Champagne Bottles/ Cherry Stout

[wedge]

I saw in the latest BYO a recipe for a vanilla/cherry stout 6.2%alc

I thinking about doing this, but i want to throw in into champagne bottles... make it look flash and even add a label.

What i'm curious about it how to 'cap' the bottle. I know you need a bigger bell for your bench capper.

What i really want to do though it cork it.. with a champagne cork.


I would just be the bee's knees

 

[pr1me]

theres a homebrew shop near me that I think sells those plastic champagne corks with the metal twist holders, he's on the corner of glynburn road and payneham road, across from the pub. I've got a couple of champagne bottles im thinking of putting sparkling cider in myself so im going to try this out.

If you want a "real" champgne cork though, got no idea there.

 

[Jesmol]

Bloody work proxy server, makes it hard to post on this site.

Anyway , for Champers corks, you need to find somebody who resells ASA or CSA corks, both of these companys supply corks to the wine industry. (from memory Grumpy's had some used ASA bags lying around, which means they may have a contact there).

As for actually corking the bottle, that is much more difficult. As standard wine closure is compressed from 24mm to 16mm to fit in still wine bottle. You can buy hand corking equipment to do this.

A champers closure has to compress much more (I think from around 32mm down to 16mm), and I dont like your chances of doing this by hand.

Matt

 

[wedge]

what about with a bench capper

 

[wee stu]

Bench capper only lets you slap on a bigger crown seal. The seals and bells should be available from any half way decent hbs. You might also be able to get foil sleeves to slip over the cap and bottleneck for a bit more class if you want.

I'm with Jesmol on this one, I don't like your chances of hand corking with champers corks.

 

[RegBadgery]

You can cap a champ. bottle with a bench capper - you just need a tirage bell (and a bench capper that lets you screw in a replacement bell) and some bigger crown seals. I got mine from grain and grape in victoria.

cheers
reg

 

[Jesmol]

/me has flashback to previous life. :blink:

I remember seeing some historic photos around the Seppelt Great Western winery, of guys bottling champers in the good old days. The method of corking then involved a tapered shute (similar to the hand corkers I've seen around) and a bloody great hammer, and no doubt a fair degree of skill. Dont try this at home kids.

Another issue to consider is it is preferable when corking a product to create a vacuum prior to inserting the cork, this overcomes oxidation issues as well as eliminating the piston effect when compressing the head space.

Matt

 

[wee stu]

You can cap a champ. bottle with a bench capper - you just need a tirage bell (and a bench capper that lets you screw in a replacement bell) and some bigger crown seals. I got mine from grain and grape in victoria.

cheers
reg

I got mine from Jovial Monk. Grumpys and Goliath both have them. Brewcraft might even have them too. They do a top job, but it ain't a cork. If that's what you really want.

 

[sluggerdog]

I saw in the latest BYO a recipe for a vanilla/cherry stout 6.2%alc

I thinking about doing this, but i want to throw in into champagne bottles... make it look flash and even add a label.

What i'm curious about it how to 'cap' the bottle. I know you need a bigger bell for your bench capper.

What i really want to do though it cork it.. with a champagne cork.


I would just be the bee's knees

[post="16577"][/post]​

Hey Wedge did you ever even up doing this vanilla-cherry stout? Sounds interesting.

Would love to see a recipe.

:beer:

 

[warrenlw63]

You can probably use a compromise as a lot of Belgian Breweries do.

You could cork your bottles with regular wine corks then just cap over the top with the wider triage caps. You get your cork to seal then. When ready to drink just uncap then pull the cork with a regular corkscrew.

If you want the cellaring effect of O2 exchange you could try drilling a small hole through the caps somehow before crimping them onto the bottle leaving an area for O2 to permeate through the cork.

IIRC Sparkling Wine floor corkers cost a small fortune. This method will allow you to use your capper with a $15 triage bell and a far cheaper hand-corker. :beerbang:

Warren -

 

[KoNG]

Ha Ha,
warren.. this thread is over 18 months old.!! i was just about to answer the corking/capping questions and realised no-one would be listening... ha ha.. Sluggerdog is just after a recipe.

 

[warrenlw63]

Ha Ha,
warren.. this thread is over 18 months old.!! i was just about to answer the corking/capping questions and realised no-one would be listening... ha ha.. Sluggerdog is just after a recipe.

[post="96429"][/post]​

Geezz *%#@ I hate it when I do that.

Old thread, new helpful info I guess. Think the date on the top of the posts needs to standout more for numpties like myself. :lol:

Thanks for bringing that to my attention Kong.

Warren -

 

[KoNG]

any time nupmts...!