Bottling using an old wine cork

[The Judge]

I recently brought a bottle of Bruery's Mischief (Belgian Golden Strong Ale) in an attempt to make a clone. I decided to recycle the bottle that the original came in (750 mL champagne style), because it just looks the nuts.

I bottled the ale in normal 330 mL bottles with crown seals, and one 750 mL bottle, but the 750 mL, or "pièce de résistance" as I'm calling it, wouldn't fit a crown seal.

So, I grabbed a used wine cork out of the top drawer in the kitchen, dunked it in steriliser and bunged it in pretty snug. Then got some wire from the shed and created a dodgy looking but seemingly effective wire cage.

Now, reading some other threads, this seems to be folly, as the wine cork will be too permable and gas will escape over time, and the bottle will not condition and carbonate.

Has anyone else tried this and had a success or failure using an old wine cork?? Gimme the goss

The Judge

 

[boybrewer]

In most cases hbers dip the cork in wax .

 

[wombil]

When I was a kid the old man made gingerbeer and bottled it in soft drink bottles with an ordinary cork tied in with string.
Cut the string and it would really pop and fire the cork out.
These were ordinary medicine bottle corks type
They certainly held the gas ok.

 

[Blind Dog]

Never tried it with beer, but cork works fine for sparkling wines (bottle conditioned or otherwise) so long as the cork doesn't dry out. You can get crown seals for champagne type bottles but they're hard to track down - hunter brewery use them though.

 

[Alex.Tas]

I use the 29mm "tirage" size bottle caps and i bottle almost exclusively in 750ml champagne style bottles. I reckon they look fancy, can handle greater CO2 load and are easier to find at the recycling station than crown seal long necks. the glue can be a pain to remove though but turps fixes that okay.
I reckon you will find most home brew shops sell them. Both of the ones in Hobart do, as does craft brewer, grain and grape and many others i suspect.
You will need a 29mm bell for your capper too, as the cap is slightly larger.

Never tried it with beer, but cork works fine for sparkling wines (bottle conditioned or otherwise) so long as the cork doesn't dry out.

I would agree, don't see why it wouldn't work. you could even cap the top with wax too as beer belly suggests.
Instead of buying lots of bottling wax you may never use again, mix us some hot glue gun glue and crayons.
I cant remember what mix i use, but its something like 1 crayon to 2 glue sticks or something. I'm sure google will tell you. if you get stuck PM me and i'll go through my notes when i get home. I just get an empty baked bean tin and stick it on the barbeque plate, then add all the bits it. give it a stir as they melt and mix with a skewer then dip the bottles in.

I seal all of my mead this way.

 

[The Judge]

... but cork works fine for sparkling wines (bottle conditioned or otherwise).

That should be a good comparison. +1 for confidence in my corking adventure

When I was a kid the old man made gingerbeer and bottled it in soft drink bottles with an ordinary cork tied in with string.

Another point of confidence for my used-cork. Thanks.

I reckon you will find most home brew shops sell them. Both of the ones in Hobart do, as does craft brewer, grain and grape and many others i suspect.
You will need a 29mm bell for your capper too, as the cap is slightly larger.

Yeah this is a good idea, but I only have the one bottle at the moment so probably not worth the investment. But good info anyway, thanks Alex.

Also, the dissolving crayons in glue on the BBQ to make wax is genius.

 

[stef]

There's a difference in closure between tirage crown seal (IE Champagne) and corked belgians. The belgian bottles wont take a crown seal of any size. And the only way to cork them is with a corker (or maybe a hammer if you're game).

 

[The Judge]

FYI my cork experiment didn't work. Beer was flatter than milk.