Bottling Mead Question

robertpreed · November 16, 2011, 7:47pm

About to attempt my FIRST mead and I had a question on bottling.

I would like to bottle in the 750ml size bottles. I see on this site there are screw top and regular cork bottles. I do not have a corker and I was thinking that the screw top bottles would provide a good enough seal (as many wines are sold in stores that way) and was wondering what the more experienced folks thought.

Also, planned on making 3 gallons of the “Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead” (http://www.moremead.com/mead_logs/Ancient_OCC.html) recipe that seems very odd (e.g. bread yeast) but has gotten a fair amount of good reviews. I wanted to make something simple for the first mead.

Any thoughts?

Thanks all.

runningonempty · November 17, 2011, 12:39pm

I have used both corks and on occasion screw caps. I believe that they both accomplish the same task. For me its a matter of presentation. If you do decide to use screw caps then I would NOT use the metal ones. They do work but are not intened for mutiple use. The plastic screw caps seem much better to me. The clean up nicely and do not “rust” after several uses. Just be sure the get the right size. They make screw caps for both bottles and the 1 and 1/2 gallon jugs and they are not interchangable.

I currently have a gallon of “Joe’s Ancient Organge” under air lock. Its been in the primary for just over 4 weeks now so I am waiting for it to clear and then I will bottle probably using screw caps since it will be for my consumption.

Since this is your first go with screw caps. If you like the results you would probably want to move on to corks and invest in a decent “corker” (floor type).

robertpreed · November 17, 2011, 1:54pm

Thanks for the reply.

When I look at the difference in price from a cheap corker and a good floor model, I see a good floor model gadget in my future.

For this first three gallon batch, I’ll probably try the plastic screw tops.

runningonempty · December 14, 2011, 8:17pm

Today I almost dumped a bottle of medium sweet while using a hand corker on a one gallon jug. It never gave me a problem before but that is all it took. I will be investing in a floor model before attempting the 5 gallon batch.

runningonempty · December 14, 2011, 8:27pm

Clarification: was using a hand corker on a 750 ml bottle not a one gallon jug as the above implies.

hamiltont · December 14, 2011, 8:41pm

[quote=“robertpreed”]About to attempt my FIRST mead and I had a question on bottling.

I would like to bottle in the 750ml size bottles. I see on this site there are screw top and regular cork bottles. I do not have a corker and I was thinking that the screw top bottles would provide a good enough seal (as many wines are sold in stores that way) and was wondering what the more experienced folks thought.

Also, planned on making 3 gallons of the “Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead” (http://www.moremead.com/mead_logs/Ancient_OCC.html) recipe that seems very odd (e.g. bread yeast) but has gotten a fair amount of good reviews. I wanted to make something simple for the first mead.

Any thoughts?

Thanks all.[/quote]

1 Liter soda bottles?

baratone_brewer · December 14, 2011, 11:58pm

Hand corkers are cheap and easy to use. Couple of taps with a 1lb rubberized dead blow and your good to go. If you cork alot, a nice floor corker is a good investment. But if not, you can still cork a whole lot of bottles with a hand corker.

jezebeth · December 16, 2011, 3:17pm

I’m about to start my first mead as well. Everything’s in order but I’m not sure about bottling. I’ve got a bunch of 750 New Amsterdam gin bottles lying around that should be easy to disinfect and get the stickers off of. They have metal caps though, any suggestions as to where I might get plastic caps or if it’s okay to use the originals again?