Corks have risen!

Help! We bottled 12 bottles of raspberry wine last night. after a considerable effort to burp the co2 out of it. But the corks all have rising slightly over night. We boiled the corks before using them, so they were damp when we corked the bottles. What can I expect will happen now?

Thanks for your advice!

Jeff

Why would you boil the corks, that probably ruined them.

Quick sterilization.

When you boil the corks, they will end up leaking. You need to make a corkidor. How old is the wine?

habanerojefe said:

Quick sterilization.

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Julie said:

When you boil the corks, they will end up leaking. You need to make a corkidor. How old is the wine?

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I agree with Julie, but you probably won't know what a "corkidor" is. Many of us make one from a closed container, like a bucket with a lid; you put a few inches of strong k-meta solution in the bottom, then something like a colander or strainer in the bucket. Then you put corks in the colander, so that they do not directly get wet, but rather get exposed to the SO2 gas given off by the solution in the bottom. This will sanitize them without getting them wet.

I started this batch in mid july. The corks haven't moved since overnight. Could they be dry and can I push them back down? They're only out, at worst, 1/4"

Thanks for your comments

My suggestion is to take them out and replace them

I can replace them.

Could I get away with using a camden tablet for sterilization?

Yes, a quick soak in 1/4" of campden solution in the bottom of a soup bowl. Drop in about 5 corks and swirl them around for 30 seconds then install. Soaking for that short of a time won't degrade the cork and will render any nasties on the cork dead.

Not to disagree with doctorcad, but don't wet the corks. I had them keep coming out like that.

Do not wet your corks, unless if you're using a hand corker and need to do so to help insert them. Wineries never wet or sanitize the corks. By doing so, you are breaking them down.

Corks are rising

Thx again for all the responses.

The corks haven't budged in 24hrs. I think it's because they're dry. (They weren't in the boiling water for a minute or 2.)
The worst offender is sticking out just under a quarter of an inch. I'm going to wait another day, then plan on taking a razor blade across the top to even them out. Next time I'll take your advice. For now I think I'm good. Thanks again for your help!

Jeff

The culprit is most likely is your wet cork, but, I wonder whether your wine is sufficiently degassed. Not difficult to figure out - pull a cork, remove about a 1/4 cup of wine from the bottle, put your thumb on the opening and give it a good shake. If you get a hearty "poof" when you remove your thumb from the opening, you probably need to degas some more.

Thank you all for your input.

There has been no cork movement in over 24 hours - with the biggest offender still only sticking out 1/4". The others are around 1/8" higher, than when we first corked them.

I'll wait another day and then I'm going to trim the excess and call it a day. I will not be corking like this in the future.

But normally, how long will homemade wine last in cellar?

Thanks again for all of your help!

Jeff