Store the rinsed bottles upside down to drip dry in an open container. An open container will prevent the chance of mold growth. Sanitize the bottles with Star San solution before filling, but fill before they dry. Star San is effective only when the sanitized surface remains wet.

No, standard wine bottles are not meant to hold much pressure at all. Less than one atmosphere and then will easily break. Believe me, I’ve had wine that was barely fizzy and bottles started to pop. Plus there is no way to hold the pressure back unless you use screw caps.

It is kept in the wine under pressure. This wine will not be under pressure in any way. The wine will only be holding the CO2 gas it can without pressure, which is not very much. If you have already bottled the wine there is no reason to be concerned.

John Palmer, an author of How to Brew, suggest the following:

1. Step 1: Rinse the tub you used to clean the bottles.
2. Step 2: Add hot water to the tub.
3. Step 3: Use one tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water.
4. Step 4: Soak the bottles for 20 minutes.
5. Step 5: After soaking, rinse the bottles using boiled water.

Let them drip dry is the standard recommended practice. If I am in a hurry and don’t have time to let them dry first, I’ll usually rinse, which is kind of silly because the amount of sulfite that would be added if I didn’t rinse is well below anything that would be an issue…

In order to prevent spoilage due to improperly cleaned bottles, follow the basic bottle cleaning procedure outlined below.

1. Wash. You’re going to need a bottle brush, some mild detergent (regular dish soap is fine for this) and plenty of hot water.
2. Rinse. After thoroughly washing your bottles, it’s time to rinse.
3. Sanitize.

As to your second question about using wine bottle corks on a screw-cap wine bottle, the answer is “not advisable”. This is for two reasons. The first is that the size of the opening of the wine bottle is critical to the success of the wine bottle cork. The wine bottling opening needs to be 3/4″.

Add either boiled sugar/water or fruit juice/etc. to your wine to bring back sweetness and flavor to taste. We also stock at Main Street a non-fermentable sugar liquid that can be added directly into your fermenter. Do not over-add sweetness, because you cannot remove it after this point.

If your wine is clear, stable, and free of CO2, it’s ready. Clear means free of particles that could later fall out of suspension and leave a deposit in the bottles. Stable means finished fermenting and with enough sulfites (SO2) present to prevent oxidation and spoiling.

1. Clean your bottles. Soak your used wine bottles in a bottle cleaning solution for one hour.
2. Remove debris.
3. Rinse the bottles thoroughly.
4. Sanitize your wine bottles.
5. Let the wine bottles drain.
6. Fill wine bottles immediately after sanitizing.

Sanitizing is a cyclical process. Good practices save you time in the long run. Always rinse after using your wine making equipment. This cuts down on the elbow grease when it comes to cleaning.

JUST FINE WINE has a great cleaning product available for purchase called Chloroclean, which is essentially a “food-grade” bleach. When you clean with Chloroclean or household bleach, be sure to rinse thoroughly with water, MANY TIMES, to ensure there is no residue left in the bottle.

To sterilise your bottles, first wash and rinse them thoroughly. Whilst normally, with jam jars and ordinary glass bottles, you can sterilise them by placing them in a warm oven for 30 minutes, this approach isn’t suitable for clip-top bottles because of the rubber seals.

Put a teaspoon of bleach and a teaspoon of baking soda in the bottle and fill it with water. Let the bottle sit overnight. Rinse out the bottle completely the next day (or run it through the dishwasher). Let the bottle air dry completely.

For hard-to-clean grime and mildew, consider cleaning your water bottle with bleach. Mix a teaspoon of bleach with a teaspoon of baking soda in your water bottle. Fill the remainder with water. Use the baking soda and bleach solution to scrub the cap as well, inside and out.

It’s perfectly safe to drink from a bottle that’s been cleaned with a weak bleach solution — it can even be used to sanitize baby toys and bottles. Make a bleach solution using one tablespoon of bleach per one quart of water. Fill your bottle, screw on the top, and allow to sit for two minutes.