Beer in a Champagne bottle

Can you carbonate beer in a Champagne bottle, if you have the plastic corks and wire to lock it down? I wanted to maybe do one champagne bottle of each brew to save for a later date.

I've done them with caps and with corks and cages. Never with plastic corks but I imagine that's work (you'd definitely need the cages there).

When in doubt, fill one up with seltzer water or soda and see if it's still carbed in a couple of months.

you can do it, but its a major pain. first you have to have a corker that will fit a champagne cork. most wine corkers won't. then you need corks and cages. for 1 bottle of every batch it just doesn't seem worth it. maybe bottle one in a 750ml beer bottle or a 22 oz bommer for similar effect.

Seems ok to me. I have a few champagne bottles I had filled up with my second beer and it was still fine within a few months. A lot of bottles use them so it should last much longer than just a few months.

It wouldn't be useful for long term aging of course. (5+?)

You may also be able to get bottles that can be capped with an american capper. Those martenlli sparkling juice bottles seem to work for me.

Maybe I'll stick with my 32oz Grolsh type bottle idea for each batch then.

I've used them with plastic corks and cages and I have also capped them. Either way works, as long as the plastic corks are the right size. Capping is much easier.

I have done this several times. I got the bottles that take regular crown caps, and usually use those. I have also used the plastic caps and they were great. You don't need a corker, just a hammer. Put the "cork" in as far as you can, then pound it in gently with a hammer and you're set. I have a 5+ year old barley wine in these. They hold carbonation perfectly. My one gripe is that the corks are hard as heck to get out. It takes some real elbow grease to losen them. I use bails on them, but I'm pretty sure that they're completely unnecessary, just extra insurance I suppose.

Chris1272 said:

you can do it, but its a major pain. first you have to have a corker that will fit a champagne cork. most wine corkers won't. then you need corks and cages. for 1 bottle of every batch it just doesn't seem worth it. maybe bottle one in a 750ml beer bottle or a 22 oz bommer for similar effect.

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The plastic corks are much easier to insert than real champagne corks.

I've used Belgian corks with the Colona capper/corker in both champagne bottles and Belgian bottles.

you can put standard beer cap on an American champagne bottle

26 mm for American bottles.....29mm for European champagne bottles. You will need a different bell housing for the two caps.

I wind up using the plastic corks for european bottles and caps for american. I just jam them in using a towel and pressing down right now. I'd get a capper eventually at the least to avoid impaling myself, but I only have a few bottles (4 or so) that fit corks. The others are US sized (30 of em), so I just need more corkable bottles before I find it worth getting.
I've always heard that they were less useful for aging, but they were some older articles on corks vs plastic corks, and mostly had to do with red wines. Good to know that they have been good for 5+ years.

If you use real cork and not synthetic, remember to put the bottle on it's side to keep the cork moist.

This is actually something i was about to start poking around about for a barleywine I'm planning. Is there a way to verify that a champagne bottle will work with standard caps? Or just checking that it was bottled in the US?

zepolmot said:

This is actually something i was about to start poking around about for a barleywine I'm planning. Is there a way to verify that a champagne bottle will work with standard caps? Or just checking that it was bottled in the US?

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You can just look at the top and see whether or not it has a lip for a crown, and whether it's the US size one or the bigger European one.

Most sparkling ciders (e.g. Martinelli's) take a regular US cap, too. They're green bottles, though, so don't leave them out in the light.

Place a bottle cap (unfastened) on it, that should help identify if it would sit properly. And if you want to fully test, just gently cap it. That's how I check the ones I buy from the store (the few times I don't get martenelli's on sale for a cheaper price than buying it at the store).

There is a slight difference in the bottles. The difference is in the taper just under the lip of the bottle. If in doubt...just cap one.