How to prepare corks????

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Jimbob

Jimbob

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Hi,
Does anyone have a good practice for preparing corks for bottling? I'm about to bottle a mead in wine bottles and just wanted to check and see what the best practice would be for preparing the corks prior to bottling. I've read to soak in warm water for 1 to 2 hours, rinse, and use. I've read to boil them. Anyone have any experience/recommendations?

Thanks
 
You'll probably get an answer here, but it might be better if this thread were in the wine forum. I have no answer for you, but I am interested; I'll be corking my 1st batch of wine in a couple of weeks; it's been aging since November.

Rick
 
As long as your corks are the right size (typically #9) for the bottles, and you have a decent corker (something like this) , then all you need to do is put them into luke warm water with metabisulfite (to sterelize them). I've corked over 200 bottles in the last 3 months and have never had a problem.
 
I've heard some people boil, others say not to boil.

I just mix some water and a crushed campden tab and drop a few corks at a time into that. Then before I use a cork I dip it in the campden tab water.
 
I put mine in a ziplock bag, fill with water, make sure there is no air, and let sit while I get everything else ready (about an hour). This makes them 100% under water and very easy to cork the bottles.
 
I never, ever, soak my corks. They are natural cork, and not to be soaked. I make up a k-meta solution, and put the solution in a small cup and the corks around it in a bowl. I put the lid on the bowl and let that "steam" while I rack into my bottling bucket. If the corks are coming out of an unopened bag, I don't even do that. http://winemakermag.com/mrwizard/212.html
 
If you're using a floor corker you shouldn't be doing any soaking, particularly in K-meta or the like. You'll ruin your corker. The solution gets squeezed out of the cork and collects in the corker and corrodes the jaw mechanism and other parts.

My LHBS is a winery first. The owner swears he's never treated his corks, just uses them straight out of the package, and he's never had a problem.
 
So if I'm reading this right, as I stand to bottle my first batch of mead in a few minutes, anything you do is fine as long as the corks go in the bottle after the mead.
 

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