Getting Ready to Cork - Questions

[Rick_R]

I'll be bottling my first wine in a couple of weeks and I hadn't given much thought to the corking process until reading the thread titled How to prepare corks????. I have an Italian floor corker and bought the synthetic corks from Austin Homebrew Supply. After reading the thread, I searched and have read in various places that you soak the corks and that you don't soak the corks. I've read to sanitize and to not sanitize, with a multiplicity of various sanitizers. I've read to boil and not to boil. The above-mentioned thread also had some conflicting advice. At this point, I'm thoroughly confused as to what I need to do. I want to make sure the corks don't infect the wine, don't pop out (or in), and the process doesn't degrade my floor corker (as soaking was said to do in the post).

I had expected to just soak in bottled water for about five minutes prior to corking, but now I'm at a loss. There is no local supply store, so if I need additional stuff I need to get it on order. So, from my reading and with all the above in mind, would this work:

Several days ahead of time, sanitize (using Star San) a zip-lock bag, wipe reasonably dry with a clean paper towel. On that same day, sanitize (using Star San) the corks and let drain in a sanitized strainer. Put the reasonably dry corks into the reasonably dry zip-lock bag along with a dry paper towel to absorb any leftover moisture. On bottling day, a few minutes prior to starting, remove the paper towel and fill the zip-lock bag with bottle water. Then pull them out and cork away. Work? Suggestions? I know it isn't rocket science, but I want to get it right; I've seven months invested in this batch already and wouldn't want to ruin it in the final process.

Thanks for any replies.

Rick

 

[Revvy]

*clicks subscribe*

Sometime in the next few months I have to aquire a corker and cork my mead...and I'm just as confused as you are...

*sits in back of classroom, opens notebook and awaits the arrival of a teacher.*

 

[HomerT]

For what its worth, I have only used natural corks. I fill a bowl with sanitizing solution (Idaphor in my case) and let my corks soak in the bowl. I just pull em out as I need them, give them a shake and drop them into my corker (the Champaign version of yours).

-Todd

 

[Loweface]

I admit a total ignorance of this topic and want to learn...

* Sits beside Revvy, borrows pencil...*

 

[Austinhomebrew]

What I do is mix a weak solution of Potassium Metabisulfite (3/4 tablespoon per gallon). Toss the corks in there after I have all of the wine bottled. Then remove them as I cork. You do not need to soak corks. It only makes them bloated and then you have a hard time corking. The little bit of Metabisufite that is left on the cork turns into something that is naturally occuring in wine so no need to rinse.

Just as an aside, red wine headaches are not caused by sulfites. Sulfites are in every wine. Everyone says "I am allergic to sulfites" and that is not true.
Malolactic fermentation (most commercial wines) causes histamines which give you a headache. Sudaphed is an anti-histamine.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

For what its worth, I have only used natural corks. I fill a bowl with sanitizing solution (Idaphor in my case) and let my corks soak in the bowl. I just pull em out as I need them, give them a shake and drop them into my corker (the Champaign version of yours).

-Todd

You really shouldn't use Iodophor. It is Iodine. You should use Potassium Metabisulfite because it is naturally occuring in wine. That way you have no chance of off flavors. Use a weak solution of 3/4 Tablespoon per gallon.

 

[HomerT]

You really shouldn't use Iodophor. It is Iodine. You should use Potassium Metabisulfite because it is naturally occuring in wine. That way you have no chance of off flavors. Use a weak solution of 3/4 Tablespoon per gallon.

I haven't had any off flavors so far, but that is good to know none the less. I use it to sanitze everything for my beers and wines.

-Todd

 

[Yooper]

I mentioned before what I do (and this is for natural corks, not synthetic), and it's simple. I've tried doing what Forrest said, and that works. The corks really don't get "wet" that way- the k-meta solution kind of just beads off of it and the corks float. I dunked them around, just to cover with the sulfite. I've never had a problem, especially when using a new bag (unopened) of corks.

Now, I usually just dissolve a campden tablet in a little boiling water in a measuring cup and put that in a bowl with a lid (actually, one of the LME containers from austinhomebrew works great!). Then, I put the corks around this cup, so that the corks are sort of "steaming" in the fumes of so2. DON'T put your face over this!!!!! Then I fill the bottles, and use those corks in my corker.

If you soak your corks, then can fall apart easily and be damaged in your corker so that your wine is ruined. I think the soaking and/or boiling is a hold out from the "old days" when sanitization might have been an issue.

 

[Revvy]

I admit a total ignorance of this topic and want to learn...

* Sits beside Revvy, borrows pencil...*

*Passes note to rmck1* "One of our 2 teachers is a hottie...and it ain't Forrest. If you drop your pencil, you can almost look up her skirt. "*

Serioulsy, thanks Forrest and Yoop for the info.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I haven't had any off flavors so far, but that is good to know none the less. I use it to sanitze everything for my beers and wines.

