Which Corker / Capper Recommend?

[KevinJ]

Soon I will need to purchase a Corker/Capper. I am making both ciders and meads (both carbonates and non-carbonated). I want to use a mixture of caps and cork. I am new into this hobby but I plan on doing it for a while.

What corker/capper do you use and/or recommend?

Thanks
Kevin

Soon I will need to purchase a Corker/Capper. I am making both ciders and meads (both carbonates and non-carbonated). I want to use a mixture of caps and cork. I am new into this hobby but I plan on doing it for a while.

What corker/capper do you use and/or recommend?

Thanks
Kevin

 

[TipsyDragon]

all cappers/corkers work. its just a matter of how much you want to spend, how much elbow grease you want to use, and how long you want the process to take. a double leaver corker will leave an indentation on the top of the cork. some people don't like this. personally i don't care. your LHBS will probably rent you a floor corker. its bigger and allows more leverage. i have not personally used one so i cant really say what the result will be.

 

[jezter6]

I have this one, and it's awesome

 

[KevinJ]

I do not want the bottom of the line. I do not want to have to replace it in a year after I find out I hate the thing or it takes to long to do the job. Again I am not a winery so I do not need to spend a fortune but want something decent.

Kevin

all cappers/corkers work. its just a matter of how much you want to spend, how much elbow grease you want to use, and how long you want the process to take. a double leaver corker will leave an indentation on the top of the cork. some people don't like this. personally i don't care. your LHBS will probably rent you a floor corker. its bigger and allows more leverage. i have not personally used one so i cant really say what the result will be.

 

[KevinJ]

That is the Colonna Capper-Corker. Have you corked with it? How well does the corker work?

Kevin

 

[jezter6]

I corked one batch of ~20 bottles, and it was FAST and easy.

Just beware - (probably any corker will do this) - but dry cork that's a little large can shatter the neck of the bottle if you attempt to force it.

My LHBS guy was demoing the unit and we blew up a bottle trying to stuff a dry #9 x 1 3/4 cork into a bottle. (Wet, that same cork fit in just fine)

 

[KevinJ]

Are you just wetting it down with some type of no rinse sanitizer?

Kevin

 

[nakros]

I can't comment on capping, as I don't -- I solely use flip-tops and PET screw-tops when bottling beer or cider.

For wine, I use a floor corker -- Big monstrosity that cost $60 or $70 and is worth every penny. Effortless corking. Stick the bottle in, stick the cork in, pull down on the big handle and the cork is inserted perfectly. We always use the extra big, extra long corks (I don't know about the numbers or lengths... just buy the bulk bags of "extra-long" corks) because we don't drink that much wine (a bottle every other week) and expect it to sit for a while before we get to it.

Spend the extra money on the stand-alone corker/cappers.

 

[gplutt]

http://www.ebrew.com/Products_C/COR-IF-1.jpg I bought one of these with the capping attachment. It makes corking wine so easy, just drop the cork in and pull the lever. Capping is similar. I've even successfully recapped screwtop bottles with it.

 

[KevinJ]

http://www.ebrew.com/Products_C/COR-IF-1.jpg I bought one of these with the capping attachment. It makes corking wine so easy, just drop the cork in and pull the lever. Capping is similar. I've even successfully recapped screwtop bottles with it.

Is that the Italian Floor Corker? That costs around $140. Then you need to buy the $26 capper?

Kevin

 

[HellenicHomeBrewer]

I so want that Ferrari corker.. Yeah it is really made by a company named Ferrari, coincidence? Doubt it! lol

 

[gplutt]

Is that the Italian Floor Corker? That costs around $140. Then you need to buy the $26 capper?

Kevin

I did, yeah.

I've tried to use other wine corkers and all it did was make me angry. 140 dollars was a small price to pay for sanity, in my opinion. Since I was already using the corker, the capper didn't seem to be that much as I'd have to buy one separately anyways.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I so want that Ferrari corker.. Yeah it is really made by a company named Ferrari, coincidence? Doubt it! lol

+1 on the Ferrari floor corker, I have one & it works very well, easy to use, worth every penny. Regards, GF.

 

[sharpstick]

Just beware - (probably any corker will do this) - but dry cork that's a little large can shatter the neck of the bottle if you attempt to force it.

My LHBS guy was demoing the unit and we blew up a bottle trying to stuff a dry #9 x 1 3/4 cork into a bottle. (Wet, that same cork fit in just fine)

with a floor corker or any iris corkers, the cork is compressed, then inserted. then it expands back to fill the neck. some of the cheaper corkers shove the cork through a conical funnel of sorts.
i use use #9 x 1.5" (about 39mm) corks with floor corkers. that's what my local supplier carries. the hand ones use #8s because they don't do as good a job of compressing.
i never wet my corks. i store them in a corkidor for a few days before bottling. you can search for that term. basically it is a sealed gallon size container with an old pill bottle with a perforated top half full of water and a couple tablespoons of NA-meta. it creates a very strong atmosphere of sulfite to sanitize the corks without wetting them.

 

[sharpstick]

Is that the Italian Floor Corker? That costs around $140. Then you need to buy the $26 capper?

Kevin

shop more aggressively. $130 and $12. shipping may make up the difference though.

 

[Phog]

I have this one, and it's awesome

I have the capper version of that one and agree, awesome is the word. It was about $38 U.S. when I bought it about 15 years ago. What I really like about it is when you seal the cap, it puts an indentation in the cap about 3/8 inch in diameter and just less than 1/8 inch deep. This is useful with sparkling wines and ciders since the indentation will bulge upward when the bottle conditiioning is finished. Most beers don't make enough pressure to move the dent.

Phog