Can I cork without a corker?

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HalfPint

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I want to bottle apfelwein in some 750 ml wine bottles, but I don't want to buy a corker. I would love to pick some corks up from the LHBS and just jam em in there. How should I go about doing this? Can I just jam it in there or do I need to use some other technique?

Also, I've looked and can't find a good thread on this. If there is one, please point me that way.

Thanks,
J
 
Although I have yet to do it, research has shown that Mushroom corks can be fit by hand easily. They do however recommend that you do not use them for long term aging beyond 18 months and you need to keep them upright.

http://www.eckraus.com is a good point of info.
 
You can buy a hand corker for $10. I don't believe you would want to cork a lot of bottles with it but for a few it should work.
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While I am not at the point of bottling and corking my wines yet, I have been looking around the web on corks and such and found a few called "Zorks" and they can be pushed in by hand. But not a lot of info on how good they are for long term storage. But they do look kinda cool, and would be good for gift giving a wine that would be drank soon.
 
please dont wast time trying to "jam" regular corks in there. It will hurt your hand(I tried acouple time on a bet). If you are going to drink it fast you will be ok using gadgets
 
If it's still and not carb'd you should be able to use Champagne corks.
Trying to "jam" in a regular cork could be difficult

My $.02

D
 
I think you would question youre reasoning after after about the first bottle. Do you have any friends in the hobby that make wine? Maybe you could borrow one or maybe your LHBS rents the bigger ones.

Or maybe, since we both live in Houston, you could call me and borrow mine.
 
Never used Zork corks, but I've heard good things about them. If you plan on carbonating your apfelwein, don't use regular wine bottles, they cannot withstand the pressure & will either blow the cork, or shatter the glass. You can easily use beer bottles if you carbonate or not. You can use the hand corker if you want, but it's going to get real old real quick. If you don't want to buy a corker, see if your LHBS will rent you one. You could always bottle in champagne bottles too, you just need a rubber mallet & that little wire twisting tool for the wire hoods, it's easy. Hope you find this info useful. Regards, GF.
 
I think you would question youre reasoning after after about the first bottle. Do you have any friends in the hobby that make wine? Maybe you could borrow one or maybe your LHBS rents the bigger ones.

Or maybe, since we both live in Houston, you could call me and borrow mine.

Hey, I might take you up on that. I typically go to Defalco's on Stella Link. I'm not sure they would rent me a corker, but it's possible.

Also, I plan on kegging this stuff, but I think I may bottle a case of wine bottles for long term storage. I don't make wine often enough (at all really) to buy a corker. I am a beer maker.
 
Hey HalfPint-I sent you a PM with my phone number.

And Delfalco's is also my store of choice. Scott Birdwell's got a great bunch guys working for him.
 
I have one of the little red plastic hand corkers and it's not too bad if you're only doing a few. A dozen or so at a time won't kill you if you're reasonably healthy. I'm an out-of-shape keyboard jockey and I can push 'em in without a lot of trouble. Stick with #7 or #8 corks, though; if you want to use anything larger better go with a benchtop or floor corker.
 
How about an alternative to corking? I bottled some of my special beers in 750ml green champagne bottles that could use regular bottle caps. I then capped that with shrink wrap foil. It ended up looking really nice without the hassle of corks. Just a thought.
 
Some of the corkers are also cappers, which - if you're using a wing capper - would be of great benefit.

Well worth the money in my opinion.
 
A bottle that would handle the pressure involved for carbonating, a cork, and a bottle cap would be great for aging something like a big barley wine, Samiclaus clone, etc. And being a 750 ML bottle would be a great size for Christmas presents, etc.
 
from what I have learned so far from my trials trying to cork wine bottles by hand is DO NOT use a tapered cork. You will not get a good enough seal to bottle condition. Also if you are going to do this by hand or with your own home made gadget like I later did you dont really want to do a lot.

