I was checking on some mead I had bottled earlier this year, and discovered that there was mead leaking out from some of the bottles! Since mead takes so long to make, you can imagine I'm not happy at all. Right now, I'm trying to figure out what went wrong, and what I should do.
Late last year, I picked up an Italian floor corker from Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies. They had that deal where you buy the corker, and they throw in some Super Select Natural Corks.
Here's the corker: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=8271
Here are the corks (I think): http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=7837
I've only used this corker on two batches, which are also the only two batches where I used these corks. The first batch I had bottled in January. It's small, only four wine bottles. The second batch I bottled in March. That one has 24 wine bottles. I left the bottles standing for a week or two, then stored them on their sides ever since.
From the Jan batch, two bottles have leaked significantly (a few ounces). However, with all four bottles, you can see mead in between the cork and glass. You can see it all the way up the entire length of the cork.
From the Mar batch, I don't believe any of them have leaked. However, you can see mead more than half way up the length of the corks on many of the bottles. Although some aren't more than half way up, almost every bottle has this to some degree.
I wanted to post pics, but it's really hard to see this in a photo.
I wanted to blame the corks for this. I poked around, and I read that synthetic corks don't seem to leak as much as natural corks (I suppose this will teach me for trying to be cheap
). However, it worries me that this is happening with almost ALL of the bottles. It makes me suspect that something is up with the corker. Without further experimentation, I can't tell which it is. Has anyone had problems with either this brand/type of cork? Or the corker?
Right now, each of the bottles is standing. Other than keeping them like that for a while, I'm not sure what to do. Is there an oxidation risk? I don't see any browning in the mead that signals oxidation. Would I be best advised to re-cork them (Ugh).
No matter what, this sucks...
Late last year, I picked up an Italian floor corker from Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies. They had that deal where you buy the corker, and they throw in some Super Select Natural Corks.
Here's the corker: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=8271
Here are the corks (I think): http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=7837
I've only used this corker on two batches, which are also the only two batches where I used these corks. The first batch I had bottled in January. It's small, only four wine bottles. The second batch I bottled in March. That one has 24 wine bottles. I left the bottles standing for a week or two, then stored them on their sides ever since.
From the Jan batch, two bottles have leaked significantly (a few ounces). However, with all four bottles, you can see mead in between the cork and glass. You can see it all the way up the entire length of the cork.
From the Mar batch, I don't believe any of them have leaked. However, you can see mead more than half way up the length of the corks on many of the bottles. Although some aren't more than half way up, almost every bottle has this to some degree.
I wanted to post pics, but it's really hard to see this in a photo.
I wanted to blame the corks for this. I poked around, and I read that synthetic corks don't seem to leak as much as natural corks (I suppose this will teach me for trying to be cheap
). However, it worries me that this is happening with almost ALL of the bottles. It makes me suspect that something is up with the corker. Without further experimentation, I can't tell which it is. Has anyone had problems with either this brand/type of cork? Or the corker?Right now, each of the bottles is standing. Other than keeping them like that for a while, I'm not sure what to do. Is there an oxidation risk? I don't see any browning in the mead that signals oxidation. Would I be best advised to re-cork them (Ugh).
No matter what, this sucks...
