# Corks and Screw Cap Bottles



## pracz (Feb 24, 2010)

I am trying to recycle bottles for use with the kits I am making. A lot of the bottles that I have are screw top bottles. Is it possible to put a cork in those bottles or are they not conducive to that type of use? I would hate to throw them out.

Thanks,

Pete


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## robie (Feb 24, 2010)

I know of people who do cork screw tops, but I have read that their tops are thinner and could break under the pressure of applying the cork.

I guess just move at your own risk. George sales the screw caps. To me, they seem a great idea for early drinker, test bottles.


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## grapeman (Feb 24, 2010)

I think this question comes up at least once for every new winemaker out there. The answer has been and will continue to be- It will work, but can lead to very nasty cuts. You can bottle 100 of them with no mishap, or the first one can shatter the neck. No good way of telling. Since the bottles are free, I discard all screw cap ones and keep the others. Yes it is wasteful, but I would rather discard a bottle than a bottle of blood.


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## pracz (Feb 24, 2010)

appleman said:


> I think this question comes up at least once for every new winemaker out there. The answer has been and will continue to be- It will work, but can lead to very nasty cuts. You can bottle 100 of them with no mishap, or the first one can shatter the neck. No good way of telling. Since the bottles are free, I discard all screw cap ones and keep the others. Yes it is wasteful, but I would rather discard a bottle than a bottle of blood.



Couldn't agree more. If there is a possibility of injury it is not worth the risk. I wasn't sure if these types of bottles were thinner at the neck. It is hard to tell by just looking at them. I'll stick to the regular bottles and discard the screw tops.

Thanks for the advise!

Pete


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## admiral (Feb 24, 2010)

appleman said:


> I think this question comes up at least once for every new winemaker out there. The answer has been and will continue to be- It will work, but can lead to very nasty cuts. You can bottle 100 of them with no mishap, or the first one can shatter the neck. No good way of telling. Since the bottles are free, I discard all screw cap ones and keep the others. Yes it is wasteful, but I would rather discard a bottle than a bottle of blood.



+1 No sense getting bloody for a wine bottle.


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## IQwine (Feb 24, 2010)

is there a way to use the 187 screw top bottles? I don't know if you can trust the original cap to reseal?


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## robie (Feb 24, 2010)

I'll bet George will know.


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## cpfan (Feb 24, 2010)

DancerMan said:


> George sales the screw caps.


Unfortunately the 28mm caps (metal or polyseal) that George sells do not fit the majority of commercial screwcap bottles.


BTW, cork finish bottles will also break when corked. Like the screw cap bottles it doesn't happen very often. My advise is to always always check the neck of your bottles for fine cracks. They will often look like a hair stuck on the bottle neck.


Steve


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## ASAI (Feb 24, 2010)

IQwine said:


> is there a way to use the 187 screw top bottles? I don't know if you can trust the original cap to reseal?



I usually use 4-10 on each kit, just reusing the original cap and seal. Main plan was for early drinkers, but have let some go for for 6-9 months with no problems. I have also reused 750 ml screw caps with no problems over several months. One of the test I tried, that I have been lax on reporting back is using plastic water bottles. Some what mixed results. The Glacieu(sp) Vitamin Water bottles worked well with kimi melon pinot girgio bottled for 8 months. 
Most of these test bottlings I did a year ago. For the reused screw tops I finished with sealing wax just in case.


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