne facilities was the bottles corks and such since they are different to standard wine bottles / corks / corkers...

Might bottle some of my next batch in about 4-5 beer bottles with priming sugar and see what happens!!!

 

[cpfan]

If you have added sorbate to the wine, then it probably won't carbonate with priming sugar.

Steve

 

[HomerT]

As others have said, it can be done. I always do at least a 6-pack of 12oz beer bottles of wine to use as age-testers. The only precaution I have is to use the oxigen absorbing caps to prevent any oxidation.

-Todd

 

[Noontime]

IMHO for the average home winemaker, the cotainer used for the wine isn't really that important, as long as it meets the physical properties required (air tight, structurally sound, etc...). Something the big producers are concerned with these days is the micro-oxidation that wine undergoes over years and years of storage. There are conversations out there on whether screw caps and other completely air tight enclosures are detrimental to the wine because corks actually allow a teeny tiny bit of O2 in over time.

But again, I don't think that's something the home winemaker really needs to worry about. Maybe the guys with vineyards who are making wine aged for 10-15 years. But I'm assuming anything in a beer bottle is intended to be consumed within a few years anyway.