Whisler85

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i have been making a lot of belgians lately and would like them to be carbonated to high volumes, but i am loathe to do this in standard beer bottles.

I can easily get my hands on plenty of used belgian/new champagne bottles, but despite hours of internet searching i cant seem to which corks to use. some sites offer beer or champagne corks, but they dont appear to be tapered or oddly shaped and im having trouble comparing their (metric) sizes to those of the corks my LHBS sells

does anyone cork their belgians? where do you source the corks? what different sizes of bottles and corks do you use?

brewstead

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Try williams brewing they are pricey but i know they Belgian bottles, cork, and wire baskets

Orangevango

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Belgian corks are not tapered until they are put into the bottle, they require a special corker to compress the straight sided cork while pushing it into the neck of the bottle. It does add a ton of class to your beer.

SumnerH

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Northern Brewer carries everything you need for corking and caging Belgians. You do need a floor corker, which is not cheap (somewhere in the $100-$200 range if I remember right).

__________________
On deck: Little Bo Pils, Bretta Off Dead (Brett pale)
Secondary: Oude Bruin, Red Sky at Morning (Sour brown ale)
On tap: Saison Duphunk (sour), Amarillo Slim (IPA), Earl White (ginger/bergamot wit)
Bottled: Number 8 (Belgian Strong Dark Ale), Eternale (Barleywine), Ancho Villa (Ancho/pasilla/chocolate/cinnamon RIS), Oak smoked porter (1/2 maple bourbon oaked, 1/2 apple brandy oaked)

PseudoChef

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+1 to what Orangevango has said. Corks aren't tapered until they are in the bottle. You'll need a floor corker. I know my LHBS rents theirs out for about $10/day...if you have a shop nearby that has one, it won't hurt to ask.

Danek

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For champagne bottles I think you can get plastic corks and wire cages that don't require any special corking equipment. Might be a bit cheaper than the alternative, though it would be a little less classy.

__________________
Bottle conditioning: Pliny the Elder clone; Tramp's Overcoat Barley Wine
Next up: Vanilla Porter

bikefoolery

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A floor corker is not necessary, I use a Colona capper/corker (around $70), which allows the corking action needed for the belgian mushroom cork look. I also like the Colona for regular capping as well.

Here is a guide I used when I was learning:

SLO Brewer » Corking Belgians

You may also want to search this forum for "corking" and get more tips.

Best of luck.

SumnerH

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Colonna capper/corker _is_ a floor corker. I've heard great things about them and am considering buying one.

For a hand corker, the Gilda style is your best bet for corking Belgians (or Champagne bottles).

__________________
On deck: Little Bo Pils, Bretta Off Dead (Brett pale)
Secondary: Oude Bruin, Red Sky at Morning (Sour brown ale)
On tap: Saison Duphunk (sour), Amarillo Slim (IPA), Earl White (ginger/bergamot wit)
Bottled: Number 8 (Belgian Strong Dark Ale), Eternale (Barleywine), Ancho Villa (Ancho/pasilla/chocolate/cinnamon RIS), Oak smoked porter (1/2 maple bourbon oaked, 1/2 apple brandy oaked)

bikefoolery

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Interesting, I thought that because it sits on a bench while in use it would have been a bench corker, not a floor corker. Learn something new every day.

Got Trub?

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They are frequently the same jaws and mechanism, just with a shorter base. I'm curious do you need to bolt yours down or just place it on the bench?

GT