# Can you cork beer bottles?



## JBEE

I recently read where you could use beer bottles to put wine in, by using caps. My question is can you use corks instead of caps or do they make a cork that size?


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## Wade E

NO!!!!!!!! You can not as they dont have strong enough side walls nor can you cork a wine bottle that is a screw top. Please dont try this as a few people over the years have on a few of the forums and were injured peretty good while either opening these or in the process of putting tye cork in. One of them cut a few of the tendons in his hand and had to go through many surgeries and still dont have much of his movement in that hand.


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## JBEE

*Thanks*

Thanks for the info!! They are pop off bottles instead of screw off but I won't risk it. Thanks for the warning.


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## Wade E

No beer bottles will take a cork.


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## cpfan

Wade E said:


> No beer bottles will take a cork.



Wade:

Which are you saying?

a) No (you are incorrect), beer bottles will take a cork.

or

b) 'No beer bottles' will take a cork.

I have succesfully put corks in beer bottles with a compressed air corker. I think it can be done with a floor corker. Probably using #9 corks.

I prefer to use caps for two reasons....
1) Depending on your cork screw, they can be difficult to remove.
2) Caps are cheaper than corks.

Steve


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## Wade E

I would never put a cork in a beer bottle cause they just arebt designed for it and yiou are risjing your health doing so. The people who have been hurt from this that Ive read were actually on Winepress.


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## JBEE

*What about caps?*

So you can put wine in a beer bottle but use a cap instead?


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## Wade E

Absolutely.


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## cpfan

JBEE said:


> So you can put wine in a beer bottle but use a cap instead?



YEP. Hey get some Grolsch beer bottles. They are great for wine.

Stetve


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## Horkalugi

Hmmm, wine in beer bottles. Sounds like something Ricky and Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys would do.


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## Wade E

Lots of people put mead in them.


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## TheTooth

Wade E said:


> Lots of people put mead in them.



Yup... I did that with my first batch of mead because I didn't have a corker yet and wasn't sure if I was going to stick with the wine/mead side of the hobby. What was I thinking? LOL

Anwyay, the mead that I capped in beer bottles was great when it lasted. 

As Wade said, there's no way I'd cork a beer bottle unless it was a belgian beer bottle that had a cork in it originally. Those bottles have thicker necks and are designed for corks. They're like champagne bottles.


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## rawlus

i don't like the grolsch or other wire-capped beer bottles for wine because i think the rubber gasket affects the wine after a time, unlike beer which is not meant to age in the bottle, wine in contact with that rubber gasket for years is going to take on some unpleasant aspects i think. plus it is not an ideal seal and with age will be difficult to sanitize as the rubber develops microscopic cracks over time.
given the overabundance of perfectly good wine bottles everywhere, i don't have much reason to use anything else.


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## BobF

rawlus said:


> i don't like the grolsch or other wire-capped beer bottles for wine because i think the rubber gasket affects the wine after a time, unlike beer which is not meant to age in the bottle, wine in contact with that rubber gasket for years is going to take on some unpleasant aspects i think. plus it is not an ideal seal and with age will be difficult to sanitize as the rubber develops microscopic cracks over time.
> given the overabundance of perfectly good wine bottles everywhere, i don't have much reason to use anything else.


 
The appeal to me for smaller bottles is the obvious concern of having to open a larger bottle when I only want a single serving.

I'm looking at purchasing 375ml 'halfs' for jalapeno wine, but I sure would like to spend that cash on a larger carboy instead.

I have a few Grolsch bottles around I may use instead. The good news is that new rubber washers for Grolsch-style bottles are pretty cheap.


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## TheTooth

rawlus said:


> i don't like the grolsch or other wire-capped beer bottles for wine because i think the rubber gasket affects the wine after a time, unlike beer which is not meant to age in the bottle, wine in contact with that rubber gasket for years is going to take on some unpleasant aspects i think. plus it is not an ideal seal and with age will be difficult to sanitize as the rubber develops microscopic cracks over time.
> given the overabundance of perfectly good wine bottles everywhere, i don't have much reason to use anything else.



