Bottles for wine

[EmmaK]

Can anyone tell me whether you can use the screw type bottles for home made wine? I have saved the Screw lids.

Regards
Emma

[Two_Sheds]

You can

I just prefer the cork ones - sometimes the screw tops don't fit quite right

[Hazel at the Hill]

Re-using Screw Top Bottles

One of the very rare occasions that I disagree with Two_Sheds!

Because the necks of screw top bottles are a fraction wider than normal, plastic corks (if you are using) slip in easier - brilliant - but the down side is that they slide OUT easier too! POP!

If you re-use the screw top, you aren't getting a good fit, so I wouldn't use those either. Also, because the thread in screw top bottles makes the glass at that point quite thin, if you try to cork with a well fitting cork which needs a bit of a firm hand to get them in, you risk breaking the glass at the neck as you shove down with your exposed wrist waiting to catch the jags!!

I didn't know all this until I phoned the homebrew shop to see if they did slightly bigger plastic corks for screw top bottles, and the lady had an attack of the vapours and made me PROMISE never to use screw top bottles!

Hang around the bottle bank for 5 minutes instead on a Saturday morning, and you will pick up all the bottles you need - or a good restaurant or wine bar (not pub - they will prob. use screw top wines) and you'll come away with sackfuls.

[cptncrackoff]

You do have to be very very careful when corking screw top bottles as they are very thin, it can be done, I have a few in storage but i prefer not to use them if possible.

In my experience you can sterrilize the original screw tops and re-use but only for very short term storage a couple of months tops.

If short of bottles wines can be stored in bulk in Demijohns for long periods if theres not too much space in the top of them.

If you get really stuck plastic fizzy bottles can be used... It might not be to the taste of traditionalists... bit it works!

[EmmaK]

Thanks everyone,
hi ho, hi ho off to the bottle bank I go!
Emma

[ginger ninger]

I really hope so. I've got a cellar full of them...well, 3 dozen of them. I'm hoping to make blackberry also elderberry wine this year.

[Two_Sheds]

You can

One of the very rare occasions that I disagree with Two_Sheds!

I should have taken the time to fully explain my answer instead of dashing off to finish sewing a pair of niece's shorts

"You can" ... if you have nothing else and don't want to store your wine for too long. The screw caps won't fit quite right, Hazel is correct, but I put shrink caps over the tops too (and I use vodka bottles not screw-cap wine bottles).

I've had one bottle explode (out of 70 odd), and that was a cork in a cork bottle (with shrink cap!)

[Hilary B]

These days we use screw-top wine bottles (with the screw-tops) for most of our home wine. Some we have used 3 times, and it gets stored until we get around to using it. So far no problem, but I would agree with the cautions.
What you DON'T want to use are glass 'fizzy drink' bottles. For short-term use, plastic fizzy-drink bottles are OK, and handy if you want to take your home-made wine on a picnic (or even to drink with a BBQ in your own garden) provided any flavour has been well washed out. We only ever have ones that came with fizzy water....

[pamlstano]

I really hope so. I've got a cellar full of them...well, 3 dozen of them. I'm hoping to make blackberry also elderberry wine this year.

Whats the sounds.! I really want to enjoy such type of wine like blackberry and elderberry..! How long you make this wine?