Best wine making bottles & corks according to redditors

We found 89 Reddit comments discussing the best wine making bottles & corks. We ranked the 48 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.

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Top Reddit comments about Wine Making Bottles & Corks:

u/cryospam · 16 pointsr/mead

Don't buy a kit! They sell you all kinds of shit you won't use when there are better options for similar money.

Get a brewing bucket as if you don't have a bottler then this will make your life so much better.

Get 2 carboys (glass is best but better bottles will work too). Check Craigslist for these...you can get some awesome deals.

Get 1 Refractomoeter instead of a hydrometer because they use WAY less of your must to calculate and they aren't mega fragile like hydrometers are.

You will want an auto siphon

You will want a carboy brush that fits on a cordless drill because cleaning a carboy without one fucking sucks (and for 18 bucks this is a no brainer).

You will need sanitizer. I personally like Iodophor because it's super cheap, it doesn't really foam up and it lasts forever. I bought one of THESE bottles like 2 years ago and it is about half full even though I brew between 50-100 gallons a year.

I always advocate people start with beer bottles rather than wine bottles. The reason for this has less to do with the bottles and more to do with equipment. The Ferrari Bottle Capper is 14 dollars while a good floor corker for wine bottles will set you back 60 bucks. In addition, it's cheaper to bottle in 20 ounce beer bottles with caps rather than in wine bottles with good corks. Use of a double lever corker for wine bottles should be considered a war crime...seriously...unless you're a masochist who loves dumping wine everywhere and having to clean it afterwards...then just avoid them...they are absolutely awful.

If you go the wine bottle route then NEVER use agglomerated or colmated corks (the ones made from tiny pieces of cork glued together) as they fall apart and will leave chunks in your bottles. In addition they don't age well, so you are much more likely to lose your brew to spoilage. I like synthetic Nomacorc but you can also buy very good quality solid natural corks as well.

Good oxygen absorbing bottle caps on the other hand are mega cheap. Again...this isn't about one being better than the other, so you can use either one.

For wine bottles, I REALLY like the ones with screw tops because they make it nice and easy to cap your bottles once opened. But for all of your bottles buy these locally...shipping will double or triple the cost of these vs buying locally. I get them for 15 bucks a case a few miles from my house...they're almost 30 a case on Amazon or close to that from Midwest or from Ohio (shipping is like 11-15 dollars a case.)

For beer bottles...I prefer clear, but they'll be tough to find locally so I often end up with brown ones. Again...buy these locally not online due to shipping costs. Your local brewing supply stores buy these pallets at a time so even Amazon can't compete with the lack of shipping costs.

u/Sauvignonpunk · 5 pointsr/wine

For the older bottles you may want to invest in a Bilame Bottle opener because old corks tend to crumble. You should decant carefully to avoid sediment and be sure to cut away all of the foil because bottles that old's foil tends to have lead

u/moar_DATA_please · 3 pointsr/mead

I use one for beer. They work well and I like them. I have to many Meads going to spend that much on them. Expect to pay over 100 for a nice one with temperature too. I have the Tilt one found here. Digital wireless hydrometer and thermometer for smartphone or tablet (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WVP11L2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_OjavCbKRDYPDG

u/Level41821 · 3 pointsr/mead
u/Tychus_Kayle · 3 pointsr/trebuchetmemes

I've made some slight modifications to this, mostly to make it easier to follow. I've also included steps that should be quite obvious to someone who's done any homebrewing before, but I wish someone had told me when I first started.

I'd link to the original, for the sake of attribution, but the user who posted this deleted their account not long after I wrote everything down.

This will produce a sweet fruit-mead (or melomel). WARNING this will be far more alcoholic than it tastes, and should not be consumed if you've recently taken antibiotics, or suffered gastric distress, as the yeast culture will still be alive, and will happily colonize your intestines if your gut microbiome is too fucked up.

Equipment: Most of this stuff will be a good deal cheaper at your local homebrew store, but I've included amazon links (also to the yeast).

At least 2 (3 is better, for reasons we'll get to) 1-gallon jugs (I don't recommend scaling this up), glass preferred. Add an extra jug for each additional batch. This one includes a drilled stopper and airlock

Drilled stoppers (or carboy bungs) and airlocks, non-drilled rubber stoppers.

An autosiphon and food-safe tubing.

Food-safe sanitizing solution (I recommend StarSan).

An electric kettle with temperature selector is useful, but not needed.

