I just finished making 7 gallons of simple Welches grape juice wine. Just
beginning my wine making experience and I have bottled 21 bottles of wine
using used twist top bottles. They are currently in the fridge. Can I
eventually take them out and put them in the cellar after 3-5 days in the
cooler? Will the twist seal be safe?


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"Triplex" > wrote:
> I just finished making 7 gallons of simple Welches grape juice wine. Just
> beginning my wine making experience and I have bottled 21 bottles of wine
> using used twist top bottles. They are currently in the fridge. Can I
> eventually take them out and put them in the cellar after 3-5 days in the
> cooler? Will the twist seal be safe?

If you used new twist tops, or the sort that are designed for re-use, the
seal will be perfectly safe. But perhaps it will be too safe!

Every object (solid, liquid, gas) expands when it warms up and contracts
when it cools down. Gases compress under pressure. Most fluids do not. [This
is the principle behind hydraulic brakes.] When you move the bottles from
the fridge to the cellar, the temperature may increase, the wine may expand,
and this may push a cork (partially) out of the bottle. If twist-tops are
used, the bottle may break or shatter. However, if there is sufficient
headspace, and there isn't too large a temperature increase, this won't
occur, because the air at the top of the bottle will compress. So, it
depends upon the temperature of the wine when you bottled, and how much
headspace you left, and the difference between refrigerator and cellar
temperatures.

A greater danger is resumed fermentation of sugars, or malolactic
refrigeration. If either of these occur, a cork will pop out, but a
twist-top will not, and eventually they bottle will explode sending
fragments of glass (and wine) all over the room. This is why twist-tops
should not be used --- unless you sterile filter, or add sorbate and SO2 to
prevent further fermentation.

One generally doesn't bottle immediately after "finishing making" the wine,
but ages in bulk for at least 6-months. This reduces the chances of a
resumed fermentation in the bottle, allows the wine to clear, and ages the
wine better.

But, if the bottles were safe in the fridge, they should probably be safe in
your cellar. Not sure why you put them in the fridge though. Such "cold
stabilization" may cause the precipitation of bitartrates, in which case you
would want to rack the wine afterwards.

Negodki wrote:

> "Triplex" > wrote:
> > I just finished making 7 gallons of simple Welches grape juice wine. Just
> > beginning my wine making experience and I have bottled 21 bottles of wine
> > using used twist top bottles. They are currently in the fridge. Can I
> > eventually take them out and put them in the cellar after 3-5 days in the
> > cooler? Will the twist seal be safe?
>
> If you used new twist tops, or the sort that are designed for re-use, the
> seal will be perfectly safe. But perhaps it will be too safe!

2 litre pop bottles won't shatter... I assume that's what he is using!

--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

> > "Triplex" > wrote:
> > > I just finished making 7 gallons of simple Welches grape juice wine. Just
> > > beginning my wine making experience and I have bottled 21 bottles of wine
> > > using used twist top bottles. They are currently in the fridge. Can I
> > > eventually take them out and put them in the cellar after 3-5 days in the
> > > cooler? Will the twist seal be safe?
> >
> > If you used new twist tops, or the sort that are designed for re-use, the
> > seal will be perfectly safe. But perhaps it will be too safe!
>
> 2 litre pop bottles won't shatter... I assume that's what he is using!

I hope he's not using those plastic 2 liter bottles. Only glass
bottles should be used. I use clear twist top glass bottles for all
my wine and never had a problem. In fact, I prefer twist top to cork.