I ended up using a 5" long peice of 1/2" dowell rod fitted to an 18" peice of 2x4 with a 1/2" hole drilled halfway into to to accomodate the dowell. It worked, kinda. Next time I do this though I think I will just wait until I can buy a wine corker. There will be a lot less work involved and fewer four letter words coming from my kitchen while I cork.
 
I tap regular corks in using a rubber mallet. Seems to work. Sometimes they break, but no big loss.
 
I've started to see the zork corks on commercial wines, so if I was only going to do a couple batches I'd buy those. As is I borrow a friend's two-lever corker.
 
lol. The corks break, not the bottle. Don't hit it so hard.

Oh, I guess i could live with that.

Anyway, a corker isn't expensive. I think I paid $25 for mine and have corked well over 500 bottles and it still works great.
 
+1. You may as well get a good corker now, they basically never break or wear out. You'll only ever have to buy one.

Edit: Talk about reviving a zombie. I didn't realize this post wasn't in the "Today's posts". I was searching for something else and stumbled upon it.
 
If you have the set up for bottling beer, just use your off brand of bottles and bottle the wine in those. I use the green and the clear bottles for wine. They are great for single servings of the wine and you can use the equipment you have already.
 
bruceb07 said:
If you have the set up for bottling beer, just use your off brand of bottles and bottle the wine in those. I use the green and the clear bottles for wine. They are great for single servings of the wine and you can use the equipment you have already.

Too bad it doesn't work the other way too.... I'm a wino now making beer, too bad beer in wine bottles won't work. :(
 
May I suggest gathering a stock of screw-top bottles?

That's what my elderberry wine is going in... eventually.
 
clarosec said:
May I suggest gathering a stock of screw-top bottles?

That's what my elderberry wine is going in... eventually.

Thats wut i do ... Ask friends and family to save any empty shelf bought wine bottles with screw lids clean them then sterilise
 
There is absolutley nooooooooo.... substitute to corking, there is no hand method that you can use if you make more than a gallon to age,and, if you do make a large batch and buy the pop in corks for $.99 a piece you would have already spent enough to buy a hand corker and 50 corks, DAMN. you absolutley can not put corks in by hand. they need to be squeezed by the corker and inserted.
 
if you have a wooden work bench you can take the corks and steam the crap outta them, take a pair of plier and pinch the cork all the way around and very quickly put about half of it into the bottle by hand. then you slam the rest in by shoving it up against the side of the wooden bench. make sure it is wooden and no metal or concrete because you could break the bottle when the cork goes in all the way. it workes pretty good, you will start sweating, if you dont have muscles dont try it. I did it for about 3 batches and then finally got a floor corker, honestly a floor corker is the best thing you can buy for wine, it makes it so much easier and less dangerous.
 
YES! There is a way to do this! Been time tested for over 3 years now with no problems at all. It's quite easy. All you need to do is heat up the corks in the microwave for 20 seconds on so, you can do more then one at a time as well. This will make the corks very soft and I just push them in with my hand with ease. Might not be for everyone but it sure works well for me, even if I had to bottle a few hundred I would still do it this way. Good luck everyone :)
 
YES! There is a way to do this! Been time tested for over 3 years now with no problems at all. It's quite easy. All you need to do is heat up the corks in the microwave for 20 seconds on so, you can do more then one at a time as well. This will make the corks very soft and I just push them in with my hand with ease. Might not be for everyone but it sure works well for me, even if I had to bottle a few hundred I would still do it this way. Good luck everyone :)

Sounds easy enough. How long do they stay soft after popping them in the microwave? I mean how many could I do at once without them getting cold again by the time I get half way through corking?
 
I remember another post about zorks and talking about how expensive they are. I mean if you have to contact them for price information that says a lot.
 
i found quite a good alternative but it takes a little skill, hold the cork firmly to the tip with one hand so if you flip the bottle upside down liquid wont poor out then hold the bottle in your other hand next, flip it upside down and place the cork on a very sterdy table or the ground. now push with your palm on the bottom of the bottle, it should slowly but surely slip in to the bottle.
please tell me if this helped.
 
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