If you want to bottle it rather than just keeping a jug in your fridge:

Empty beer or wine bottles (just save your empties), capping or corking equipment, caps or corks, and a bottling wand.

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs (1130g) honey, clover recommended.

A cup (approximately 250ml) or so of fruit (I recommend blackberries, and I strongly recommend against cherries, other recipes have worked for me, but this yields a very medical flavor with cherries).

1 packet Lalvin EC-1118 yeast (a champagne yeast notable for its hardiness, its ability to out-compete other microorganisms, and its high alcohol tolerance).

Optional: potassium sorbate (to reduce yeast activity when our ferment is done), pectic enzyme (aka pectinase - for aesthetic purposes). Both are also available in bulk.

Process:

Day 1:

Mix sanitizing solution with clean water at specified proportions in one of your jugs, filling the jug most of the way. Stopper it, shake it. Remove stopper, set it down wet-side-up (to keep it sterile), pour the fluid to another jug. There will be foam left behind, this is fine, don't bother to rinse it or anything. At low concentrations this stuff is totally fine to drink, and won't ruin your fermentation or flavor.

Add honey to jug, all of it.

If you have a kettle, and your jug is glass, heat water to around 160F (71 Celsius), pour a volume into your jug roughly equal to the amount of honey present. Fix sterile stopper to jug. Shake until honey and water are thoroughly combined. The heat will make it FAR easier to dissolve the honey. Set aside for an hour or so while it cools. Add clean water 'til mostly full, leaving some room for fruit and headspace.

If you're missing a kettle, or using a plastic jug, this is gonna be a little harder. Fill most of the way with clean water (I recommend using a filter) leaving some room for fruit and headspace. Fix sterile stopper, shake 'til honey and water are thoroughly combined. This will take a while, and you will need to shake VERY vigorously.

At this point, you should have a jug mostly-full of combined honey and water. To this, add fruit (inspecting thoroughly for mold, don't want to add that). Then dump in a single packet of the Lalvin EC-1118 yeast, don't bother rehydrating it first or anything, it'll be fine going straight in. Add pectic enzyme if you have it (this does nothing to the flavor, it just makes the end product less cloudy). Stopper it up, shake it again. This jug now contains your "must" (pre-ferment mead).

Pour some sterilizing fluid in a bowl, put a carboy bung/drilled stopper in the bowl, with an airlock. Ensure full immersion. Let sit for a minute. Replace stopper with your bung/drilled stopper, affix airlock. Fill airlock with clean water, sanitizing fluid, or vodka. Rinse the stopper, fix it to your jug of sanitizing fluid.

Place must-jug in a dark place, I recommend a cabinet or closet.

Days 2-7:

Retrieve jug, give it a little jostle. Nothing so vigorous as to get your mead into the airlock, but enough to upset it. This is to release CO2 buildup, and to keep any part of the fruit from drying out. The foaming from the CO2 release may be very vigorous. Do this over a towel for your first batch. If the foam gets into your airlock, clean your airlock and reaffix it. Perform this jostling procedure at least once per day, more is better.

Day 8:

Final jostling, I recommend doing this in the morning.

Day 9:

let it sit, we want the sediment to settle.

Day 10: Time to get it off the sediment

Shake sterilizing fluid jug. Affix tubing to siphon. Put the siphon in the sterilizing fluid, shake the jug a little just to get the whole siphon wet. Siphon fluid into either a third container or a large bowl. This is all to sterilize both the inside and outside of your siphoning system.

Remove siphon from jug. Give it a couple pumps to empty it of any remaining fluid. Place siphon in your mead jug, leaving the end of the tubing in sterilizing fluid while you do this.

Take the jug that you just siphoned the sterilizing fluid from. Dump what fluid remains in it. Place the end of the tubing in this jug, then siphon the mead into it. Make no attempt to get the last bit of mead into your fresh container, it's mostly dead yeast and decomposing fruit.

Add potassium sorbate if you have it, stopper the jug, place it in your fridge.

Clean the jug you started in. Clean your siphon and tubing.

Day 11:

Let it sit

Day 12 or later: time to transfer again, or bottle it.

If you no longer have a jug full of sterilizing fluid, make one.

Repeat the earlier steps to sterilize the siphoning system, with a bottling wand attached to the end of the tubing if you want to bottle.

Sterilize your bottles or a clean jug, either with fluid or heat.

