Corking

[Trucker5685]

Hi guys,

A newbie question for you, so far I've reused the caps that come with screw top wine bottles but I'd like to try corking some.

The question is do I need to do anything with the corks before putting them into the bottles via the twin lever corker? Presumably the bottles will need to be stored on their sides to stop the corks drying out? I know these are basic questions but I just don't know and I've searched but can't find the answer

Thanks in advance :

 

[oldbloke]

Some corks need soaking.
All corks need a quick dip in sanitiser and then a rinse.
Screwtop bottles sometimes have a slightly different internal diameter to 'normal' bottles and the corks may not be a good fit.
On the side to stop the corks drying out, yes
You can buy new screwtops - contact bobsbeer

 

[Crastney]

one tip that I've found useful.
when you fill with wine, it should have been stabilised, or fully fermented, so no risk of further fermentation. The air gap at the top shouldn't be too small - don't overfill.
You might find that if there's too much liquid in there, when you insert the cork, it squashes the air, and it gets hard to fully insert the cork - to combat this I use a sterilised piece of plastic covered wire, insert one end to just above between the liquid/cork level, twist the other end over the top of the bottle somehow so that it won't get pushed in. Then put cork on top, and insert (you might need to hold onto the wire with some pliers), once you've got to the point of compression where the cork won't go further, you can grab the wire, and pull it out, the cork should stay in, and some air will also flow out along the path of the wire, this reduces the pressure inside the gap, and the cork can be pushed home further. Of course if you fill to a lower level, there's a bigger air gap which will take more effort to pressurise, so less likely to have issues pushing all the way in.... so not always necessary.
and then, as above, keep the bottles on their sides, to keep the cork moist, else if it dries out, it'll let air through, which could spoil the drink.

 

[Trucker5685]

Thanks for the advice guys, really helpful and informative as usual

 

[oldbloke]

Once I stopped overfilling I never needed to get up to tricks with wire. Until you actually inspect a commercial bottle properly to see how far they fill them it's easy to put too much in, then the cork doesn't go all the way in. Not that that ever bothered me much! As long as they come out when I want them to...