How to Bottle Homebrew Mead and Wine
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- Опубліковано 3 тра 2023
- How to Bottle Homebrew Mead and Wine. We get asked a lot how to bottle, what to bottle mead and wine in, and how long mead and wine can last when bottled.
Is my Brew Done? • How Do I know When my ...
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Hopefully bottling my first mead in the next week or so.
Woohoo!
How was it?
Swing tops are my favourites and I always use the 33cl/375cl bottles that used to contain beer. I get them at my local bottle exchange or at the liquor store. I ask for empties, and pay for the bottle deposit. It’s much cheaper than buying new ones and I know they’ve been commercially pressure-tested. I fill them with a hot bleach solution and let that sit overnight. Then I rinse them out and scrub them with a bottle brush with soapy water. That gets rinsed and once they’ve air-dried I store them away for future filling.
For long-term storage and gifting I now use half-size wine bottles and high-grade corks (natural or synthetic) that are graded for the storage of wine for six years and upwards.
The reason I opt for the smaller size bottles is that it’s easier to have bottles left for 1-year and 2-year tasting. I do have 750 ml bottles (swing tops and wine bottles) but I use those inly for when I think I am going to bring mead, wine or cider to a large(ish) gathering or when I make a batch that’s 2 gallons or more, or when I make a brew for a specific purpose (the Holidays, a party, a wedding…). I’m not a big drinker and neither is my daughter so a small bottle is enough for us to share. And somehow, if I’m out of big bottles to bring to a gathering, people seem to click into the “she brought two bottles” more than the fact that they’re small. It also allows me to bring more than one flavour if I want to.
I’m looking forward to bottling my two gallons of passionfruit mead this week-end. One gallon will be back sweetened and pasteurised in the bottles. The other one will be back sweetened with non-fermentable sweetener and dosed with just enough fermentable sugars to make it petillant. Both will be more on the off-dry side than on the semi-sweet side. Not dry, not sweet, very refreshing. I’ve made this one before and it’s my daughter’s favourite. She’s been checking in with me every couple of days because she can’t wait for it to be ready. I’d started it in December, and even though it’ll still be young I know it’ll already go down well as soon as it’s recovered from back sweetening and bottle shock. 😊
Edit: And yes! Several bottles are definitely going to end up in a hidey-hole for long(ish)-term ageing. The last batch got polished off just as it was turning a year old. 😂
Just want to thank you guys you've helped me so much on my mead adventure this will be my second year and I couldn't have done it without you guys never stop twacking your packet 👍🏻
You guys are the best brewing channel on UA-cam!! Thank you for another helpful video! 🙏
You are welcome!
You two make excellent teachers and have great screen presence! Love watching your videos. Thank you!
Thanks so much!
Holy cow! Those Aldi bottles are cheaper than empty Amazon ones. What a find!!
Aldi's sparkling lemonade is a seasonal item that is NOW in season thru the end of summer, so get them now. They are less expensive toward the end of season ($2 vs. $3).
For the cork type, you can get rubber/synthetic corks for them.
We have Aldi here in Germany, but they don't have swing top bottles.
You guys are great. I love your videos.
Thank you! Glad you like them!
Dewars white label scotch is my fav ❤
The Aldi bottle with free lemonade😂 love it.
Love this it’s great for the new brewers and a refresh for the old pros. Lol
I had no idea Aldi had those bottles!!! I'm leaving right now!
Lol
I like the screw top bottles I bought a case of them
I rack straight from the gallon to my drinking glass! Nuff said!
If it makes you happy!
How can you tell if a brew has oxidized? What are the signs?
Flavors are off, kind of sherry like.
I totally wiped my local Aldis out of those lemonade bottles yesterday 😂
What I’ve found when using the bottling wand is that if you push down until it stops and the fluid is flowing, if you lift up slightly on the wand it’ll flow a bit faster. Having the tip pushed against the bottom of the bottle causes a little bit of restriction and lifting maybe 1/8” or so reduces that restriction. It’s not much different but it’s noticeable.
Heh… learn something every day!
Is there any reason not to push then release multiple times, to ensure you get the correct volume in the bottle? I noticed Brian allowed the mead to go right to the top but that's probably from experience! I haven't bottled my first carboy of mead yet but I'm a bit nervous about spilling it everywhere. Also my autosyphon introduces bubbles like crazy and I've determined it's a leak in the seal, so I'm a little nervous about it!