Siphon mead either into your bottles or jug. Stopper/cap/cork when done.

Put your jug/bottles in the fridge.

The yeast culture is still alive, and will continue to ferment. The fridge, and optional potassium sorbate, will merely slow this down. I recommend drinking any bottles within two months, to avoid a risk of bursting bottles. The mead should already be tasty at this point, but usually tastes much better after a couple more weeks.

EDIT: Fixed the formatting up a bit.

u/el_supreme_duderino · 3 pointsr/mead
u/The_Chief · 3 pointsr/winemaking

If you looking for wine bottles you can totally wash out and reuse whatever you drink and buy a corker.

It's not that hard to bottle with cork. I have this corker and it is fine for a few bottles:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCYZA9O/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01NCYZA9O&pd_rd_w=f2qbN&pf_rd_p=f0dedbe2-13c8-4136-a746-4398ed93cf0f&pd_rd_wg=RYbTp&pf_rd_r=5W9DW8QM1JE2CABS143Y&pd_rd_r=6d6a27a0-28ac-11e9-8fda-23ec39d64fe3

Corks you can find for a few bucks. So like for 25$ you cork your bottles.

​

u/Bunsomel · 3 pointsr/mead

edit: Here's a tip! Check your local winery or meadery and ask what they do with their bottles from the tasting room. You might be able to grab a few at a time for free! It might vary by state, but in Michigan at least the establishments are unable to re-use bottles they empty in their tasting rooms. So they will end up tossing them in recycling for lack of a better option.

I've always used wine bottles previously, but just recently I've come into a large hoard of baby bellissima bottles which I've really come to love. A 750ml wine bottle is great for when you're sharing with friends, but sometimes I just want a glass or two to myself or share with my fiancee. The 375 bellissima is perfect for two glasses, and the petite bottles are beautiful. They are extremely sturdy, with thick bases, and the clear ones show color very well.

it looks like the ones pictured on amazon don't appear to have the thick sturdy bases like the ones I have. I didn't buy my bottles from amazon, and instead picked them up from my local meadery.

u/fernweh42 · 3 pointsr/prisonhooch

If you’re not carbonating, then a cheap handcorker will do. It can be a pain to cork a lot of bottles though.

Beer bottles with bottle caps and capper are easier.

u/SpicyThunder335 · 3 pointsr/mead

> I'm hoping that wax seal keeps out the air

It won't. Those corks probably also won't last more than a few years, even under proper storage conditions. Drink this batch up and make some more. I get the sentiment but, no first time brew is worth saving for 25 years - you'll get better as brew more and future batches will certainly be worth aging for longer periods.

Edit: Also, just buy synthetic unless you're crazy about the aesthetics/presentation of using real cork. 100 Nomacorcs are only $20 on Amazon (if you're in the US).

u/GFrohman · 3 pointsr/NoStupidQuestions

Buy a cheap corker from amazon.

Fill a regular wine bottle with everclear, and use food coloring to dye it the same color as a red wine.

Recork the wine with a fresh cork. (protip: Soak the new cork in water for ~10 minutes before corking to help it go in more evenly.)

I'm a homebrewer, I've done this tens of times. It's super easy and quite foolproof.

u/ActuAllyNickle · 3 pointsr/sousvide
u/kaidevis · 3 pointsr/winemaking

You are correct but I would like to point out that similarly styled hand corkers do exist. I have a similar one for my small batch meads and absolutely love it.

They're a bit of a pain if you're doing hundreds of bottles but perfect for a few cases. What I love most is the small size -- it fits in my brewing supply bin instead of taking up the room a stand-up corker does.

u/MartinLutherLing · 2 pointsr/whiskey

I'm moving houses soon, and was just thinking about this. Not for any fancy purposes, but just to consolidate some leftover remnants from bottles. But after reading more about it, the idea of keeping a bottle over the years with a bit of history sounds cool.

I bought this bottle off Amazon for the moving job, it was cheap and I was just gonna repurpose it for other stuff, but I may just keep this bottle as my "leftovers" bottle.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M69TPGO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

u/signde · 2 pointsr/ScotchSwap

Hahah. I did recently order one of these but not sure it will help.

u/its_the_new_style · 2 pointsr/sousvide

Looks like this one.

u/Ghawblin · 2 pointsr/mead

To piggy back on u/stormbeforedawn's comment.

This is the equipment I used that I've had good luck with so far. It's what he recommended, I'm just providing links to the specific product I used.

