Bottling: Cork vs Caps

Hey there folks, I did a cursory search for this and didn't really find anything. So, I've made a number of beers, but only 1 mead. When I did, I just bottled it in my beer bottles with caps. Turned out fine, just I'm wondering if there's any reason to use say, old wine bottles with a cork versus just the beer bottles with a cap. I kindda like the beer bottles approach, since if it gets opened, not that much in there, so almost always will be drank. No worry about recorking or anything.

ANywho, I suspect there's not really any difference just wanted to ask folks.

Thanks!

My sister knows quite a bit about wine and one time I asked her why corks are used for wine. She said that the cork allows the wine to "breath" or something over the course of several years, so that apparently an actual cork is necessary for proper aging (versus a cap). Apparently, the cork is basically air-tight but not quite over the course of a long period of time.

That's probably a bit wine-anecdotey/geeky to really matter much for most people though (if it's even true). I think another advantage is that corks expand to fit the particular bottle opening.

Also, would caps rust after a few years??

For 90% of the people who make and drink mead, caps are just fine. Corks are the only good alternative for storing the mead for longer than 4-5 years though.

Will the mead age well in bottles that are capped instead of corked??? I have a batch that has bulk aged for just a shot period of time, about a month. I put in some sparkaloid and it has cleared up very quickly. I'd like to go ahead and bottle the batch in a week or two so I can use the carboy. I've heard though that mead wont age well if it's capped since it can't breathe.

While on a wine tour on Niagara on the lake a couple weeks ago in Canada one of the tour guides said if you let a wine sit for 4-5 years when you take the cork out if it is all black it is a good thing the cork pulls out some impurities and gives it a smoother more mellow taste. Maybe this is the same with mead?

There are a few advantages of using corks with wine at least. The most important one is that when wine was first being made it was the only way to seal a bottle. Sometimes excuses are made for tradition.

So, have you guys bottle aged mead in capped bottles with good results???

I've bottled white wine in capped bottles with good results after a year. I've also had winemakers in other venues tell me capping is fine. I think what it comes down to is caps are good but corks might be better. I'm not in danger of making anything that's going to be mistaken for commercial wine or mead so I'm going with the convenience of caps.

Dave

The wine industry is moving more towards using sealed twist off caps instead of corks. You can't assume a wine is "cheaper" just because it has a twist off cap anymore, many very good wines are going with this packaging. The corks do allow the wine to "breath", which essentially means oxidate. It's part of the flavor profile, however I've had oxidized meads before, and didn't care for them.

Right on fellas... The guy that got me started making mead always uses caps but I don't know how long is the longest period of time he has kept some of it back without drinking it. I know he has some that are a couple years or so old but I'm not sure beyond that. I plan on putting back a bottle or two out of each batch I make from now on for as long as possible to build up some good inventory. Thanks for the replies.

My $.02:

Caps are okay for white wines. Not very long aged reds or meads, and there are a number of commerial red wines I really don't like to drink anymore because of the switch. They're okay for a while, but they need to breath, in my opinion. It's not an excuse for tradition; there are a number of wineries in Canada that use new synthetic foam corks for their reds because they're porous. I think there is a lot more going on here than simple oxidation if the industry is recognizing it. There are many odd, often undesirable volatile compounds in a young red wine or a mead, like fusels, possible diacetyl, terpenes, alcohol acetates, esters etc. These chemicals, without anywhere to go will either polymerize, react with something else or just stay there. I have a hard time believing that heavier volatile organic compounds will just degas with the CO2. These compounds contribute to the flavour in positive and negative ways, and it's only reasonable to think that if over time they are allowed to dissipate somewhat, it might allow the wine or mead to mellow more than if these compounds had nowhere to go.

All in all, I use corks for meads because I like to hang on to the stuff for a long time before drinking, and having drank a lot of different wine for quite a few years (I live in a major wine region) I tend to think there really is a difference, based on what I've tasted, seen and conversations I've had with people in the industry. Caps are okay, up to a point. But there is just too much funky, volatile crap in a young mead to keep it closed up, in my opinion.

