Screw Top Bottles?

[MSIMSON]

Can they be used for bottling?
Can you reuse tops?
Can you use quarks in them?

Any suggestions from people who have used them?

Thanks in advance!

 

[JohnT]

The bottle necks on Screw top bottles slighly wider with much thinner glass. Most complain that corked screw top bottle tend to leak of oxidize. I advise to forget using corks on them.

I suppose that you could re-use the caps provided you clean and sterilize them properly.

My advise, though, it to ditch them in favor of a standard corking bottle.

 

[CBell]

You can use them for bottling and reuse the caps as long as you sanitize them. But you risk oxidation because the seal will not be airtight as it was when initially applied by machine. Also, I've heard cases of screw tops leaking when on their side, so if you put them in a rack you could end up with wine everywhere.

You can cork them, but you risk the thin glass breaking while applying or removing your cork, and getting injured from glass shards.

Suggestion? Don't do either, get regular bottles. You worked too hard to make your wine, so you probably don't want to risk messing it up.

 

[derunner]

If money is a factor and you don't drink enough wine in corked bottles to get what you need, ask a couple restaurants to save them for you. I had a couple Italian restaurants save them for me for 6 weeks and got 700 usable 750ml bottles and 70 1.5l. I think local places are more likely to give them to you than a chain and often the chains carry commercial wines in screw tops as their house wines so I found local places were the best and one of the guys even brought me his bottles from 2 other places he runs. Of course now he has a loyal customer.

 

[RCGoodin]

Can they be used for bottling?
Can you reuse tops?
Can you use quarks in them?

Any suggestions from people who have used them?

Thanks in advance!

I just bottled 90 bottles and I'm going to bet that 40% were screw tops and I did not have a problem. I've been making kits since Jan 2012 and I've never had one leak either.

I mentioned this issue to my wife because I've read many threads about it. We have a floor corker and she thought that may be the reason why it doesn't happen. If for some reason it did cause a problem, the floor corker keeps your hands away from the corking process.

If I ever do have a problem, I will post it and then become an advocate of not using them. I do not know about re-using the caps. I would guess they would easily leak, so I would always recommend corking.

Happy wining. I do and hope this helps.

 

[Bartman]

I too re-use screw-top bottles, much to the dismay of several on this forum I believe the primary risk of breakage is not in the bottling/corking - the corker squeezes the corks sufficiently to not have any issues at that point. Removing the cork with a basic cork-pull like waiters use at restaurants (by which the cork pull is braced on the neck and the cork is pulled out at an angle) is where the risk of breakage seems to be. I have never had one break, so I continue to use them. As soon as one breaks in my hands, I'll get rid of the rest of them, just like RCGoodin said.

 

[ibglowin]

You mean like as soon as you get back from the Emergency Room with 20 stitches in your hand.....

As soon as one breaks in my hands, I'll get rid of the rest of them, just like RCGoodin said.

 

[roger80465]

Gotta tell ya, I have been using screw cap bottles for 10+ years and have not had any problems (hope I haven't jinxed myself now). In fact, I just picked up 10 cases of overruns from a local winery (free). The only bottles I have had break are the corked bottles. They chip when removing the cork. I certainly understand the concern, since the glass is thinner. Just saying that so far, not a problem.

 

[Bartman]

You mean like as soon as you get back from the Emergency Room with 20 stitches in your hand.....

Well, yeah, but ya know, if it wasn't for disappointment, I wouldn't have any appointments!

 

[WI_Wino]

A member here did some hands on testing. He broke a screw top after 5 corkings. Your results may vary.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f83/dont-cork-screwcaps-photo-37761/

 

[Rocky]

First, let me say that I never have and never will use screw top bottles. From everything I have read, it seems there are facts and there are anecdotal data from people's experience. The fact is the glass is thinner at the neck of the bottle in screw top bottles. Ceteris paribus, thinner glass is not as strong as thicker glass. I have seen many people trying to operate a cork screw. If all the force is directed straight upward, there would less chance for a problem. My anecdotal evidence is that I usually see people insert the screw mechanism into the cork and start to cam it upward and then begin to wiggle the cork side to side. This could be a potential problem with a thinner neck. Secondly, in looking at the design of screw top bottles, it would seem to me (with no supporting evidence) that the neck of bottle had already been subjected to stress in attaching the screw top. Who can say if there are or are not micro fractures in the glass?