-Todd

Sulfites are naturally occring in wine and Iodine does not. If you accidently use a little too much Iodine you will have a problem. If you accidently use a little too much sulfite it will dissapate and you won't taste it.

Just lookin' out for ya.

Forrest

 

[HomerT]

Sulfites are naturally occring in wine and Iodine does not. If you accidently use a little too much Iodine you will have a problem. If you accidently use a little too much sulfite it will dissapate and you won't taste it.

Just lookin' out for ya.

Forrest

You Rock!

 

[Rick_R]

Potassium Metabisulfite

Should I have any concern, as mentioned in the referenced thread in my original post, of damaging my floor corker using Potassium Metabisulfite?

While I'll still give it a day or two, since nobody has replied to my idea with "sure, that'll work" I'll probably follow either Forrest's or Yooper's advice and use Potassium Metabisulfite. About how much is 2 oz of Potassium Metabisulfite in tablespoons? More than one? Less than one? Will campden tablets last a long time without weakening? I notice 20 tablets as the minimum order and it'll take me awhile to use that much (though I've been thinking about trying to make small batches of some fruit wines this fall).

And now, of course, along with the Potassium Metabisulfite I'll have to order something else from Austin Hombrew Supply to take advantage of the insidious $6.99 shipping. If the Pinot Gris kit is back in stock tomorrow as the web site suggests, I might as well get it started now; it was next on the list.

Rick

 

[BigKahuna]

I use my my Super Multi Capper / corker, and I always try to use synthetic corks. The ones I get from LHBS are like Rubber Plugs. I don't really worry about sanitizing them, but I have found that they slide into the bottle a bit easier if I put them in a bowl, and spritz with StarSan.

 

[Loweface]

* drops pencil *

 

[EvilTOJ]

I can just imagine how this classroom discussion would happen if we had Italian cork soakers in our midst....

(with apologies to SNL for me stealing their bit)

Forrest: After all this discussion about cork soaking, you all should be expert cork soakers. Now, I'm curious - how does one become a cork soaker. As we-a like-a to say, "Cork soakers are born, not made." Yooper here was simply born to soak cork! Come say hi, Yooper!

Yooper: I love-a soaking the cork! I could-a soak the cork all night long, if they let me! I want to-a soak two corks at once!

rmck1: So.. are all corks the same?

Revvy: No, no, no..

Cork Soaker #1: I like-a to soak the big-a, thick-a corks! and I like-a the long-a, skinny ones.
Cork Soaker #2: I like-a the dark-a ones.

Yooper: The great-a thing about the cork soaking, is that while you are-a soaking the cork, you can also.. massage-a the grapes, until the cork is ready. [holds up a bunch of grapes]

 

[Yooper]

Yooper: The great-a thing about the cork soaking, is that while you are-a soaking the cork, you can also.. massage-a the grapes, until the cork is ready. [holds up a bunch of grapes]

You made me LOL! Also, is anybody else around here my age? Do you remember the Dr. Pepper commercials- "I'm a pepper, he's a pepper, you're a pepper....wouldn't you like to be a pepper, too?". "I'm a soaker, he's a soaker, etc" to the same tune just came to my mind.

OK, back on track! The campden tablets last a long time. I use them in all of my fruit wines, and in every other racking at one tablet per gallon, so I do use them up. It may be cheaper to buy the pure powder stuff, and you only use like 1/8 tsp or something like that in your wine ( a bit more for sanitizing, but I think it's still like 1/8 tsp per gallon- read the label to make sure- this is my faulty memory talking!).

If you're buying a wine kit anyway, though, go ahead and get the tablets. When you bottle that wine, you'll want to add 6 campden tablets to it to help preserve it a bit longer, and also want to sanitize those corks with it!

 

[summersolstice]

I've tried dropping my corks in a K-meta solution prior to bottling and I've had problems removing corks. It seems that at least some damp corks seal really tight in the bottle and are a bear to remove. I've actually straightenend the worm on a cork screw trying to remove corks. For the past couple of years I do something similar to what Yooper does. I got a plastic butter bowl, filled it half full with a K-meta solution, poked holes in the lid and placed it inside a one gallon plastic potato salad pail and spread 40-50 corks around the butter bowl and capped the potato salad pail. As Yooper said, this makes a humidor for the corks. The K meta is actively sanitizing as long as you can smell the sulfur and lasts for at least a few months.

I do the same thing with my equipment. I have a snap ring 30 gallon or so plastic barrel and put a K meta solution inside and just drop all my tubes, racking canes, thiefs, funnels, or whatever inside the barrel and everything stays sanitized and ready to use whenever I want it. I also keep a gallon jar covered with plastic wrap full of K meta as another means of sanitizing.

I use a strong mixture of potassium metabisulfite at 1T per gallon and 1/2T of citric acid. These chemical are dirt cheap compared to Starsan and the solution lasts forever.

Sometimes sodium metabisulfite is cheaper and makes an equally good sanitizer though you wouldn't probably want to add the sodium to your wines or meads.