Wine bottles - not standard size

[ViNesv]

I was given close to 200 1l wine bottles that were used once before. I thoughts that most bottles in North America has standard bottle opening size. Yesterday I tried to cork one of these bottles and then I realized that my bottles have smaller opening than other regular bottles. I measured opening and regular bottle has 19mm (millimeters) opening and my bottles have 17mm opening. I used #8 cork and I could not fit cork into bottle opening - there was always cork end sticking out.
I attached picture with bottles - green is my non standard bottle and dark bottle is a standard bottle.

Question - are these non standard bottles still good for wine? Any idea what cork size should I use for them. Should I try to find these non standard corks (all my wine kits come with #8 corks), or should I just take these non standard bottles to recycle and should I buy standard wine bottles?

TIA!

 

[CGish]

That green bottle looks like it would take a cap. Have you tried a regular beer bottle cap on it?

As for corks, I think there are #7 corks available. Maybe they would work?

 

[dralarms]

That green bottle looks like some champagne bottles I got stuck with a couple years ago.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I agree with dralarms on the green one being a champagne bottle - I would have to have a better view of the lip of the bottle to make sure.

I have used champagne bottles in the past - they are definitely heavier than normal and I used a #9 normac cork and a floor corker for installation.

I would typically gives these away and hope that they did not come back - LOL

 

[sour_grapes]

My guess is that they are not champagne bottles. (They look too thin, and Champagne rarely comes in 1 liter bottles.) Rather, my guess is that they are Austrian or German bottles, for something like Gruner Veltliner. These are typically 1 liter and closed by a beer cap.

 

[menerdari]

Beer crown cap was my thought as well, looks exactly like the top on my beer bottles.

 

[ViNesv]

Thanks for replies, yes now I see that top looks like beer bottle top. So if that is the case - can I use them for wine, or should I just take them to recycle? Or if I buy #7 cork - will that work?

 

[WI_Wino]

You can fill them with wine and cap them. I would not cork them personally, I would be concerned the glass is too thin and it would crack.

 

[sour_grapes]

Agree with Wi_wino -- you can certainly cap wine.

Maybe one of us should have said this explicitly: Champagne bottles HAVE a lip like that for a "beer cap." At bottling time, the wine is first capped. (At the same time, more sugar and more yeast are introduced.) A further fermentation then occurs where those yeast produce the sparkling CO2 typical of Champagne. Then, the bottle is stored upside down so the dead yeast settle to the cap, and the cap is removed to get rid of it. Finally, the bottle is sealed with the familiar Champagne cork.

And, as I implied, cheap table wines in Austria and Germany are often sealed with a cap, instead of a cork. It may be that there are different sizes of "beer" caps, however -- I am no expert!

Good luck.

 

[StartingLateAt49yo]

Check your stash of 200 bottles and make sure none of them are screw cap. Don't put corks in screw Bottles, the bottle could shatter. Of course you could try putting a cap on the screw cap Bottle, But it doesn't seal as tightly as a cork. If you're not aging the wine for a long time is the only time I might use a screw cap.

 

[clight385]

They look like a crown finish. Beer bottle cap. If indeed they are a crown top do not use a cork as the bottle is not designed for it. Buy a beer bottle capper and some caps. Measure the top and compare to a beer bottle.

 

[BernardSmith]

Check your stash of 200 bottles and make sure none of them are screw cap. Don't put corks in screw Bottles, the bottle could shatter. Of course you could try putting a cap on the screw cap Bottle, But it doesn't seal as tightly as a cork. If you're not aging the wine for a long time is the only time I might use a screw cap.

Are you sure that you can cap a screw top? I would have thought that the screw would not allow the cap to sit sufficiently tightly: part of the crimp will sit in the indent and part will sit on the raised part so crimping will not seal the bottle. No?

 

[CGish]

Are you sure that you can cap a screw top? I would have thought that the screw would not allow the cap to sit sufficiently tightly: part of the crimp will sit in the indent and part will sit on the raised part so crimping will not seal the bottle. No?

Assuming the bottle top in question is the same size and style as a twist off beer bottle, yes, you can. It does require a bench capper - the hand cappers will not work. I don't like doing it, but every twist-off bottle I have recapped has worked just fine. I have a small batch of jalapeno wine in 7 oz Little Kings bottles. I would not put a wine I wanted to age for very long in them, but for short term purposes they are fine.

Now if the screw top is a wine bottle with the deeper cap, I do not think that will work. However, I haven't ever tested it so I cannot say for sure.

Perhaps there is a source for new caps for screw top wine bottles?

Cody

 

[BernardSmith]

Assuming the bottle top in question is the same size and style as a twist off beer bottle, yes, you can.

Cody

but a crown cap by definition is not the same "style" as a screw cap... screw caps have threads.. crown caps are crimped...

 

[CGish]

but a crown cap by definition is not the same "style" as a screw cap... screw caps have threads.. crown caps are crimped...

True, but I think the twistoff beer caps are just crown caps that are crimped down around the threads. Perhaps a couple pictures will make sure we are talking about the same thing.

Here are six bottles currently in my collection. The first on the right is a regular wine bottle (for control purposes). Next to it is a screw top wine bottle - it is not cappable or corkable. Third is a clear, cappable wine bottle - it will take a wine cork, a crown cap, or both. Fourth is a small champagne bottle - it will also take either a wine cork, a crown cap, or both. Fifth is a regular beer bottle - crown cap only. The last is a twist off beer bottle - crown cap only.


Here is a closer look at the tops of the three smaller bottles. These will all take a crown cap, but the twistoff requires a bench capper.


The twistoffs have less of a lip for the crown cap to wrap around, and the glass threads are susceptible to chipping if you open them with a bottle opener, but they do seal and work just fine.


The other type of screw cap - like this one on a wine bottle - is not cappable with a crown cap. They require a special screw cap and although I have several of these I have no experience with reusing them.


Does that clear up the confusion?

Cody

 

[StartingLateAt49yo]

If you have the screw cap that came with the bottle and it's not damaged, you could use that. Plastic ones don't dent like the metal ones.

You could even use plastic PET Coke soda bottles IF you're not keeping it in there too long. (I sometimes use 5-10 of the 8 ounce coke PET bottles (or 9-11 ounce Perrier glass bottles, capped) so I have a few "glasses" to try out from the cellar. I wonder if THAT idea (PET) will cause controversy lol.

Of course it's still better to use corks, in a cork type bottle.

 

[sour_grapes]

I was given close to 200 1l wine bottles that were used once before.

Hah! Last night I went to our local version of Whole Foods. They had an apple cider (not hard cider) that was in a bottle like this.

 

[vacuumpumpman]

Hah! Last night I went to our local version of Whole Foods. They had an apple cider (not hard cider) that was in a bottle like this.

So Paul what type of closer did it have ?

 

[sour_grapes]

So Paul what type of closer did it have ?

A beer cap.