  • 2 gal primary bucket

  • 1 gal secondary glass

  • Autosiphon

  • racking cane

  • Hydrometer

  • Starsan

  • GoFerm

  • I used Fermaid O, not Fermaid K, because I was following a specific nutrient regimen. It's called TONSA 2.0. Popular, but apparently not cost efficient with larger batches. People better at this than I can answer nutrient schedule questions.

  • Bubbler/Airlock.

  • Bottles and cap method are your preferance. You can get bottles of tons of shapes, colors and styles. Corked, capped, swingtop, etc. Just make sure the bottles are food-safe and not decorative hobby/thrift store stuff. If you use corks, same rule, don't use decorative stuff. You'll want #8 agglomerated cork and a hand corker tool to put the corks on. #9 corks work too, but you'll need heavy tools (like a floor corker) to do that..
u/graceful338 · 2 pointsr/weddingplanning

North Mountain Supply 750ml Glass Bordeaux Wine Bottle Flat-Bottomed Cork Finish - Case of 12 - Clear/Flint https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DK261SR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3WVyDbNM2ZHKC

They have all different colors and the price is for a case of 12

15 Pack 15 LED Bottle Cork String Lights, Wine Bottle Fairy Mini String Lights Copper Wire, Battery Operated Starry Lights for DIY, Christmas, Halloween, Wedding, Party, Indoor&Outdoor (Cool White) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PHR3JJJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_OXVyDbTAMNVFD

We got clear and blue lights, just search for whatever color cork string lights you want

We’re going to place 3 per table with a wreathe laying flat around it as greenery and some scattered silk flowers. Seems way cheaper than some florist quotes I was getting.

u/Froggr · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I've got this one, which is pretty solid:

http://www.amazon.com/Ferrari-Super-Agata-Bench-Capper/dp/B001D6KGTU

Although I have since gotten into wine, and had I known I would do that, I would have sprung for this one, which can accomodate a larger bell size for corking as well:

http://www.amazon.com/NorthernBrewer-Colonna-Capper-Corker/dp/B0089WJ8P4

u/HansJSolomente · 1 pointr/mead

Not really. I just bought a corker and knew that some people dipped wine in wax for a better seal.

[Here's a video I found that isn't what I did, but would be way better.]
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH2tfko-iU0)

Here's the steps, it's not hard overall but requires some equipment.

  1. Soak 1 more cork than you need for 2-3 hours in a bowl of sterile water.

  2. Fill wine bottles with mead

  3. Get out the ol' compression corker and cork your sauce.

    ....20 minute break for a drink....

  4. Fill a pot with water and fill half way a can or disposable metal bowl with wax

  5. Drop can into water and simmer as a cheap double boiler - don't boil, just slowly heat

  6. Dip bottle tops in, wipe off excess before it cools, and store for aging.

    When you open it use a corkscrew with a knife for this purpose, like a standard waitstaff model, and cut the wax off (or score around the top) first over the trash or sink. Then open.
u/commonwhitebread · 1 pointr/mead

Thank you! I got my stuff of Amazon. It's pretty basic but $15 for the carboy and the airlock and yeast and nutrients, I thought it was a steal!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K5Z78SC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_rgE1Db6491NPK

u/mugsoh · 1 pointr/Cruise

Way too much work. Get one of these, some of these, and some of these. Buy dark wine bottles, drink the wine, buy whatever booze you want, fill empty wine bottles, cork, seal, and be done with it. For $20 you're set for 30 bottles.

u/Business__Socks · 1 pointr/mead

On the flip-side, I love my hand corker. Here’s a link. It’s a little more expensive than other hand corkers I’ve seen but a lot less expensive than a floor corker. All I do is spray the corks with a little starsan just before corking so they slide in easier and they go in without the dents. It’s adjustable also.

I don’t doubt a floor corker is better but if you don’t have space/can’t afford/don’t want to pay that much for the floor corker, this is a good option.

u/DoABachFlip · 1 pointr/mead

Thank you! I’ve already got 2 more batches (Blackberry/Cherry/Cranberry and Juniper/Peppermint) sitting in post-fermentation, both had SNA of just Fermaid-K (have since purchased DAP and Fermaid-O for the future), and with better aeration as well. The wiki and posts here have been incredibly helpful/insightful.

