How to cork sour ale?

When time (finally) comes to bottle my Gueuze-fake / Sour Ale, I think I'd like to cork the bottles. What equipment and accessories can I expect to purchase for this endeavor? Should I buy special bottles, special corker, etc...?

I use the Colonna Capper/Corker. Does corks and both the US and European style crown caps.

P.S. If you go the Colonna route, make sure you get the Capper/Corker model because they also have one that's only a capper.

I'll second the Colonna capper/corker. You have to know a couple of tricks to do it right but I've used it on plenty of batches and have been happy with it. A lot of people use various floor corkers too. When I was looking the Colonna was much cheaper so that's what I went with.

You will also need enough Belgian (champagne style) beer bottles along with the proper size corks and wire hoods. Initially it was a little bit more money than I wanted to put into it but it has been worth it for sure. Plus I got to drink a -lot- of delicious Belgian beers to get enough bottles!

What are the tricks? I have had to dig all of my test corks out with a knife after lodging them halfway in the corker. Tried the byo method to no avail, the corker doesn't push the cork out the rest of the way, and prying the bottle from the bottom only dislodges the cork and leaves me with an uncorked bottle and a stuck cork. I bought this thing for my Belgians after hearing all the good reviews but I am starting to think I wasted my money.

lostfish said:

What are the tricks? I have had to dig all of my test corks out with a knife after lodging them halfway in the corker. Tried the byo method to no avail, the corker doesn't push the cork out the rest of the way, and prying the bottle from the bottom only dislodges the cork and leaves me with an uncorked bottle and a stuck cork. I bought this thing for my Belgians after hearing all the good reviews but I am starting to think I wasted my money.

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What kind of corker do you have?

The Colonna capper/corker.

I've tried SLO Brewer's technique as well...the cork just doesn't push through the funnel at all.

I think this is how most people do it...at least it's the way I do it. Seat the cork in the bottle leaving about 5/8" sticking out. Remove the metal base plate (the one used to adjust for different sized bottles). With the base plate removed, the bottle will essentially be suspended with the 5/8" still stuck in the funnel. Turn the lever and push the cork through the funnel until it's free.

P.S. If it's not pushing the cork/bottle out of the funnel after removing the base plate, you need to adjust the lever a bit. Just unscrew the little plastic nut, pull the lever out far enough to lower the plunger portion a couple notches then reinsert and finger tighten the nut.

Thank you I'll give it a go first thing tomorrow!

If you plan on doing it a lot, I highly recommend a Ferrari champagne corner. Sometimes cheap makes something such a pain in the butt that you give up on the endeavor. I bought the Ferrari and haven't looked back. I set the depth, and just cork away. No tricks or additional tools needed. Well thats a lie if you do 375s you need to raise the bottle up like 3" which I do with a wooden block thing that slides over the bottle base extending the base up. Other than that is corks 750s and magnums perfectly. I also use it for 3L and anger bottles but they do not fit under the corker. Corking those is a whole other fiasco.

I will definitely keep the Ferrari in mind down the road, unfortunately if I spend another cent on brewing equipment my wife will sh*t a brick. Looks like the Colonna for a while.

I have a Portuguese corker. Wish I bought the champagne Italian model since it can also do capping. The Portuguese is nice. I've used it twice.

Feel free to borrow mine if you live locally. Can easily adjust the depth of cork. Works for the 750ml, never tried with a 375ml. Seems like it probably adjusts, I've just never done the smaller bottles.

I never been able to get my Belgian brews to easily eject the corks. Any suggestions? I've been carbonating to proper style. Need a corkscrew to remove. Also never get the mushroom shaped cork. Been using corks from more beer and AHS, both appear to be identical.

TD

The corks I have been using are St. Pats of Texas that were clearanced over a year ago. They're much less pliable than the AHS corks and if left in a bottle long enough they take the shape of the bottle neck and I have no issue getting them out. They stay mushroomed for a decent amount of time but the corks are normally in the bottle for 6 months or more.

smokinghole said:

The corks I have been using are St. Pats of Texas that were clearanced over a year ago. They're much less pliable than the AHS corks and if left in a bottle long enough they take the shape of the bottle neck and I have no issue getting them out. They stay mushroomed for a decent amount of time but the corks are normally in the bottle for 6 months or more.

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St. Pats has been out of biz for over a year by now? Thought it was much longer. Anyway, do you know where they sourced them? Do you know the diameter? I had a bottle with a cork in for a few years, forgotten at a friends house. Still no mushrooming, and too difficult to remove without a corkscrew.

So I think its just the corks I'm using then. The carbonation level is correct when I pour the beer into a glass. Minor complaint, but wondering if there is a better source.

I wonder where the breweries like chimay and other Belgian as well as domestic brewers get their corks.....

TD

Hmm, well I can say that I know the corks I have are way different than the ones that have REF on them. You can check out another company called Jelinek. I recently bought some champagne corks from them for the big bottles I use for parties and such. I did not however order any beer corks so I don't know what they look like.