broken corks

[Maylar]

I recently bottled a couple gallons of mead and I'm experiencing corks breaking when they're removed. Standard natural cork, #8, installed with a floor corker. The corkscrew is the same I've used for years. What's going on here?

 

[Raptor99]

Defective cork? Maybe find some better quality corks.

 

[Maylar]

Do they age? I'm sure that the bag of corks I have are at least 5 years old.

 

[Snuffy]

You pulled out too soon. The worm only penetrated half the depth needed. Screw further next time.
(Have fun with that one)

 

[mac_1103]

Do they age? I'm sure that the bag of corks I have are at least 5 years old.

Maybe you need some cork soakers?

 

[Snuffy]

Wine corks stay moist because wine is stored on its side - which is not recommended for ale and mead. A corkscrew with a spiral worm like the one you have there can wreak havoc on a dry cork. You may want to get one that has more of a well-diggers drill bit look to it. Central shaft with a spiral blade around it.

 

[Maylar]

Would synthetic corks fare any better?

 

[Snuffy]

Would synthetic corks fare any better?

I believe they would. I've never tried to press one into a bottle tho. There may be pitfalls I am not aware of.

 

[InspectorJon]

We live in one of the California wine regions. We are members of a couple wine clubs. One of those wineries prides itself on releasing older wines. Rich, the wine maker, says older corks can dry and become brittle. The part that touches the wine stays wet but the cork doesn’t really absorb moisture, that’s why they use it. They recommend using the kind of cork puller pictured below to keep brittle corks in tact.

 

[bwible]

Would synthetic corks fare any better?

I use synthetic corks and they are great. There are basically 2 kinds - neocorks and nomacorks. The neocorks are a little spongier I guess is how I would describe them. Nomacorks are a bit more solid. They both work great. I have a floor corker so no problem putting them in. They are not any harder to remove with the corkscrew.

 

[bwible]

Have you seen the Rabbit style opener? I’m not sure if these are better or worse on dry corks but they sure make opening a bottle easier.

 

[Raptor99]

You pulled out too soon. The worm only penetrated half the depth needed. Screw further next time.
(Have fun with that one)

I believe that you are right. In the photo, it looks like the corkscrew only penetrated half way through the cork.