Brew #19 Bottled!

I bottled the Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon today. The yield was 24 bottles, or 18 L. It should be "ready" to drink around May, and should be good for 2-5 years.

Some notes:

• I did not add water to the fermentation at any time (other than the initial mixing). This should concentrate the flavor and decrease the yield, I expect.
• I used a bare minimum of sulfite. We'll have to see if that causes problems with oxidation or not.
• The V-Vessel seemed to work well, for the most part. The sediment ball was half full of sediment, but there was still a good bit in the fermenter itself. I think next time I will do some regular stirrings to make sure things settle into the ball.
• To prepare the bottles, I have a three part regimen:
  • After a bottle is empty, rinse it out, and place it in the "labeled bottles" pile.
  • When you have about six of these, soak them overnight. Some labels will peel off, other will need your fingernails, many will need a copper wool scrubber (those are fantastic!). If there is sticky stuff left over after the paper is gone, regular dish soap and a scrubby sponge seem to get it off.
  • When ready to bottle, stick them in the dishwasher and use Powder Brew Wash as a detergent. I used one tablespoon (15mL) this time. Put the dishwasher on heat dry. This should clean any last remaining bits, and sanitize as well.
• Did I mention, there was a lot of sediment?

The next brews will be a white wine that will be champagnified for a certain special party, and an extra special bitter. The ESP is also special because it will be my last regularly scheduled extract brew! After that, I'm going get the equipment for allgrain brewing. Hunaphu, you've done your job!