Corking question

Okay, so I've been corking my mead since I started brewing a couple years back. I've recently read that if a cork isn't kept moist it can shrink and allow air into the bottle. Is this true? If so should I store my mead horizontally to keep the cork moist? Would sealing the cork with wax help? How long do I have until the mead oxidizes to the point where it isn't drinkable? If I drink enough mead will I be able to travel faster than the speed of light?

If you use the correct size cork for the bottle, and the corker compresses the cork as it pushes it into the bottle, you should be ok. You could seal with wax if you want to, or just store them horizontally and not worry at all.

I think it would take some time for the corks to degrade enough, if the bottles are left standing, to become an issue.

As for the FTL capabilities of mead... That all depends on how it was made, and how strong it is. Have enough of it, though, and you could experience time dilation.

FTL travel would require more mead than could be made from all of the honey available in the universe (at least based on known physics).

That said, sufficient quantities of mead would create a drunken state where your room would be spinning faster relative to the rest of us. What would appear as minutes to you would be tens of minutes to us. The time dilation would be even more pronounced if you pass out.

I've read that there are unfortunate side effects to this process (headaches, nausea, home brewing addiction), so try it at your own risk.

Traditionally wine is stored on its side or at an angle for this reason. If you use waxed corks (ones that don't need soaking) then I think you can do without.

To be honest I expect this is more a concern for proper cellaring (like vintages from decades back). I don't think its a major issue for aging meads for a few years.

Synthetic corks can be another option too. I used those for some bottles but then switched to the top end corks after that. I am storing the bottles with natural corks on their sides due to where I'm keeping them. I'm also soaking then before corking since that's what I've read to do. It does make using them easier.

I would advise getting a floor corker if you have more than a few bottles to cork. If you think you'll also ever use Belgian bottles, get the champagne corker. That will make things much easier.

I've not been brewing long so what I'm about to say is from drinking and buying a lot of wine and port over a decade and a half . If you have wine/ port for over a decade I would say re cork because cork does degrade but getting out a great bottle only to find the cork has perished and killed a great bottle is like the death of the family dog ( well at least to me it would be )
My 2 cents worth

I have some wine that's over a decade old and the cork is still good. Of course, I've been storing it laying down (properly) for pretty much all those years. I plan on sharing some of the older (really great vintages) stuff over the holidays. I'm just hesitant to do so since I'm not sure I can get something that will compare to replace it.