Storing homebrew wine.

I get around · 29 Mar 2010 at 11:41

I'm planning on making wine within the next few weeks, with a drinking habbit like mine and most of my familys it makes a great deal of financial sense.

Now, I'm just wondering about storing it when it's done.

I've got a shedload of screwtop wine bottles, but I'm sort of wondering whether these will provide an adequate seal?

I haven't got many corked bottles is the main trouble here, and I don't really want to buy any as they are quite expensive.

How long would I be able to expect homemade wine to keep for as well? I'm going to make 30 bottles of it at a time so it needs to last a few months at least. Is there something I could add to make it last a while?

The Dread Pirate · 29 Mar 2010 at 11:42

Oak Casks!

RadoX · 29 Mar 2010 at 11:50

when i was home brewing i sterilized all the corked bottles i had and baught a corker and corkes. i had a year old bottle the other night, was tasty

Ahleckz · 29 Mar 2010 at 12:03

Yeah, screw tops will be fine. I've brewed over 100 gallons over the last year and I've only used screw tops - glass Irn Bru bottles to be exact (I collect them from my common room at uni and get loads for free. Also, it costs me about 35p to make a bottle of 8.5% applewine and if I take the bottles back to the shop you can redeem them for 30p! So I'm basically paying 5p for 700ml of booze!

They'll last indefinitely if you keep them in a dark place with a steady temperature. The taste will improve drastically too. My Christmas Ale is going on this week so it'll be ready for Christmas.

Make sure that you clean and sanitize the bottles very well - I fill up my bathtub with hot water and fairy liquid and let them soak for about an hour. Rinse them out, refill the bath and add a few tablespoons of a sanitizing powder, leave for about an hour (turning now and then so it touches all the bottle) and then rinse. Then you're good to bottle!

What recipe are you using? Any questions, just ask away.

I get around · 29 Mar 2010 at 13:02

I'm starting off with one of those kits.
http://www.brew-it-yourself.co.uk/shop/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=78_114&products_id=909&osCsid=ebeeb85465b3e7eccdb814ed13ef921a

This one to be precise, going to use a heating belt as well because my house isn't particularly warm.

Would the stuff used to sterilise baby bottles be ok for sterilising the wine bottles?

Ahleckz · 29 Mar 2010 at 13:09

Never used that company, don't really make wine though.
Once you have all the stuff (brewing vessel, sypons, hydrometer, airlock and bottles you can move into make more fruit juice based stuff if that takes your fancy.
Quite an infamous recipe It's really easy to make, and after 3 - 6 months ageing it's bloody tasty stuff, even with tesco/asda value juice!
To be honest, temperature of your house isn't particularly important. I put all my vessels (got 3 5 gallon drums) in the cupboard where my small combiboiler is and it works fine. In my flat, you can often see your breath when breathing, it really is quite cold! Though, I suppose if you wanted a uniform tasting product across different batches then being able to precisely control the temperature would be handy.
Yeah, that stuff will be fine.

I get around · 29 Mar 2010 at 13:15

That looks like a nice recipe there, thanks for the heads up on that. Definitely going to try and make some at some point.

I get around · 29 Mar 2010 at 21:39

What sort of apple juice did you use for the apfelwein?
My grandads given me some extra brewing equipment so i'm gonna have a go at making some alongside the kit. Is the cheapy tetrapak stuff ok for it?

Ahleckz · 29 Mar 2010 at 21:45

The cheap stuff from Asda/Tesco is fine. Check the ingredients, if it has preservatives (sorbic acid being the main one) then don't buy it as it won't work. You just want "Apple juice from concentrate".