@@MatSmithLondon knowing when to stop exactly will come with some time and experience. Some spillage is going to happen and it’s not that big of a deal if you dribble a little here and there. Just put a towel down and be ready for it. The tip of the bottling wand may leak ever-so-slightly when moving from one bottle to another as well. I get help from my daughter during bottling. For the leak you’re talking about, is it the seal on the end of the plunger that goes inside the rest of the autosiphon? Or is it pulling air from where the tubing is pushed onto the other end of the plunger? If it’s coming from the seal at the end of the plunger I’d make sure that it doesn’t go into the autosiphon dry. Dip it in some sanitizer for a little bit first. If it’s from the flexible tubing try pushing it further onto the rigid part if it’s not already.
Just went to take a reading on my first basic mead batch! SG 1.084, 2nd 1.000 after 3 weeks :D Tasted it and oh my god it's incredible! Thank you guys for your amazing recipe!!! It's delicious and I can't wait to see how much better it gets. Going to take another reading in a couple weeks (going on vacation) and also my auto-siphon doesn't fit into my carboys :( Thanks Brian and Derica!!! p.s. The misses loved it too!
Happy to help!
I'm new to the channel, so forgive me if this has been asked. Can you harvest lees, dry it and use it for yeast?
I sure wish I had found your channel earlier! I painstakingly (literally) gathered black berries and blue berries from the wild and combined them into a batch of wine. Used a fermenting bucket. It never started bubbling. Tried more yeast, nothing. Ended up throwing it out! Now I learn, from you guys, that fermenting buckets can have a bad seal, and work fine anyway. So sad!
Thanks for all you do!!
In theory you can, but in practice it’s less efficient than just adding new yeast.
Oh wow… let’s hope it just wasn’t fermenting!
Welcome aboard!
I put the vessel I'm bottling from (or bucket) on the counter. The bottles i put in a cooler on the floor. I don't pull out the bottling wand until the bottle is full and the little bit left empty from the displacement the removal of the wand creates is just the right amount. This lets me have a consistent amount in each bottle which i find to be esthetically pleasing.
That’s pretty much exactly how we do it aside from the counter and cooler being table and lap.
Hello guys. Happy to see your videos again. I wanted to know about differences in bulk vs bottle ageing for wines. Do they significant differ?
Not really. The differences are very minor.
I like to use wide painters tape for labels. Its economical and doesn't leave tape residue when it comes time to peel it off. Btw everyone, i just acquired three cases of free swing top Grolsch bottles. I will be sanitizing them soon and starting a pear cider project.mmmmm! 🍐 🍐 🍐❤❤❤
It’s funny you said that, Because I used painters tape to hold on my paper labels on my cranberry wine. I think the blue color of the tape is aesthetically pleasing. 🤣
Nice! We got like 10 rolls of white masking tape at some point so we use that til it’s gone, lol.
Video topic idea. Oxidation, what does it look/smell/taste like. What to do to prevent/treat/fix/stop the damage/etc.
I have an apple wine that I pasteurized and back sweetened with caramelized sugar. And it came out of pasteurization darker than it went in, but as it has sit I swear it keeps getting darker... I should check on it and give it a tasting 😊
We can consider it, but it’s not a common problem and you don’t know til you taste it. It’s sometimes even hard to tell then. Also, cannot be fixed. You prevent it by limiting oxygen in the finished brew.
Hello Brian and Derika. I’m very excited to watch your new videos. Even though I know how to bottle, I still watch because you guys have taught me so much and I love seeing you. I’m just wondering if you’ve ever brewed anything involving watermelon juice, as I haven’t seen anything on your channel. I just started my third brew and I used fresh squeezed watermelon juice, and 100% organic apple juice. I also used sun made golden raisins, and I realized that they contain sulfur dioxide. I noticed the smell coming from my fermentation that smells a bit like eggs. I’m assuming sulfur equals egg smell. It’s obviously an experiment on my end, And I’m curious as to what is going to be the end result. Was just wondering if you have any feedback on watermelon. Thank you for all you do my favorite UA-camrs. ❤
We used the golden raisins once the. Learned as you did. They didn’t ruin that batch, thankfully. Watermelon, no, have not worked with it. Many say it tends to go bad before it can even ferment.
