Corking screw-top bottles

[FTC Wines]

My 2 cents, when I first started making wine right out of college I used screw top bottles, wine, soda etc to bottle my “experimental wine” . I dipped some of those in molten wax and long termed aged them. It Worked!

 

[Obelix]

This Novatwist seem to hold OK and I may reuse them once. I think the standard tin tops can be reused. Probably not more than once.
This vax idea seems quite interesting.
Well, if you don't have too many bottles

 

[Obelix]

I've recently reused the standard top on three bottles. One leaked, and wine went flat. Lucky it was a side product, poor quality Rose.
So that experiment didn't work out too well.
The Novatwist reused performed well. So far. We'll see how it works when reused for the third time.

 

[memnosine]

I've bottled about eight case using -reusing- the original screw tops. Had two leaks; both took another quarter turn on the cap. One has to be careful. I'm still switching to novatwists; they look so much better!

 

[wildhair]

Is there a USA supplier for Novatwist caps? Everything I found is in UK or Canada.

 

[Obelix]

I bought mine from eBay. Didn't really pay attention where they come from. Does it matter in the US?

 

[wildhair]

Not really - just the shipping can cost more than the product sometimes.

 

[rayray]

We cork screw-top wine bottles all the time, never had an issue--use number 9 cork. I'm not 100% sure but it seems the Italian FC squeezes the cork more then the Portuguese FC so I let the wine bottles sit up for a few days to let the cork settle/expand before laying them on their side.

 

[cmason1957]

We cork screw-top wine bottles all the time, never had an issue--use number 9 cork. I'm not 100% sure but it seems the Italian FC squeezes the cork more then the Portuguese FC so I let the wine bottles sit up for a few days to let the cork settle/expand before laying them on their side.

The problem isn't can the corks go in, the opening is just a little bigger, but corks go in and seal just fine. Be very careful taking the cork out. Do not use any kind of corkscrew that puts pressure on just a small part of that top, like the typical waiters corkscrew, use one that either pops the cork or with pressure or one that puts pressure on the entire top of the bottle. The glass is thinner than with bottles to be corked. I have had bottles break while removing the cork. Nobody got hurt, but it was a lesson I don't ever want to repeat.

 

[rayray]

The problem isn't can the corks go in, the opening is just a little bigger, but corks go in and seal just fine. Be very careful taking the cork out. Do not use any kind of corkscrew that puts pressure on just a small part of that top, like the typical waiters corkscrew, use one that either pops the cork or with pressure or one that puts pressure on the entire top of the bottle. The glass is thinner than with bottles to be corked. I have had bottles break while removing the cork. Nobody got hurt, but it was a lesson I don't ever want to repeat.

I can see that being an issue and I'll make sure to use the rabbit ears on those bottles--luckily that's all my wife uses--I do prefer the waiters corkscrew though. Two years ago we had two bottles explode in a row during the corking process. Still don't know why, it was near the end and we were both a little tired, maybe human error? Could have been really bad but no one was hurt.

 

[wildhair]

I typically use a screw-top bottle for the last 2 or 3 bottles of a batch. That way I can easily identify bottles from "the bottom of the barrel" - in case I bottled some sediment. I drink those first and do NOT give those away to anyone. I use a double lever hand corker and #8 corks on those. And I always use the winged corkscrew to remove them.

 

[Vinobeau]

The key in using used screw tops is to tighten them! If screw tops were as bad as some of you are touting, the commercial wineries wouldn't be using them.

 

[cmason1957]

The key in using used screw tops is to tighten them! If screw tops were as bad as some of you are touting, the commercial wineries wouldn't be using them.

Reusing the screw top cap, which gets put on and tightened by a machine. That seal gets broken when you open the bottle. Sorry, that makes no sense to me.

Wineries use them after installing a very expensive piece of equipment. They never cork them, which is what this thread has been addressing.

 

[Vinobeau]

Reusing the screw top cap, which gets put on and tightened by a machine. That seal gets broken when you open the bottle. Sorry, that makes no sense to me.

Wineries use them after installing a very expensive piece of equipment. They never cork them, which is what this thread has been addressing.

Correct, don't cork screw tops, just reuse the old screw tops and turn them tight. The original are not "tightened", they are pressed onto the bottles.

 

[rayray]

Always used them and will still cork the screw top bottles if and or when I have them--I'll just make sure to use the proper opener as previously stated by cmason to prevent any problems.

We've been using them for years and never had a problem--imho--a bigger problem is corking a bottle that doesn't have that bottom indention--the punt.