Some beers are indeed meant to be aged in the bottle. I've had some 10% beer aging in Grolsch-style bottles for a couple years and they still taste great. I've never had an issue with the rubber gasket adding any flavor whatsoever. Part of that could be that beer is stored standing up, though. Maybe it would leach some sort of flavor from the gasket if laid down so the beer/wine is in constant contact with the gasket.

To your point, most commercial beers meant to be aged tend to be corked and capped/wired in a champagne-style bottle or simply capped in a normal beer bottle. I definitely wouldn't think to age a bottle of Grolsch (or drink it for that matter... Grolsch is only good for the bottles  ).


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## rawlus

BobF - purchasing a case of splits or double-splits is a good investment. that's what i did, maybe $20 for 24 bottles. i use a few with each batch to give me some early tasters for the 6mos-12mos period.


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## TheTooth

rawlus said:


> BobF - purchasing a case of splits or double-splits is a good investment. that's what i did, maybe $20 for 24 bottles. i use a few with each batch to give me some early tasters for the 6mos-12mos period.



+1... I did the same thing.


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## BobF

rawlus said:


> BobF - purchasing a case of splits or double-splits is a good investment. that's what i did, maybe $20 for 24 bottles. i use a few with each batch to give me some early tasters for the 6mos-12mos period.


 
Thanks - that's what I'm mulling right now.

Everywhere I've looked a case of 375's is basically the same price as a 5 gallon carboy - $33 - $35

There's a winery a bit of a drive from here that I get bottles from gratis. Next time I'm near I'll see if they have any smaller than 750ml


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## xanxer82

I value my ligaments too much to try to put corks in bottles that aren't made for them.


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## BobF

xanxer82 said:


> I value my ligaments too much to try to put corks in bottles that aren't made for them.


 
Me too. No corked beer bottles here! Grolsch style is an option I'm still considering - no corks though.


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## rocket man

BobF said:


> Thanks - that's what I'm mulling right now.
> 
> Everywhere I've looked a case of 375's is basically the same price as a 5 gallon carboy - $33 - $35
> 
> There's a winery a bit of a drive from here that I get bottles from gratis. Next time I'm near I'll see if they have any smaller than 750ml



Wow, I guess the prices at my LHBS are pretty good. I just checked today and the price for a case of 375 ml bottles, 24 bottles, is about $24.00.


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## BobF

rocket man said:


> Wow, I guess the prices at my LHBS are pretty good. I just checked today and the price for a case of 375 ml bottles, 24 bottles, is about $24.00.


 
I wish I had a "local" shop. The nearest to me is a 2 hour drive each way, so I tend to order a lot of stuff from places with flat-rate shipping.

I *might* be able to get something good from the winery I mentioned. They clean up used 750ml bottles from their bistro and sell them for $4/case. That trip is only 1 hour each way. ((calculating fuel cost vs buying online ... ))

Hopefully they have a few halfs and splits!


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## beggarsu

Wade E said:


> NO!!!!!!!! You can not as they dont have strong enough side walls nor can you cork a wine bottle that is a screw top. Please dont try this as a few people over the years have on a few of the forums and were injured peretty good while either opening these or in the process of putting tye cork in. One of them cut a few of the tendons in his hand and had to go through many surgeries and still dont have much of his movement in that hand.




I use wine bottles that are screw tops - no problem - over 120 now. 

corking is no problem - if any bottle (screw top or non screw top) ever break during corking it is no problem - My hands are not near the bottle Same for de-corking as I use a levered de-corker.

But I will take that as a warning not to use those non-levered de-corkers on any wine bottle.


The advantage is once opened you can use a screw top to put on the bottle and keep in fridge or whatever..

It's not the equipment , it's the hand skills - you have to use common sense if you use anything - hammer, knife cork-screw. -if you are applying force you must account for what will happen if you slip in any direction.

I just bought and am making a coffee port. I was going to use 750 ml bottles but now that I know corks will fit in some beer bottles I will use the beer bottles - because I saw some very fancy beer bottles at the bottle depot the other day - I will give it a try.. 