@@CitySteadingBrews Well, I’m glad it didn’t ruin your batch and I hope it doesn’t ruin mine. As for the watermelon, time shall tell. I’ll keep you posted.
hi all i was wondering if you have ever tried kern peach nectar as a base for one of your brews?
Is that a specific brand? No, don’t think we have.
Loving the channel have 5 meads on the go from your recipes.
Questions on bottles. Can you reuse wine bottles with metal screw caps?
If not what lids are best to use, i want to avoid corks where possible
We have, I wouldn't trust them for several years, but for one or two should be fine. Plastic caps tend to seal a little better as reused I find.
This is very helpful. After bottling, do you ever refrigerate and if so,, for how long and what are the determining factors? Basically, the question is, how do you store your bottled brews? Also, I'm not going to pasteurize my next batch. I like what you have said about not using the 'ites' and 'ates' and will therefore not be adding them. Though pasteurizing is kind of the 'bottle bomb' insurance, I like the idea of having the probiotics in the wine. I don't know if there is a hard and fast rule or time frame for fermentation restart and bottle bombs, but how long after bottling would you consider your brew safe? After bottling, I'll put them in a covered bin and I think it would be instructive to have an idea how long before I can remove them for normal storage. Many thanks .... again !!!
If there is any chance of fermentation you want to pasteurize to prevent a bomb.
Does racking to pitcher before bottling help with degassing? Or should I degas a few days before bottling? I ferment dry always & never back sweeten, but find some of my brews have carbonation.🤷♀️
You can manually degas or just let them sit a few weeks before bottling. We find most of ours just degas from sitting. Could be our higher room temps?
Howdy again :) Quick wine bottle question - after making sure fermentation is done via 3 SG readings coming out the same and degassing via swirling a bit and waiting for the S airlock to even back out: 1) is it safe to assume no more gases will be built up if i bottle now? 2) how much would it hurt if i pop the top (swing tops) a couple of times to make sure it doesnt have any pressure?
It should not create more gas no.
How would your recommend storing your swing top bottled meads? I'm currently storing mine on their sides, does the angle of storage matter for swing tops?
Straight up. They aren’t corks so don’t need to stay moist.
Is there another way to prevent fermentation besides pasteurization? I recently started with your basic mead recipe and spiced metheglin recipe, but I’m using Lalvin 71B and the starting gravity on the basic mead was 1.084, so I don’t think it will reach the alcohol tolerance. I was considering fortifying to reach the alcohol tolerance so that it can’t ferment further in bottles.
Note: I’m using a 1.9L glass carboy in Ireland so I had to calculate to scale in Liters and grams. Also first time measurements could’ve been more accurate 😅 Thanks for all your videos Brian and Derica! love the channels!! ❤
Fortification is a other way, yes. There’s also chemical stabilization but we don’t prefer that and won’t be able to help there.
Thank you guys!! I appreciate all you guys do! Best wishes ❤
How do you feel about using mason jars to hold the mead, I'm asking cause I have an abundance of jars than I do bottles and I don't want to order bottles of the jars work
As long as you are certain there is no carbonation.
I've got 5 gallons of mead brewing in my closet I've more or less forgot about. Last time I racked it was 11/20/2021. I took some samples into my work today to get them tested and I got a 14abv and almost a 30proof percentage as well. It is pretty dry but would I be able to make a small batch or 2 from this and just sortve back sweeten it?
I don’t see why not.
Do you have a favorite fliptop bottles I can buy relatively on the cheaper size, I would like some capable of carbinating
We are working on sourcing them, but ours came from Aldi.
To date, I"ve been insisting on only using ceramic top swing top bottles. But it's getting tough to find them, even on amazon.
Do ya'll have a preference? Just from observation of the video, I'm guessing your 750ml on on this video is ceramic and the 1L one is plastic?
If you do prefer ceramic...aside from buying lemonade in a ceramic swing top bottle, any suggestions where to order?
(I've never seen the lemonade in a swing top bottle here in New Orleans like ya'll get in FL).
Thank you in advance,
CC
Ceramic is better nearly every time. I don't have a great source for them though other than Aldi!
After your rack it are you able to just pour it into bottles with a funnel ?
