Bottling home-made wine

[w33blegurl]

Hello! I am about to attempt to bottle some plum wine, I've dutifully saved some used wine bottles, but realise after buying corks etc that they are almost all screw-top bottles. Can I cork these?? Googling has given me mixed answers and some people say the bottle neck is a bit fragile and other say it's fine. Anyone tried it? Any thoughts??

Ta!

[burnie]

I have put corks in them before with no problems, as long as the seal is tight and no air can get in.

[the big lebowski]

i agree with burnie as long as its sealed from the air outside ,thats fine , do the bottles look flimsy or chunky to you ?

[greenishfing]

I've never had a problem.

[w33blegurl]

Thanks all, I think I'll just give it a go then! They don't look like especially flimsy bottles to me (just bog standard ones you buy full of wine ) so hopefully will be fine. I will maybe check one before adding the plum wine to check the fit though!

[Deltawhiskey]

Screw cap bottles can break at the neck if corked replacement screw caps can be obtained online from Inn House Brewery. I will be using them this year.

[JanieB]

I've been brewing for 50+ years. To start off with wine was kept in demijohns, then corked bottles. Nowadays I put screwtops in sterilising solution in the bath together with the original tops. I haven't had a bottle go off yet.

Anyway the reason for my post. I started a kit off 6 days ago and it was very slow to start fermenting. It should have been racked off today for the first time but as I came down to a wine pond on the kitchen floor this morning, I think it needs another couple of days. I can't find my hydrometer so I have to play this by ear. No hydrometers when I first started. I'll wait until it subsides.

I'm waiting to start another kit off but don't have enough buckets until I rack this one. This is alcohol to get me through the lockdown. I'm not an alcoholic but a keen homebrewer and I do like a nightcap.