Regarding anecdotal (experiential vs. scientific) evidence, haven't we all heard someone say, "Joe smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, lived to be 80 years old and never got lung cancer," or words to that effect? Does anyone here feel that cigarette smoking does not increase the likelihood of contracting lung cancer?

The larger question to me is, with all of the cork stoppered bottles so readily available, why take the chance?

 

[FABulousWines]

Can they be used for bottling?
Can you reuse tops?
Can you use quarks in them?

Any suggestions from people who have used them?

Thanks in advance!

Yes you can. But just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

I guess I am more risk averse than some on here but I'd rather err on the side of safety. If screw tops were all I could get my hands on, maybe, but I am finding it pretty darn easy to find corkable bottles, so really not an issue for me.

 

[jamesngalveston]

I put a lot of effort into my wine, when this topic came up before, i used a micrometer and measure the neck thickness..the screw tops were thinner.
That did it for me...I guit using them..Bottles are too easy to come by to take a chance with the wrong kind..
Just saying.

 

[DoodleBug]

I put a lot of effort into my wine, when this topic came up before, i used a micrometer and measure the neck thickness..the screw tops were thinner.
That did it for me...I guit using them..Bottles are too easy to come by to take a chance with the wrong kind..
Just saying.

Just curious, did you use micrometers or calipers?
Also, did you measure over the thread?
I don't doubt that the screw tops are thinner, I just wonder from an engineering standpoint if the threads add any strength to the structural integrity of the bottles.

 

[jswordy]

I am shocked. Nobody here answered the central question: Can you use quarks in a screw top bottle?

Since a quark is an elemental particle and a fundamental constituent of all matter, I would submit that YES, you can use quarks in a screw top bottle. In fact, they are the bottle - and the wine - and the closure!

 

[DoodleBug]

I am shocked. Nobody here answered the central question: Can you use quarks in a screw top bottle?

Since a quark is an elemental particle and a fundamental constituent of all matter, I would submit that YES, you can use quarks in a screw top bottle. In fact, they are the bottle - and the wine - and the closure!

Lol, wasn't quark a character on Star Trek?
In which case I would submit NO.
He could be used but would probably leak!

 

[Ernest T Bass]

I speak from experience, lots of experience. If you get in a hurry bottling your wine as some of us do. Which would you rather have, a blown cork or a bottle bomb?
Semper Fi

 

[jamesngalveston]

calipers, doodlbug...i dont remember the exact decimal, but it was noticeable.

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

Quarks or Zorks?
Zork:http://brewandwinesupply.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=25_31&product_id=449

we also have replacement caps, these are metal with a cardboard disc in the top: http://brewandwinesupply.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=25_31&product_id=1090

then there are the better ones. They are plastic with a domed plastic liner that compresses when you put them on: http://brewandwinesupply.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=25_31&product_id=1091
those shown are the 38 mm for gallon jugs, but the 28mm are just the same, will get them added to the web site later today and up date the post.

 

[RCGoodin]

Quarks or Zorks?
Zork:http://brewandwinesupply.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=25_31&product_id=449

we also have replacement caps, these are metal with a cardboard disc in the top: http://brewandwinesupply.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=25_31&product_id=1090

then there are the better ones. They are plastic with a domed plastic liner that compresses when you put them on: http://brewandwinesupply.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=25_31&product_id=1091
those shown are the 38 mm for gallon jugs, but the 28mm are just the same, will get them added to the web site later today and up date the post.

Doug, is it possible for one of your clients that use the screw top lids to make some comments of their use? Short and long term storage? I think it would help and if it's a favorable response, I could see myself having screw tops and corks for future bottling.