No, use a siphon :)
I like to melt some wax and put it on the bottom of a cork so it doesn’t get moldy
My local Aldi stopped carrying that amazing lemonade in the swing-top reusable bottles. Have you seen it anywhere else? I'm kind of craving it for this upcoming summer, and need the glassware.
P.S. - I reused my old Bushmills bottles, and they use a synthetic cork. No mold issue with those, in my experience.
It comes and goes seasonally.
I got a good deal on brand new bottles from a wine shop and decided to go with synthetic corks. I’d imagine these will last much longer than the three mark, given that the material won’t deteriorate but I guess I shall see
The package might, but the mead likely won’t get any better after three years :)
Bottle conditioning question: I made two different batches of cider or, better said, apple wine. To the first 1/2 gallon I added 1.25 cups of sugar. To the second 1/2 gallon I added .25 cups of sugar. I added 1 tablespoon sugar to each batch before bottling. The lower ABV cider appears to be bottle conditioning very well. The higher ABV apple wine seems to not be bottle conditioning much at all.
I am looking for advice, will I have problems bottle conditioning higher ABV brews?
As it gets closer to the yeast tolerance it gets more difficult for carbonation to happen.
i want a video of brewing hard seltzer👍
We have made a couple already.
Quick question.. why don't you fill the bottles to the very top, eliminating all of the oxygen? Would it make a difference for long term storage?
Great channel
Liquids naturally expand and contract with temp changes. Air compresses, liquids don’t. So, if they were packed full and expanded… they break.
I'm completely new to brewing, but would you not have to worry about oxidation if you stabilize the brew like with a potassium sorbate or such after fermentation and final racking before bottling? It makes sure all the yeast are gone so it's like what City Steading calls pasturizing.
@@Yugiohplayer5 we prefer not to use those items. Also, it does not eliminate or even kill yeast. It prevents them from multiplying.
I'm a full time RVer and I want to start brewing. Will the motion of traveling cause problems with brewing? Are there brews that would do better with this? I'm usually in one place for about 2 weeks before moving. Thanks.
I want to say you should be fine. Shorter ferment brews like beer or cider might be preferable, essentially you have to be ready to let things settle after driving is all.
Have you ever bought and used the swing top bottles from Ikea? Curious if anyone knows if they can hold pressure from carbonization or just maybe use them for stilled beverages?
I have used the IKEA bottles. The plastic top (not the rubber part) is cheap and doesn't hold up well. Of the half dozen I bought, at least two cracked. I've had much better luck with the 1l La Costa Sangria bottles, and they come with free wine!
I was about to say what Barry said.
@@CitySteadingBrews @Barry Drake Thank you both!
hi! I bottled my first mead! i came out nice, only.. it tasted more like a sweet white wine with a honey aftertaste. not bad at all but its missing a "punch" , how can i get that in my next mead and make my brew actually taste more like mead? started at 1070 it came down to 1000 and sweetned it to 1010
Start with a higher gravity like 1.100 that way you have more honey in it.
Hey guys live this episode, just like all the others. But can I quickly ask (coz I missed it) what’s the name of those bottles from Aldi called again??
Don’t know of a name, it’s lemonade though.
@@CitySteadingBrews thanks guys, I’m going into aldi tomorrow, so I’ll have a looksee ✌🏻😊
One thing that 'worries' me is that I can have my brew 100% done, but I get a tad nervous that it's not totally degassed.
I'll rack it to a pitcher, gently swirl it, but I worry that it'll degass in the (non pressure safe) bottle and create a bottle bomb.
How do I know for certain that I've totally degassed, and would degassing in a bottle create a bottle bomb?
Thanks!
Degassing won’t make a bottle bomb. If you feel you degassed it enough, you probably did.
So I've been wondering. Would it be safe to carbonate a cider in 1/2 gallon beer growlers? They take the pressure of the carbonated beer, right. Does anyone have any experience with this?
I wouldn’t know. Storing and creating pressure may require different tolerances?
Do you use a stabilizer when you are bottling wine
Never have. We often pasteurize though.
Are the Aldi swing top bottles just Aldi brand? We recently got an Aldi's and I was going to look into getting some! Especially if they can withstand carbonation as my go-to-homebrew is beer. Thanks!
They are not Aldi brand. It’s a French name.
