caps vs corks...

[marshman]

So I'm thinking about, as an experiment, bottling some beer in 750 champagne bottles with a touch of a wine yeast, (cause let's face it, if we can't experiment and try new stuff in this hobby, we might as well go back to Coors, right?). I'm just curious, should I get some proper corks & cages, or will regular beer bottle caps do. The caps I have fit the bottles I just scored, but I understand the pressure generated by the wine yeasts could overwhelm the caps. Any thoughts?

I got real lucky over the weekend...I went to a wedding and talked to the head of the catering crew and she set me aside 4 cases of champ bottles and a case of 'sparkling cider' bottles (which seem to be equally stout). SCORE!!!

Now if only the Eagles had as good a weekend...

 

[D*Bo]

It won't make a diffrence unless you are adding more priming sugar.

Unless the champaign yeast can consume some of the more complex sugar strands that the beer yeasts can't.

 

[UTDoug]

Why champange yeast? It could be brilliant somehow, but most likely you'll just end up with really funky beer. To add to D*Bo's reply, no matter what kind yeast is doing the work, about 1/2 of the fermentable sugar consumed goes to CO2, the rest to alcohol (the chemistry of anaerobic fermentation.) So unless you're adding a ton of priming sugar, your beer will have the same ammt of carbonation regardless of the yeast used. If so, I vote half corks, half caps to hedge against possible problems with using caps.

Doug

 

[marshman]

Well, I'm guessing that since champagne yeasts can stand a much higher alcohol level, there is a possibility that they can burn a lot more of the sugars and convert to co2 and alcohol. Higher alcohol is not the goal, it's merely an experiment. I was just hoping to find out if a standard cap can hold on if subjected to more powerful carbonation than usually found in a homebrew.

Half caps half corks seems the best advice. Now if I cn just get hold of less than 100 corks somehow I'll be happy. Hafta ask around at the LHBS, I guess.

 

[Walker]

Well, I'm guessing that since champagne yeasts can stand a much higher alcohol level, there is a possibility that they can burn a lot more of the sugars and convert to co2 and alcohol.

True, but those sugars have to actually be available. As far as I know, champagne yeast can only eat the same sugars as ale yeast, so as long as you have fully fermented your beer, the only thing the champagne yeast will have available as food will be the priming sugar you add prior to bottling.

-walker

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

There won't be enough sugars left to carb the beer and champagne yeast don't carb any higher than any other yeast.

Just add priming sugar and bottle as usual with the champagne bottles.

I wish I could score some champagne bottles that bottle caps fit on. Around here all I can find are those jumbe thick lip sized bottles (I dub them Angelina Jolie's"). I'd like to bottle a barley wine in them. I keg everything else now, but a balrey wine just screams to be bottled.