As for corking, I’m using a double lever hand corker (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCYZA9O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6.nPCb36S4SRB). My grandmother insisted she had a floor corker from my grandfather, but it ended up being a antique table-mount crown capper (still very cool, and as you can see from the photo I still used it). So I purchased #9 corks expecting floor corker. I imagined the problem was just the hand corker wasn’t designed to handle the larger corks, but do you think it could be something else?

u/Kreslev · 1 pointr/winemaking

I got them off Amazon. It’s about the only place where I can find supplies where I am.
Here’s a link.

u/Elasion · 1 pointr/mead

Do you need an airlock for the secondary? My impression is primary w/ airlock then you essentially transfer to smaller bottles and this is "racking?" Please correct me if I'm wrong but I'm trying to figure out what I need.

Right now I'm looking at this starter kit from Amazon + $12 for Starsan of Amazon

Is there any majorly wrong doing this for starting out?

u/MjVert · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

You could check out one of these

u/hovissimo · 1 pointr/mead

I use this style: https://smile.amazon.com/Ferrari-8R-KUTK-YL7E-Double-Lever-Corker/dp/B000FQBBK2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1469729139&sr=8-4&keywords=corker (though there are better corkers)

You can see the nuts near the top I was talking about, they allow for adjustment. I usually back them off whenever I'm using a new cork or bottle type, and just keep adjusting it forward while hitting the same cork in the same bottle until I like the result. Then just go hit the rest as normal.

u/kohain · 1 pointr/malelivingspace

I use a 5-gallon glass jar. I actually got it for almost nothing, I was at an estate sale and they just wanted it gone. It looks very similar to the one I have linked below, just much older.

Also, if you do happen to fill it up, you will probably have several hundred dollars. Last time I cashed it out, usually once a year, it was half full and I got around $600 from it.

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-To-Brew-LLC-39-BS46-H46M/dp/B0007R8ZBC

u/jorvid · 1 pointr/Kombucha

This might be a better investment. I use this for my 2F and it works great. You may also want to get a Air lock and a siphon as well.

u/Radimus68 · 1 pointr/mead

I use synthetics for convenience

Nomacorc Synthetic Wine Corks #9 x 1 1/2". Bag of 100 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064GWTS0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_0fdNDb7F70BAD

u/N62B44 · 1 pointr/wine

I just ordered some of these stoppers, they should get here today or tomorrow.

Tasting Corks-25 Count https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B5DVMAI/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_paSVub1YGEVPZ

I'll be using them this weekend. I'll report back my experience. I've never used them so hopefully they work as well as the vacuum stoppers.

Edit: added link.

u/McWatt · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

Here's a hand operated corker on Amazon for less than 20 bucks. Would that help?

u/NeonSpaceCandy · 1 pointr/FloatTank

Your response cleared a few things up!

I was referring to a hydrometer — I just wasn't certain of the name (it measures gravity levels and should read 1.2 - 1.29). Here is further explanation.

Thank you for providing the link to the H2O2 kit, I'll look into that kit!

u/DBAdass · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

https://www.amazon.com/NorthernBrewer-GR-5G10-3HIY-Colonna-Capper-Corker/dp/B0089WJ8P4

i recommend this one bc it has given me 4 years of reliable service and it does both capping beers and corking wines fantastically... I keg now so idk when I will use it again....

u/ravendemyseri · 1 pointr/mead

I do have a few indents in some of them, but really it's just good photography (left that to the wife). The corker is this one: https://smile.amazon.com/Ferrari-8R-KUTK-YL7E-Double-Lever-Corker/dp/B000FQBBK2?sa-no-redirect=1

u/Gstayton · 1 pointr/cocktails

So, I make most of my syrups (except orgeat, really), and I've found that these work really well. I also have some flasks, and I use one of those for homemade grenadine as well. And this is what I use for homemade Irish Cream, as well as an infinity bottle.

None of these things are a requirement, my first batches of simple syrup were stored in an empty red vinegar bottle after washing, and my first batch of Irish Cream was stored in an empty Absolut vodka bottle. I just figured I could lend some ideas for if you want to pick up some glass bottles. Naturally, there might be better, but I haven't had to replace these, so I figure they're good enough.

u/smokesmagoats · 1 pointr/Cruise

Buy a super cheap bottle of wine, drink or dump it. Fill it with booze, put the cork back in, and then use this to seal it. If you use a dark bottle they have no way of knowing without opening your wine, which they won't do.