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Pat Parks · 05-05-2009, 01:50 AM

We have corked our first batch with a hand corker; some of the corks did not quite fit flush into the bottles, all are within an inch of the wine as was recommended, but leave up to 1/4" cork exposed at the top. Seemed worse with the new bottles; I told my husband that the old bottles had had their necks stretched in previous uses, but he didn't buy it... (wonder why?) Are the imperfect ones OK? The corks are micro-agglomerate; the wine is a chianti, RJS GrandCru kit. Tastes good so far, if a little weak; will bottle aging help with that? Can't wait to experiment with others over time.

Wade E · 05-05-2009, 02:08 AM

The hand corker is usually troublesome. Did you use a filling wand or pour them manually by hand as an overfull bottle will not let the corks go in all the way due to compression of air and liquid. If you plan on staying with this hobby I advise you to get a fllor corker and the Portuguese is very good for the price of about $65, The Italian is the best but Ive had the Port. model for 3 years now and hhave bottles well over 1,000 with no sign of any wear at all and still works as good as the day I bought it and can not see myself still doing this with a hand corker. I hated that thing as even with the right level in the bottle I still had a few problems even when the corks were lightly soaked in k-meta solution.

Pat Parks · 05-05-2009, 12:46 PM

Filled them with the syphon and clamp, topped off or filled with a little from a two cup measure to keep it to about an inch of space once the cork was in all the way. I can see that a more stable setup that holds the bottle flat and steady would be helpful. Having two people was a big help, and more fun of course! We recorked any that didn't come within an inch (half-dozen or so) because the cork protruded too far. It sure is a rewarding sight to see rows of filled bottles of wine! Can't wait to start emptying a few.

Tom · 05-05-2009, 12:56 PM

What size corks did you get? In hand corkers #8 works best. They are just a tad thinner as the hand corker cant squeeze the cork as much as a floor corker. Floor corkers use a #9 cork.

Pat Parks · 05-05-2009, 01:02 PM

These are a #9; I got them when I got the bottles, 759 ml., but I guess the person assisting me doesn't do any bottling because she thought they would be OK. Between us we got them all squeezed in though. My husband had been planting trees at work for the day, then hauling water to them; I'm sure he really was looking forward to a little more manual labor...

Tom · 05-05-2009, 01:07 PM

Thought so. Next time get #8 and that will be so much easier. Or try moisting the cork in k-meta which will help "slide" the cork in easier. Like Wade said if you plan on making alot of wine a floor corker is a must.

Malkore · 05-05-2009, 04:09 PM

Part of the problem too is that when you use a bottling wand, it displaces the right volume to give you the right headspace.

I used the same beer bottling wand this weekend on my wine bottles (750ml) and had the two finger widths of space between the wine and the cork, using a basic 2-lever corker.

Sounds like you just topped off too much, and the #9 corks are very tight as well.

catskill · 05-05-2009, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wade E

The hand corker is usually troublesome. Did you use a filling wand or pour them manually by hand as an overfull bottle will not let the corks go in all the way due to compression of air and liquid. If you plan on staying with this hobby I advise you to get a fllor corker and the Portuguese is very good for the price of about $65, The Italian is the best but Ive had the Port. model for 3 years now and hhave bottles well over 1,000 with no sign of any wear at all and still works as good as the day I bought it and can not see myself still doing this with a hand corker. I hated that thing as even with the right level in the bottle I still had a few problems even when the corks were lightly soaked in k-meta solution.

Wade, what do you mean by 'lightly soaked' and what dilution of k-meta do you use to soak your corks? Thanks

Wade E · 05-05-2009, 09:35 PM

If you dont have a cork humidor to keep corks sanitized then taking your corks and putting them in a collander over a primary bucket and pouring a sanitizer strength solution(3 tbs to a gallon) over your corks and then put the lid over all that and let them sit there for about 10 minutes to let the sanitizer fumes do their work.

Madriver Wines · 05-05-2009, 09:40 PM

Hey Wade do you still use the seperate bucket and a gallon of solution to keep your corks ready to go? What do you put the corks in ,a bag ?