Sanitize Corks?

I'm getting ready to cork some apple wine I started about 3 months ago. I have #9 conglomerate corks. I assume I sanitize the corks, the quesiton is how long, I've heard differing opinions on this. I use Starsan. I've heard the normal 1-2 minutes up to a day soaking in the solution.

Corks are slightly porous, so I would let them soak for at least six hours or so just to be sure. Since wine has a higher alcohol content than beer though, you can probably sanitize the corks with Starsan and a 3 minute contact time all your life and never run into a problem.

Soaking them can ruin them. If you feel that you must sanitize (but they don't need it) you can dissolve a campden tablet in 1/4 cup water and heat in the microwave. Put that in a larger bowl with a lid, and spread the corks around in there. That will put them in the sulfite "steam" but still not soak the corks.

Whatever you do, don't boil the corks! Ive heard some people have tried to boil them to sanitize, but that will make them brittle and ruin your wine.

Yooper, I thought I remember reading somewhere that corks are supposed to soak for 24 hours. True/false? Any input?

You may indeed have read that corks should soak for 24 hours - there's a lot of conflicting information on the 'net. I'm with Yooper, though. The consensus is that soaking will ruin corks. Good high quality corks don't need soaking and if you do soak, like I do, just a quick dip in sanitizing solution (like a couple of minutes) will do the trick. I usually place four corks at a time in the solution and when I'm finished corking four bottles, I get four more corks.

Exactly. I've been using the "sulfite humidor" for corks that are in an open bag. Even that isn't necessary, supposedly, but it makes me feel better. A quick spray with star-san would also do the same job.

For corks in an unopened bag, they can just be used as is.

I've also read in the past to soak the corks for a long time, but it can ruin cork, especially the agglormated (sp?) types. I've also read instructions to boil the cork- which can make it brittle very quickly and ruin your precious wine.

I've only done 2 batches of the Island mist but I did search HBT before corking and found a range of advise. It seemed Yooper has the best opinion and I just cork them right from the bag. Getting them wet seemed to create a whole new set of problems.

No problems so far.

YooperBrew said:

Exactly. I've been using the "sulfite humidor" for corks that are in an open bag. Even that isn't necessary, supposedly, but it makes me feel better.

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Yoop, I did this for a few years, despite a warning from a friend of bad experiences with the humidor. Well, sure enough, I went to my humidor one day when I began corking and I found the same problem my friend had - moldy corks. I had to throw away about 30-40 corks. I dismissed his warning because I didn't think mold would grow in that strong k-meta atmosphere but it sure does!

I think I may go to using Yooper's method. I was just dropping them in a bowl of star-san right before bottling.

What is the best cork to use for long term (5 years plus) aging? Also would it help to dip them in wax to protect the cork even more?

summersolstice said:

Yoop, I did this for a few years, despite a warning from a friend of bad experiences with the humidor. Well, sure enough, I went to my humidor one day when I began corking and I found the same problem my friend had - moldy corks. I had to throw away about 30-40 corks. I dismissed his warning because I didn't think mold would grow in that strong k-meta atmosphere but it sure does!

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Oh, I just do it while I'm racking to my bottling bucket. I stick some water and a campden tablet in the microwave, then put that (container and all) in a large tupperware boil and place the corks around it. I cover it, and then rack my wine. When I bottle, I open the "humidor" and use those corks. I don't actually store them like that. It just makes me feel better that the sulfite might have disinfected them before I use them.

I put corks in boiling water for a few!! minutes when corking. Not for serializing that is just a bonus, but because the corks go in easier with my hand corker if I do

So what's the verdict? I was going to let them soak in star san while bottling. I like the 'just spray them" approach. The star san doesn't taint the flavor of the wine??

I do the similar, just let them float in a bowl of starsan for 5 minutes prior to bottling, being sure to dunk them under. Then grab from the bowl, and cork. Done. Don't overthink. 0.0001 ml of a 0.15% mix of star san will taste like...yeah, nothing.