Yan said:

...It's not an excuse for tradition; there are a number of wineries in Canada that use new synthetic foam corks for their reds because they're porous. I think there is a lot more going on here than simple oxidation if the industry is recognizing it. ...

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First off let me start by saying I completely agree with you.

I say it is an excuse for tradition, because unless it is a red that is meant to be aged there is no reason to use a cork instead of screw-top/synthetic/cap. I agree that the "breathing" needs to take place. As aging is basically slow reduction (read positive oxidation) and mellowing of tannins. So basically I would say the consensus is: if you are planning on drinking "X" within ~2 years use whatever is convenient. If you plan on aging or think you might want to for ~3+ years use a cork.

Remember using cork may result in TCA (cork taint). Caused by a fungus that is present in basically all cork but only making it into wine (or mead) in about 10% of bottles.

My experience is that I have found many commercial bottles with TCA working in wine tasting rooms, I open a lot of bottles. But in my 10+ years of wine making I don't think I have ever noticed it in one of my bottles. I have used natural cork in ever bottling except for one.

If you are unfamiliar with TCA it is when a wine smells like wet cardboard/wet dog when you open it. If you ever get a bottle smelling with this you should send it back (restaurant) or take it back to the store they should do an even exchange. Like I said it isn't really a fault it just happens with about 10% of wine.

I'm going to cap mine in beer bottles for the first few batches. Mainly because I'm going to drink it and I don't think I'm going to have to much left over between batches. But in the future I'm going to have to look into a form of longer storage.

One advantage of using caps over corks is if you have an active fermentation going when you cap it won't push the cork out of the bottle if you cap it. You might end up with a hand grenade though.

newb question -

When capping a wine bottle are the caps the same as beer bottle caps? Can I use the same capper? Or do I need special caps and a special capper. I've got my first mead in secondary right now, I'd like to put in wine bottles so I can give a few away easier, but I don't want to spring for a corker at this point in time.

The caps are the same AFAIK, just make sure the wine bottle has a lip that will accept a cap. I use my drill press for capping & corking. I bought a capper on eBay that chucks in the drill. For corking I chuck a flat-headed bolt in the drill with a head just slightly smaller than the cork diameter. It pushes the corks right on in with minimal effort. I bought one of those $5 plastic hand corkers and if I need a guide I put the cork in the funnel portion of the hand corker and push it through with the drill press. No problems so far. And no, you don't turn the drill on...

While we're on bottles and caps...what about P.E.T. bottles? Are they ok to use on meads or is the seal not enough since they are twist on?

My question here stems from the idea of oxidation. If you are not carbonating a mead there is oxygen in the head space of the bottle. Is that bad or is a little ok?

jcobbs said:

...... And no, you don't turn the drill on...

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LOL, I read your post and right up to the end I thought you were crazy. Good idea using the drill press.

thebigo said:

While we're on bottles and caps...what about P.E.T. bottles? Are they ok to use on meads or is the seal not enough since they are twist on?

My question here stems from the idea of oxidation. If you are not carbonating a mead there is oxygen in the head space of the bottle. Is that bad or is a little ok?

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A little O2 introduced during bottling is inevitable unless you have a way to purge the bottles as they are being filled - and that's far beyond the scope of most home meadmakers. That small amount doesn't seem to adversely affect the mead, in my experience. However, using screw topped PET bottles generally isn't a good idea since the wall thickness of those bottles is actually thin enough to allow diffusion of oxygen from the air to the liquid inside your bottle. Eventually, a mead bottled in them will oxidize.

I use PET bottles for beer and they work fine. Wouldn't trust them to age a mead.

As far as the drill press, my being crazy is entirely unrelated to how I cap bottles
Here's a thread on the capper I bought: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/drill-press-capper-150065/