Thinking about Christmas

[muthafuggle]

I went to a garage sale this summer and bought a slug of brewing related stuff, including a few cases of bottles and a CO2 tank and regulator and some fermenters... Pretty much a bunch of random stuff, but I only paid $20 :rockin: so hey!! why not?

I was cleaning out my beer cave and I noticed that three of the cases of bottles are wine bottles. I don't drink wine, so I'm thinking of putting homebrew in there and hand-painting the bottles to give as Christmas gifts. I did a search and found some incomplete answers to this, but I'd like to nail this down...

1: can I use a regular cork without a cage for beer?
2: will the wine bottles put up with homebrew carbonation pressure, or is that a recipe for bottle bombs?

 

[phidelt1499]

One of my favorite beers of all time is Boulevard's Double-Wide IPA... It comes in a 750 mL wine bottle with a cork and a cage.

I would assume that the wine bottles could withstand homebrew carb pressure, but I don't think i'd risk it without a cage on the cork.

 

[muthafuggle]

One of my favorite beers of all time is Boulevard's Double-Wide IPA... It comes in a 750 mL wine bottle with a cork and a cage.

I would assume that the wine bottles could withstand homebrew carb pressure, but I don't think i'd risk it without a cage on the cork.

See, THAT's exactly what I'm worried about. Corked beers like Belgians use more of a "champagne" type cork that is shaped in a cone (wider at the bottom) and you can cage that sucker.

Maybe if I didn't carb it very much?

 

[wonderbread23]

If they're not champagne style bottles, don't do it. Regular wine bottles aren't designed to withstand pressure.