@@CitySteadingBrews thank you for your response! Great channel by the way. I've been binging your videos this last week
question though, after bottling how do you store them for the longer term "aging". fridge, shelf, what are ok temps? that sort of thing.. sorry if you stated this in a different video, just haven't ran across it yet if so.
We just put on a shelf at our typical house temp, about 75f
@@CitySteadingBrews thanks, keep up the great videos!
Tips for getting your bottling wand off of your auto syphon tube? I put it on 1/2" and it has been stuck ever since...
Hot water and be careful :)
I can sort of pry it with a fingernail sometimes too.
4:50
How can you tell if something is oxidizing?
You have to taste it.
What does oxidized mead look like? Or is it just a taste thing?
Just taste. Will be... flat, sometimes almost sour, just not very palatable.
I'm wondering, what keeps the mead from going bad ? There's still a bit of oxygen in the top, is it not enough to oxydate the mead ?
It doesn’t really work that way. The tiny amount of air in those bottles wouldn’t harm the brew no. Mead or wine goes bad usually from infection or oxidizing or vinegarization. Infection can happen from poor sanitation and will render a mead undrinkable and possibly dangerous with certain molds. Oxidizing may change the flavor over time. Sometimes it’s good, other times it might not be preferable. Vinegar can be produced in lower than 10% abv brews that get oxidized badly. It takes months though.
The 750ml is 26 Oz......we refer to it up here as a 26'er, or "twixer". This is your "fifth" (in the US).
It’s close. More like 25.3 ounces.
Just bottled my first batch of mead. Thank you for giving all this info to the internet for noobs like me. I have a question. Is it okay that there is bubbles from the sanitizer on top of my mead in the bottles? Will it effect the taste?The sanitizer is Star San solution.
Should be fine.
Awesome, thank you 🙂
Alas, our Aldi does not have that lemonade - Sigh.
Sorry… :(
I have a very specific question: Is there a timeline for bottle bombs when performing in bottle carbonation? For example: If the bottles are all fine after 5 days (or 7 days, or 10days, or whatever) is it reasonable to treat them as normal and just put them on the shelf?
I segregate newly carbonating bottles much like you do. But my bottle container (my version of your "bomb shelter") is relatively small and I can't reasonably keep them segregated indefinitely. Not looking for a definitive answer, just some guidance. FWIW, I've never had a bottle bomb or even a leaker. Just normal intended levels of carbonation.
If you have completed fermentation and added the recommended amount of priming sugar, you shouldn't have exploding bottles no matter how long they sit. The only thing could be a bad bottle, like a chip or crack.
There is no real timetable, but I get what you're saying. Most likely, barring physical issues in the bottle, I'd say 2-3 weeks.
@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks. That kind of goes along with what I was thinking. I'm generally very careful in my bottle carbonation process but I'm a little paranoid when it comes to bottle bombs. Even though I've never had one.
I’ve been fermenting out of an igloo 2 gallon drink dispenser. That type of jug you’d see at lawn parties. It comes with a free airlock on the top of it ;)
Very good for liquids, kinda messy once you add fruits in it. The lil squirt valve gets gunked up. But the squirt valve is positioned perfectly to leave the dead yeast at the bottom
Question about the Aldi bottles. Are they sealed well enough to be able to store on their side, or is it best to not trust that seal enough to test it? TIA :)
No reason to store on the side. That’s for corks. The seal is great but we store standing up.
@@CitySteadingBrews The main reason I wanted to know was for storage reasons. I was looking into shelving for my office that would accommodate more bottles and those side shelves came up. Thank you for the response though!
@@loki86golf I wouldn't store anything but corks on their side... just too risky. Trust me, we get the space constraint issues!
@@CitySteadingBrews LOL! I bet you do. I finally got into making 5 gallon batches a couple years ago, and boy oh boy.... space is an issue.... ALL THE TIME!
So cork bottles aren't good for mead?
They are fine for mead.
If you do a shrink wrap on top of the screw top, does that preserve the beverage better?
Not really. It’s more decoration.
So im going to reuse wine bottles and i need to buy new corks for them how do i pick witch ones to use and do i need to but a corker or could i get away with using tasting corks and if so how long will it last with those
You will need to determine the cork size for your bottles. I don't cork so I can't help much there. Tasting corks aren't going to be a reliable means of preserving your wine.
@CitySteadingBrews ok thank you anyways
Ferst 😂😂😂
Lol