Buying the 375 empty bottles - the prices are outrageous.


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## Lamarkeiko

This thread is of great interest to me. I like the idea of producing smaller bottles of wine, which I can use as gifts during the holiday. I have been saving several dozen empty bottles of Bud Light Platinum because of the beautiful cobalt blue color. These bottles used screw off caps. Could they be recapped like a regular bottle, and if not is there another way I could reuse them for wine?

Thanks for any replies back
Lamar


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## WI_Wino

Lamarkeiko said:


> This thread is of great interest to me. I like the idea of producing smaller bottles of wine, which I can use as gifts during the holiday. I have been saving several dozen empty bottles of Bud Light Platinum because of the beautiful cobalt blue color. These bottles used screw off caps. Could they be recapped like a regular bottle, and if not is there another way I could reuse them for wine?
> 
> Thanks for any replies back
> Lamar



Nope. Twist offs are pretty much useless to home brewers/wine makers.


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## beggarsu

Lamarkeiko said:


> This thread is of great interest to me. I like the idea of producing smaller bottles of wine, which I can use as gifts during the holiday. I have been saving several dozen empty bottles of Bud Light Platinum because of the beautiful cobalt blue color. These bottles used screw off caps. Could they be recapped like a regular bottle, and if not is there another way I could reuse them for wine?
> 
> Thanks for any replies back
> Lamar




The bud light platinum twist off now has re closeable twist off caps - check with google. 

Sounds good - once you close it off it won't age anymore but if you are giving it as gifts that doesn't matter. I saw some nice rubber stopper 500 ml beer bottles that I will do the same thing - first I will age my port in 750 ml and then when ready to drink or give away I will transfer and affix fancy label.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/can-i-reuse-twist-off-bottles-361034/


http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/any-way-cap-twist-offs-302768/


There is some diff of opinion of capping twist off for beer makers. Some say they can re-use the original cap. Seems there is a lot of problem. If it's a gift you give in person rather than mail and probably will be drunk in near future there is probably less need for perfection here as in long term storage..


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## dessertmaker

I have never had a problem with twist off bottles. Ever.


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## WI_Wino

dessertmaker said:


> I have never had a problem with twist off bottles. Ever.



Corking them, capping them with beer caps (beer bottles), or reusing twist off caps?


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## dessertmaker

Corking them with the good old fashioned hand corker and a hammer.


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## beggarsu

dessertmaker said:


> Corking them with the good old fashioned hand corker and a hammer.



The small beer bottles?


Neato! I want to cork them - So it can be done! I'm going to do it then.


A hammer? - never heard of that - you mean you hammer in corks that don't go in all the way? That can be done?


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## dessertmaker

beggarsu said:


> the small beer bottles? Neato! I want to cork them - so it can be done! I'm going to do it then. A hammer? - never heard of that - you mean you hammer in corks that don't go in all the way? That can be done?




NOl!!!!!!!!!!


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## beggarsu

dessertmaker said:


> NOl!!!!!!!!!!



So what is the hammer for?


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## dessertmaker

beggarsu said:


> So what is the hammer for?








I use it to tap the cork home with this.


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## WI_Wino

Dessertmaker - you are referring to twist off *wine *bottles, correct? 

Not beer bottles?


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## dessertmaker

WI_Wino said:


> Dessertmaker - you are referring to twist off wine bottles, correct? Not beer bottles?



Yes I've never tried corking a beer bottle. Don't plan on messing with that adventure any time soon. My bench capper works just fine.


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## beggarsu

dessertmaker said:


> Yes I've never tried corking a beer bottle. Don't plan on messing with that adventure any time soon. My bench capper works just fine.



When they were talking about 'twist-off's they were talking about beer bottles.

You are talking about screw top wine bottles.


So this hammer method... I use a two handed corker with bottle on the floor - sometime the cork is not 100 percnet in- so I can put a plastic thingmee over it and hammer tap it to finish ??? 

I'll try that.


