How to Bottle Wine - Part 1 - Filling Bottles

Springless Bottle Filler: amzn.to/2PDFG6H
5/16 Tubing: amzn.to/2MNPlcl
Stainless Racking Cane: amzn.to/2BP7yBR
Support The Home Winemaking Channel: / makewine
In this video I will show how easy it is to fill your wine or cider bottles at home using a bottle filler and siphon. Bottling your wine should be done long past the end of fermentation and after the wine is clear and stable. A dose of potassium metabisulfite is usually added just before bottling to account for any oxygen introduced during the bottling stage.

[@chemtrail_brew_Que]

Great video! I completed my first batch of wine in May and was worried that I didn't fill the bottles high enough, but your video confirms that I did. Thanks for the info

[@mikeivan5947]

This is a very helpful video. Thanks for taking the time to do it! Priming my bottle cane took a little practice but after a couple tries with filling and flipping like you do, works great! Thanks!

[@richardwolske2015]

I got the automate filling assembly you talked about, I got to say that having to have a second bottle for the small bleed because of the air bleed from the bottle being filled is a pain in the ass ! The video with a shut off in the fill line is way less messy ! Love your input and all your advice, thank you

[@leslieking3974]

Thanks for the video. Could u advise where the gravity wand and tubing is sold? I made a mess w bottling using a siphone and spring loaded wand and found urs is easier and clean to use.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Hi Leslie. I added a link in the video description for the bottle filler that I use and the racking cane and tubing. Hopefully that helps. If you are not in the US and can't get it off of amazon, then you will want to look for the fillers with the black tips. They are usually not spring loaded. The ones with the white tips usually are spring loaded.

[@matthewjai5364]

Is the carboy cane attached to your tubing necessary for bottling? Just starting and am wondering if I need to purchase one? Thanks!

[@vice4784]

Hello, a question: How much density can a demijohn hold without breaking completely closed with a stopper?

[@bakhossassine7968]

where can i purchace the filler you showed on your show, i am very much interested in one thanks

[@christopherkastanek1234]

What procedures do you take to prepare the bottles prior to adding the wine to the bottle? Can you fill directly from the case of the bottles are new? I’ve always sprayed with a sulfite solution.

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

I have heard that you don't really need to sanitize new bottles from an unopened case, but I always do. I use starsan, and just let it drip out on a bottle drying rack for at least a few minutes before adding wine. The starsan is super effective and has really no taste. The sulfite solution is fine too. It will give you a couple ppm SO2 boost when bottling to help offset any oxygen you introduce during bottling. I have seen people use a submersible pump with a footswitch in a bucket of sanitizer then put a tube sticking up on it. You can just stick the bottles over the tube and press the footpedal. I will probably make something like that in the near future.

[@chadhughes9963]

What is your target SO2 level just before bottling red wine? Say your pH is 3.6 do you try to target 50 ppm free SO2 molecular? Or do you go higher or lower than molecular to protect for aging?

[@doctorro398]

I've always wondered, isn't the wine exposed to air during the filling process since the bottle is uncorked? Does this not affect it. If not, then theoretically I could fill a bottle of wine into two half bottles to save half and it should taste like freshly opened when I open it?

[@steveg.5264]

there's a vacuum seal when corked . If you can reproduce this seal then you wont oxidize your wine causing vinegar.
hope this helps

[@mattymuso2108]

You'd need to fill the half bottles with an inert gas such as CO2 or nitrogen before corking so the wine doesn't come into contact with oxygen

[@mikesisson705]

do you degas prior to bottling?

[@TheHomeWinemakingChannel]

Only the young stuff like white wines and rose. I have a brake bleeder fitted to a carboy stopper that I use as a vacuum pump. It is a slow process but works well worth a little agitation. I don't love the idea of the drill mounted degassers but it should be okay assuming you actually do have some level of CO2 saturation. Otherwise you are introducing oxygen at a time when the wine is very sensitive to oxygen uptake.