Corking your beers

[Shoegaze99]

Obviously it's purely a matter of aesthetics, not brewing, but nonetheless I'm curious if folks have bottled a batch in corked bottles, and if so their experience, cost, equipment, etc.

I'm about to brew a big Belgian dubbel intended to be a fairly long-term beer, and also a gift beer, and I'd like to cork it. I have the bottles on hand which can be capped or corked (champagne style similar to what Dogfish head uses for their limited releases), so I'm certainly flexible either way, but I'd like to cork this one. Just because.

So, corking?

 

[MalFet]

Sure, but you need to use champagne/belgian corks with wire cages. You need a floor-corker, corks, cages, and bottles. Works fine and dandy.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

As long as you cork properly it will work as well as commercial corked bottles.

 

[nebben]

I have done this with my Gilda corker. If you use this tool instead of a floor corker, practice a little bit before you're doing it with your precious beer. I broke a couple corks before I figured out how far to push them.

These were with Belgian sized corks, part-way inserted into Belgian bottles, by the way.

I also had my corks in boiling water for 20 minutes or so, which made them easier to compress and insert part-way. The end result for all of them was terrific.

 

[Shoegaze99]

I also had my corks in boiling water for 20 minutes or so, which made them easier to compress and insert part-way. The end result for all of them was terrific.

Nice tip, thanks.

I hadn't heard of a Gilda corker before. Looked 'em up at Midwest. I like the big savings when compared to a floor corker, but boy does it look like a pain to use.

I wonder if my LHBS has a floor corker I could use for a small fee? I should call them.

 

[JetSmooth]

See the photo tutorial in my sig.

 

[Shoegaze99]

They look fantastic! Great project and great photos. Thanks for posting that.