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## dessertmaker

beggarsu said:


> When they were talking about 'twist-off's they were talking about beer bottles. You are talking about screw top wine bottles. So this hammer method... I use a two handed corker with bottle on the floor - sometime the cork is not 100 percnet in- so I can put a plastic thingmee over it and hammer tap it to finish ??? I'll try that.



Sounds like you just need a little less head space in your bottle. I doubt you would accomplish anything more with a hand corker and a hammer if you're using a two handed floor corker.

That little red thing IS my corker. The cork gets a shot of KMETA (to make it slide in easier) and goes in the hole, the red cap goes on top of that, a rag or thick layer of duct tape goes on top of that, and I tap the cork home with my hammer.


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## dessertmaker

beggarsu said:


> When they were talking about 'twist-off's they were talking about beer bottles. You are talking about screw top wine bottles.




I was agreeing with you on the twist off wine bottles actually. Should have quoted you. Sorry.


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## Lamarkeiko

I tried my bottle capper on a Bud Light Platinum twist-off bottle with some water in it, and it seems to be held on good as far as I can tell. No leakage and is very tight.
Lamar


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## WI_Wino

Does it spin if you try to twist off like a normal twist off cap?


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## beggarsu

dessertmaker said:


> Sounds like you just need a little less head space in your bottle. I doubt you would accomplish anything more with a hand corker and a hammer if you're using a two handed floor corker.
> 
> .




I'm bottling 30 bottles of rhubarb right this moment.

I'm having a horrible time with the corker - sometimes it goes in too deep, sometimes too shallow - there's at least one now i have to re-do.

It depends on how fast you do it , how smooth, where the adjustment is I'll need 10,000 bottles to figure this out.


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## beggarsu

Lamarkeiko said:


> I tried my bottle capper on a Bud Light Platinum twist-off bottle with some water in it, and it seems to be held on good as far as I can tell. No leakage and is very tight.
> Lamar


Thanks for the pics


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## beggarsu

dessertmaker said:


> The cork gets a shot of KMETA (to make it slide in easier) and goes in the hole, the red cap goes on top of that, a rag or thick layer of duct tape goes on top of that, and I tap the cork home with my hammer.




Ok that worked .
They say you are supposed to put the corks in dry but this time i lightly immersed corks in the sanitizer , gave a shake so is just a little on the outside - tried three of them - the corks went in smooth. 

With this i can make the adjustment thingee to mean something constant and can use constant smooth power.

Think i can get more control now.


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## Lamarkeiko

WI_Wino said:


> Does it spin if you try to twist off like a normal twist off cap?



It does twist off just like the original twist cap. It is tight enough that I can't twist it off with my bare hand. (Don't have the grip I use to have I guess), but with a shirt tail or rag, I can twist it off. It also seems to twist back closed.
Lamar


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## Tess

Lamarkeiko said:


> I tried my bottle capper on a Bud Light Platinum twist-off bottle with some water in it, and it seems to be held on good as far as I can tell. No leakage and is very tight.
> Lamar



Very pretty bottle. it dont blame you for wanting to use it but Id be afraid to cork it. for one thing it flares out at the top. I brake the cork in half shove it in as far as it go's by hand and tell them to drink it right away lol


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## Putterrr

Be aware that bottles in different countries are not the same. I'm told US bottles are thinner. 

I have used twist off beer bottles for 20 years and they work fine. Have I ever broke a bottle while capping? Of course. Have I ever broke a top while opening with an opener? Yes again but its happened with screw tops and regular tops. Its more of an issue of a damage bottle than anything else. 

In the past I used my shirt to twist off the caps till my wife got tired of the little holes that started showing up in my shirts. Home capped bottles are not as smooth as store boughts.

cheers


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## beggarsu

I had 500 cc (plus 200 cc) of crabapple left over- it definitively needed to be aged.

I corked a 500 ml beer bottle - the kind with the rubber stopper on a hinge - i did a test run and then corked the crabapple twice as the first time I forgot to leave ullage.

No problem - but it's funny on all three as it started to go in I was on a tilt and it was hard to finish with the two handed floor corker 
One try was fully corked - the other mushroomed a little.


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