Controlled Experiment: Can we reuse screw top bottles and other "odd" bottle types

[fabrictodyefor]

I was also told it is ok to reuse the "plastic" corks. However when I opened a bottle of wine this evening, I kind of wondered about the hole left by the corkscrew! I am a way off from bottling, but want to be prepared for my first batch of choke cherry wine!

 

[FTC Wines]

I would never reuse a "plastic"cork, sure that the cork screw hole would cause problems for you. Real corks at 18 cents each are too cheap NOT to use. Roy

 

[fabrictodyefor]

Thanks, you "hear" so much, and some things sound ok, and others don't. A new adventure, this wine making!

 

[Boatboy24]

Just for fun, I once tried filling a bottle with water and re-corking with a used synthetic cork. I set it on its side and within five seconds, there was water seeping through it.

 

[fabrictodyefor]

yep, yesterday I re-corked a bottle of wine with the plastic cork, a white that we did not finish, and when I put it back in the fridge on it's side it started to leak! there is so much to learn about this stuff!!!! Got my head spinning sometimes

 

[thailandnotes]

Will be very interested in the results of this. One question I have is in the cork vs. screwtop debate is the different volumes. If I fill a screwtop bottle perfectly to the top with water and funnel it into a empty cork bottle, it appears the both have the exact same volume. However the cork eliminates at least 12 ml of that space whereas the screwtop subtracts none. Do you get more wine buying a screwtop or is there a different amount of gas in the bottle?

Can't believe this thread ended without results being reported.

Can anyone link to other similar more recent threads?

 

[Stressbaby]

'Tis disappointing to see such a well designed study never get published.
Publication bias is more often a problem with negative results, although in this case a "negative result" may actually be the alternative hypothesis.

 

[jensmith]

I have reused screw cap bottles for the last two years. I bottle a few out of each batch with them. I use them for first drinking or guifts. After I put the cap on I set them on their side for a couple of days. Almost none leaked. Those that did just needed a quarter turn. Two I have tossed. Most can be used three times. After the leak test I store them as I would my corked bottles. I use both wine and other glass bottles that had alcahol in them.
I opened a tequla bottle of wine last week that was a year old. Stored on its side down in the damp moldy celler. After I wiped the mold off the cap I opened it. The wine was just as good as when I bottled it. (Not a big mold problem, just a little during the hot humid summer) If any reused cap was going to fail that flimsy metal tequla cap covered in mold would have been it.
This is by no means scientific or a golden rule, but every wine I bottled in a reused screw cap has been fine. Just as long as you have no leaks to start with all has been fine.
Those new caps that don't fit normal bottles I would not trust! They only have two threads, not enough for a good seal. Used once may be fine, but not several times.
Just my observations. Not a study.