What size corks for belgian bottles?

I usually order from Austin Homebrew Supply, so for my next order, I am getting the stuff to cork belgian bottles. Only problem is that I can't find where Austin says specifically which cork is for what. MoreBeer & NorthenBrewer both say they specifically have belgian corks.

I see #8 & 2 lenghts of #9 corks, but have NO clue which one to pick up.

Can anybody help me out here?

Thanks
z

10 views, no replies?

c'mon folks :-(

I just don't have the answer for that. I use #9 corks for regular wine bottles, and #8 corks for the 375 ml bottles, if that helps.

I'd recommend the larger ones. If you prime, the outgassing WILL push the corks out.

Usually the corks are more like champagne corks with the top portion of the cork outside the bottle and expanded out with a wire bale over it to keep if from pushing out. A champagne cork is substantially larger than even a #9 cork. IIRC it is 39mm in diameter where a #9 is like 22mm. You also need a good corker that compresses the cork and that you adjust the depth on, I've seen the Italian floor corker recommended elsewhere. The Portuguese corker may need to be modified to keep the cork from hanging up at the exit after the compression is released and the top of the cork has expanded back out. Looking at AHS it doesn't look like they actually have the right corks.

Edit: Actually looking at a wholesalers catalog the Belgian corks are 25.5mm diameter while champagne corks are 30mm.

Edit #2: If your LHBS orders from Crosby & Baker they can order these for you: Cat#6213A 30ct, Cat#6213B 100ct, or Cat#6213C 1000ct. Also the wire bails are Cat#6456 60ct.

Belgian Beer Corks. Northern Brewer carries the, so do alot of places. You will need a Champagne Corker to insert them though.

NORTHERN BREWER: Bottling

_Todd

Bump.

I'm preparing to bottle a Saison, so I started researching this myself. Austin Homebrew Supply doesn't carry the corks or bottles, but curiously they do carry the hooded wires in a 12 pack. B3 and Northern Brewer carry everything including the Belgian bottles in stock. I need to make a trip into Austin Homebrew anyway so I will ask the stock guy if they can at least start carrying the corks. I've special ordered fancy wine bottles from them in the past, so I am pretty sure they can special order the Belgian bottles to avoid paying the shipping costs. Either that, or I'll be drinking a lot of Ommegang Wit in the next few weeks.

The Belgian bottle corks are 25.5mm microagglomerated cork and will work with a Portuguese floor corker (which I already own) because they don't have the disc on the bottom of the cork like a champagne (mushroom) cork does. Northern Brewer's page says to use a #6.5 drilled stopper over the plunger to get the correct depth, since the set disc doesn't travel very far. Web search says that 12-13mm should be sticking out of the bottle at the correct depth.

There's an in depth how-to in this month's BYO.

...annnd by this month I mean July-August 2009!

Thats quite the thread bump Sacc!

So, if a belgian cork is 25.5mm and a # 9 wine cork is 24mm...why are they not interchangeable? Trying to get out of buying a new corker here.

noodledancer77 said:

So, if a belgian cork is 25.5mm and a # 9 wine cork is 24mm...why are they not interchangeable? Trying to get out of buying a new corker here.

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I think the #9 is 22mmm not 24mm. I'm pretty sure you could push a #9 into a belgian bottle, it just won't mushroom out as much. I would try to get the 1 3/4 inch long #9s rather than the 1 1/2 inch. That way you still have a good bit of cork in the bottle and enough outside for the hood to secure it.

I've been exploring lots of corks lately and #9 is USUALLY 22m, but not always. I've found some brands list different diameters for the same size.

Here's a company that for some of their corks, they're #9 but listed as 24mm. Some of their other #9 corks of lower grades are listed with smaller diameters. Hence I would check the diameter and not just go based on the size #.

http://www.widgetco.com/wine-corks-extra-quality-24-45

Just an FYI I bought corks in bulk from St Pats of Texas. They list the belgian corks at 25.5mm. They do differentiate between Chimay/Ommegang bottles and champagne bottles. The way I see it if you're serious about corking and caging champagne or ommegang bottles just drop the coin for a champagne corker. I luckily didn't have a corker when I ran into the need for one so I just went ahead and bought the champagne floor model. Glad I did.

I also ordered from St Pats and the corks came pretty swiftly. Bulk price was excellent.

meadowstream said:

I also ordered from St Pats and the corks came pretty swiftly. Bulk price was excellent.

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Find anyone with a killer price on cages? I tried ordering through morebeer for their 1000 cages but they didn't have any. Plus they wouldn't give me 10 -100 piece offerings for the 1000 price.