Wine Bottling Fun Facts
10 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in custom bottle labels, custom wine labels, home brew, wedding wine ideas, wine bottling, wine ideas, wine making Tags: basic wine making, bottle borks, bottle caps, bottle labels, custom birthday wine labels, custom labels, custom wine labels, design labels, designer wine labels, holiday wine labels, home wine making, personalized labels, wedding wine labels, wine bottle storage, wine bottles, wine bottling, wine brewing, wine corks, wine making, wine stickers, wine storage
Are you getting ready to bottle your first batch of home-made wine? If so, here are a few facts you ought to keep in mind for choosing the right bottle for you.
What’s Your Wine?
Different wines belong to different bottles by tradition. Although you don’t have to follow tradition with every wine you bottle, knowing the information will still come in handy. Don’t forget to keep the temperature constant in the place where you store your wine.
- Port, sherry, and Bordeaux varieties: straight-sided and high-shouldered with a pronounced punt. Port and sherry bottles may have a bulbous neck to collect any residue.
- Burgundies and Rhône varieties: tall bottles with sloping shoulders and a smaller punt.
- Rhine (also known as hock or hoch), Mosel, and Alsace varieties: narrow and tall with little or no punt.
- Champagne and other sparkling wines: thick-walled and wide with a pronounced punt and sloping shoulders.
- German wines from Franconia: the Bocksbeutel bottle.
- The Chianti and some other Italian wines: the fiasco, a round-bottomed flask encased in a straw basket.
What Color Bottle?
Different wines belong in differently colored bottles, but remember – lighter color bottles should be stored in dark areas as wine can be subject to UV rays which cause wine to become ‘light struck’ (meaning it will develop an unpleasant odor).
- Bordeaux: dark green for reds, light green for dry whites, clear for sweet whites.
- Burgundy and the Rhone: dark green.
- Mosel and Alsace: dark to medium green, although some producers have traditionally used amber.
- Rhine: amber, although some producers have traditionally used green.
- Champagne: Usually dark to medium green. Rosé champagnes are usually a colorless or green.
Now that you have a basic idea of the types of wine bottles that are out there, you should begin thinking about branding your wine. A bottle label can say everything about the wine in the bottle, making your wine appear more professional and helping it stand out among competitors.
A variety of expertly designed wine labels and wine hang tags, perfect for holiday and wedding wines, can be found at Labels on the Fly.
Mead Recipes and Mead Labels
21 May 2010 1 Comment
in custom bottle labels, custom wine labels, home brew, wedding wine ideas, wine bottling, wine ideas, wine making Tags: basic wine making, bottle borks, bottle caps, bottle labels, custom birthday wine labels, custom labels, custom mead labels, custom wine labels, design labels, designer wine labels, holiday wine labels, home wine making, mead making, mead recipe, personalized labels, wedding wine labels, wine bottle storage, wine bottles, wine bottling, wine brewing, wine corks, wine making, wine stickers, wine storage
Are you looking for some great, beginner’s brewing recipes? Why not try Mead.
Mead , or honey wine, is made from honey and water via fermentation with yeast and can be still, carbonated, or sparkling. Meads range from dry, semi-sweet, or sweet. The earliest archaeological evidence for the production of mead dates to around 7000 BC. Mead is very adaptable, meaning you can change it significantly by doing things at different times. For example, the taste of mead can be changed by something as simple as pitching in flavors, fruits and spices before it ferments or even pitching them in after the ferment is done.
A wide variety of mead recipes can be found online. Here is a simple recipe for sweet mead that’s guaranteed to be a smash hit at the next wedding, birthday party or holiday event you go to.
Ingredients/Supplies for Sweet Mead
- 18 lbs of Honey
- 4 gallons of spring water
- 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrient
- 2 teaspoons of yeast energizer
- 2 packets of Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast (or suitable replacement)
Directions:
- You mix a batch of water and Honey (around 4 gallons of water and 12-15 pounds, or 4-5 quarts of honey. You usually heat this mixture, but doing so is not mandatory.)
- You add yeast and yeast nutrition to the honey water mix. The yeast will consume up the honey and transform it into Mead. Adding some kind of store-bought or random nutrient (such as lemon peels or tea leaves) to the mixture so the yeast can grow is a good idea.
- You let it sit for a period of time, about two weeks for the initial fermentation to occur. Following this you move it to a large clear bottle for observational purposes. Keep it in this new glass bottle for another two weeks to two months until it ceases to bubble.
- Place your mead into individual bottles and store it. Depending on how much honey you put in the mixture it will be ready to drink anywhere from 4 months (less honey) to a year (more honey).
And there you have it. Now that you know how easy it is to make mead you begin thinking about how you’re going to label each bottle of your delicious honey-sweet drink. You can try Labels on the Fly for a wide range of expertly designed, uniquely shaped, colorful wine labels and hang tags that are sure to give your newly made mead that stylishly customized, professional flare you want it to have.
