Wine corks sizes?

[hopsoda]

what size cork is a 15/16?

i have been reading on this and need some clarification

a number 7 is for beer bottles and Belgians?
a number 8 is for small hand corkers?
a number 9 is for floor corkers?

what are the sizes of the corks?

can you use any cork , just harder to press into the bottle and a better seal?

all i have is a manual hand press... (no levers) can i get a #9 into a bottle with it or should i go with smaller corks?

i can get a double lever corker $25 bucks or so ... i don't want to spend 100s on a floor corker.

what is better and why?

 

[pdbreen]

After 2 or 3 batches with a number of "half-corked" bottles, I switched to a floor corker and highly recommend it.

Size wise, I always used #9 (initially with the hand & now the floor corker) and have favored the altec, though current prices have me rethinking what to get next.

Maybe try a mix of #8 and #9 (favoring #8's) for the first go? If you have no issue with the #9's, they'll give a better seal (longer cork).

EDIT: #9 is approx. 24mm diameter and typically 1 3/4 inch, #8 is approx. 22mm diameter and typically 1 1/2 inch

 

[mmadmikes1]

My floor corker cost me $25, It is way worth it even if I had paid $100. You can find them new for $80 and used on Craigslist is you look regular. I use 8s amalgamated for most wine and use 9 natural cork for long term aging. 7's will work on wine but I wouldn't depend on them long term

 

[hopsoda]

ok so a little plastic hand corker can use a number 9 cork? whats half corked? could you just push them back in?

sold on the market for a floor corker , but need a good deal before pulling the trigger so in the mean time i should go with #8s

 

[pdbreen]

ok so a little plastic hand corker can use a number 9 cork? whats half corked? could you just push them back in?

The corker (hand or stand) does two things - it compresses the cork and then pushes it into the bottle where it immediately starts expanding again. A hand corker can push #9's, it just takes more physical effort during the compression and you have to be real quick on the insertion, which can be difficult because you don't have really good leverage or stability. So, sometimes they only get part way in before they get stuck and can't be pushed further. Once stuck, there's no good way to recompress and push further - you either live with it, or pull and try again. Also helps to make sure the cork is nice and wet (which it should be from soaking).

Even with the stand corker, I'll still get 3 or 4 (out of 30) where the top of the cork is a bit above the rim of the bottle.

 

[Yooper]

I used quite a few #8s in my time- before I bought a floor corker. They will seal ok, but as pdbreen said, #9s would ensure a better seal long term.

I bought several corkers in the past- to save money. I bought a double level corker, and it worked ok but I never did get the corks completely in the bottle very well. Still, they sealed and it worked. So, then I bought the Gilda corker which looked like it would work better. That didn't work well at all for me, so I gave it away. So, I spent more than $50 on corkers before I bought the floor corker for $57!

Anyway- sometimes homebrew stores rent out a floor corker, or even let you borrow one for free. Check with them first- hand bottling with a hand corker is a huge PITA for more than one gallon!

 

[mmadmikes1]

I bottled over 300 bottles with my double lever corker and it is a ton of work. I did it because I was cheap. If you are one of the wine addicts it will be a small cost on end buying a floor corker. Hell corks that dont go in suck because I refuse to live with it