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
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