capped cork failure - I ruin my JOAM?

[Husher]

Familiar question I'm sure: Did I ruin this?

I did a tiny batch of Mead which yielded all of 2 wine bottles of JOAM. I don't own a capper so I used those plastic capped wine corks.
Like these here

I soaked in star san for 20 minutes since there seemed to be some debate if soaking was necessary, and then I squeezed them in. I put in my shiny new wine rack (on their sides) and walked away.

6 hours later I came back and noticed an air bubble in the neck. Seemed an odd place for it and when I picked up the bottle a drop of mead touched my hand. So the bottle seal was leaking.

I borrowed a corker and I'm currently soaking a few proper corks, however I need to ask, will the 1 ML of air that seeped in cause much harm? Or should I drink sooner rather than later. It was only two bottles so it's not so bad a learning experience. but still....Anoyed that I bough 30 of these things and they're crap.

 

[prandlesc]

The little bit of air is probably OK. But you need to leave bottles upright for a few days - probably three - before you put the bottles on their sides. The corks need to seal before they are laid down.

 

[Yooper]

Those are not corks! They are "tasting corks", which means they are not used to cork the wine permanently- rather, you can pour a taste, and then another taste, like in a competition. Do NOT put any bottles with those stoppers on their sides, and drink 'em quick!

Oh, and NEVER soak a cork you plan on using to cork a bottle. EVER.

If you feel you must sanitize (and you don't but if you feel you have to), use a "cork humidor" and heat up a campden tablet in 1/4 cup water in the microwave until boiling. Stir, and put the entire container in a bigger container. Then, put the corks around that smaller container, and "steam" the corks by sticking the lid on the bigger container. It will sulfite the corks without getting them wet. You don't want to wet corks!

 

[Husher]

Oh, and NEVER soak a cork you plan on using to cork a bottle. EVER.

Crap well I guess I'm buying more corks and doing this tomorrow then. So, What'll happen if I soak? They turn to mush?

 

[Yooper]

Crap well I guess I'm buying more corks and doing this tomorrow then. So, What'll happen if I soak? They turn to mush?

Sometimes mush- but sometimes it just ruins the integrity of the corks so they fall apart.

You will want to drink this JOAM right away anyway, due to the oxidation risks with the tasting corks, so I'd just cork/cap with whatever you have and drink in the next few weeks.

 

[Husher]

You will want to drink this JOAM right away anyway, due to the oxidation risks with the tasting corks, so I'd just cork/cap with whatever you have and drink in the next few weeks.

Aww man!

 

[Lungus]

Couldn't he just sulphite the bottles to stop any oxidization and recork them for long term storage?

 

[Yooper]

Couldn't he just sulphite the bottles to stop any oxidization and recork them for long term storage?

Well, yes, except that you can't "erase" oxidation later by adding campden. It happens when it happens, and so unless they were heavily sulfited before/during the oxidation, the horse is out of the barn so to speak.

Sulfiting them now would protect them now and in the future, but not yesterday.

 

[Husher]

Well I don't have campden tablets, and would probably need to buy in online so not really an option. I did use a food saver vacuum to degass it, which probably sucked out any leftover oxygen if there was any. It's only two bottles and they taste quite nice so I'm gonna go for it,. Brewed 5/1/2013, and not bad though was looking forward to trying in a year or so. But I have a second 8 bottle batch 2 months behind in the pipeline.

Thing that pisses me off the most about this: I asked the guy at the wine shop who sold the tasting corks to me about their use and I was quite snootily told 'that's what they're used for'. Dick. Last time I go back there.

 

[Yooper]

Well I don't have campden tablets, and would probably need to buy in online so not really an option. I did use a food saver vacuum to degass it, which probably sucked out any leftover oxygen if there was any. It's only two bottles and they taste quite nice so I'm gonna go for it,. Brewed 5/1/2013, and not bad though was looking forward to trying in a year or so. But I have a second 8 bottle batch 2 months behind in the pipeline.

Thing that pisses me off the most about this: I asked the guy at the wine shop who sold the tasting corks to me about their use and I was quite snootily told 'that's what they're used for'. Dick. Last time I go back there.

Well, when you go back there don't listen to him- but buy some campden tablets (just make sure they are potassium metabisulfite- make sure they aren't sodium metabisulfite, as you want to avoid adding sodium.) Don't talk to him, as he doesn't know his tasting corks from a cork, but get what you need anyway!

 

[fatbloke]

Hum ? some very alarmist responses there.......

The "T" corks can be used, I use them quite often, but don't lay them down, purely on the basis that while they fit fine, they are not as tight as a conventional type cork.....

Will it have damaged the mead ? Probably not. Need to remember that it does offer the potential for issues, but the ingress of a tiny amount of

air is no worse than the bit that gets trapped under a normal cork...

Soaking corks ? Not usually. Corks, even agglomerated ones don't usually fall apart in the presence of water either. Punched/cut real corks have been exposed to the elements for decades, centuries in some cases..... they can indeed be soaked, but its not necessary as you just get the right size for the bottle, use a normal push type device and then let the bottle settle and cork expand upright over 2 or 3 days or so before laying down. Some corks are coated for easier use/application.

You can usually just spray or rinse them in some sanitiser first then shake them off after a couple of minutes contact time.....


Oh and for guaranteed sealing there's always bottling wax which should seal whatever stopper is underneath.....

The salient lesson here, is to research and read but HBS troops aren't always as expert as we'd hope and generally they know sod all about meads.....