Corks and a corker.

[M38A1]

Intheswamp, You watch out for those sugar ants around there. We got 'em bad in central Alabama. I lost 4 five frame nucs to them and just recently overnight they invaded my house and drowned by the thousands in one of my two 5 gallon buckets of fresh apple juice. Is the trailer climate controled?

....won't they just settle during clearing, or run it all through a coffee filter?

 

[Intheswamp]

I have a Portuguese corker and probably corked 60 cases in the past 18 months and it's never had so much as a hiccup. As for corks, I'm using just a simple 9x1-1/2 Nomacorc Synthetic cork too. Nothing fancy and they seem to work well for what I'm doing as a rookie at this. And I'm storing all my 750ml bottles horizontally. All the 375's are upright. Heat shrink-wraps on top of all bottles.

Wait a minute... You corked 60 cases in 18 months and you state "...I'm doing as a rookie at this."!!!! That don't sound like a rookie to me!!!

 

[Intheswamp]

....won't they just settle during clearing, or run it all through a coffee filter?

Or, a paint strainer bag.

 

[Intheswamp]

I don't think I mentioned it, but I used the #3 grade corks from Morewine. They look very clean with few dark streaks in them. Matter of fact, after corking the ends of them almost look like white pine wood...smooth, few blemishes. FWIW.

 

[M38A1]

Wait a minute... You corked 60 cases in 18 months and you state "...I'm doing as a rookie at this."!!!! That don't sound like a rookie to me!!!

lol, yeah - i'm still quite the rookie at this. I liken myself to being a wine maker much like a person who uses a box cake mix is called a baker. Most of that 60 cases is Dragons Blood or Skeeter Pee, or some slight variation on the DB with different fruits. Virtually all my SP is using the gross lees of the previous DB batch. So if I make a 6gal strawberry, then I make a 6gal lemon-strawberry. Make a DB blueberry, follow it with a lemon-blueberry.

I've done three wine kits with great results - again, another box cake in my opinion with great results.

And I've tried two years now with real grapes grown locally at my brother in-laws. Horrible grapes to work with (wild mustang) due to super high acidity and very little juice per grape). But it's given me a good understanding of how to really make wine from the get-go. Sooooooo many members here have walked me through the process and have been so friendly and helping... I just find that amazing and that's why I love this forum.

My latest order is two juice buckets from the LHBS (heck, i don't even remember what i ordered) that should be in anytime. I understand they are frozen or shipped chilled and all I need to do is pop the top and let it go. Hmmmm - so many questions like "is the yeast already in there"? What's the initial SG? and so forth. Then there's sooooo much I simply don't understand like the whole SO2 thing, MLF and a host of other stuff, thus the "rookie" comment.

 

[gsf77]

It's easy for some of us to get hooked on the process of making wine.

 

[Intheswamp]

Weird you should say that, gsf77. I was just this morning talking to a buddy of mine about the room in the trailer that I'm planning on fixing up to ferment and store in. I told him, "I don't drink that much wine and my wife don't drink it at all. I think I just like the process."

I tend to like to tinker with things, but, I do like to drink a little all along. And if I make a gallon or two of different things all along and stick a couple of bottles of it back for long-term aging I figure I might have some tasty drinks in my old(er) days.<GRIN>

 

[Larsen Cottrell]

Have been using #9 natural corks, over 600 bottles, nothing older than 8 months so far, but I've read that these corks are good for 2 years storage. Have had the odd cork leak, assuming that is a probability thing rather than a problem, or I used a #8 accidentally (some bottles prefer #8's I discovered after a blue cobalt's neck split). Only problem with corks tearing is because I didn't soak them before inserting, or was trying to use #9 on a bottle that wanted #8! Have a floor corker, sometimes that doesnt line the corks up straight.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

Anybody looking for one of these Amazon has them for $59.

 

[CDrew]

What about "Nomacorc"?

Ok, I did some more searching and found this pdf file/website: https://corksupply.com/assets/Uploads/Nomacorc-SelectGreen-sellsheet-EN-US-Mid.pdf This article shows that Nomacorc produces three synthetic corks: "Select Green 500" rated for 8 years, "Select Green 300" rated for 10 years, and "Select Green 100" rated for 15 years.
.

I bottled all of 2018 with Normacorcs and I think I have them figured out. By the way-not 1 leaker in 300+ bottles. I used a mix of Select green 300 and 500.

Select 900 are their cheapest and likely shortest lived corc. But it's the one they designate for hand corkers. These are still available on Amazon, but I'm not sure they are currently made. They may be, I just don't know. I did use 1 bag of 30 of these and they seem good.

Almost all their other corks are "Green" (As in carbon neutral, they are not green in color). THey are a plant based (sugar cane) polyethylene.

Classic Green is a 5 year cork-entry level normal cork. This would likely be sufficient for home winemakers.

Select Green 500 is an 8 year cork

Select Green 300 is a 10 year cork

Select Green 100 is a 15 year cork

Reserva is a 25+ year cork.

Then in each of the cork types there are 2 or 3 different lengths. 37, 44 and 47mm

Honestly, I think they are great. My Italian corker had no problems with the Select Green corks. No creasing, no leaks nothing at all.

Supposedly they control O2 ingress and publish the rates on their website. And the closure age rating, does corelate to O2 permeability. I think the sweet spot for home winemakers is probably the Select Green 300s. You can buy bags of 1000 on Amazon for about $250. The shelf life seems pretty infinite.

 

[chicken]

View attachment 57079
Anybody looking for one of these Amazon has them for $59.

Mine is arriving today! I'm so excited!

 

[Jal5]

Mine is arriving today! I'm so excited!

That one piece of equipment changed the whole winemaking experience. I would never be without it now!

 

[Intheswamp]

@CDrew where do you buy your corks. I've looked at several vendors and they just say "Normacorcs"...very little specifics about what they're selling.

I bottled all of 2018 with Normacorcs and I think I have them figured out. By the way-not 1 leaker in 300+ bottles. I used a mix of Select green 300 and 500.

Select 900 are their cheapest and likely shortest lived corc. But it's the one they designate for hand corkers. These are still available on Amazon, but I'm not sure they are currently made. They may be, I just don't know. I did use 1 bag of 30 of these and they seem good.

Almost all their other corks are "Green" (As in carbon neutral, they are not green in color). THey are a plant based (sugar cane) polyethylene.

Classic Green is a 5 year cork-entry level normal cork. This would likely be sufficient for home winemakers.

Select Green 500 is an 8 year cork

Select Green 300 is a 10 year cork

Select Green 100 is a 15 year cork

Reserva is a 25+ year cork.

Then in each of the cork types there are 2 or 3 different lengths. 37, 44 and 47mm

Honestly, I think they are great. My Italian corker had no problems with the Select Green corks. No creasing, no leaks nothing at all.

Supposedly they control O2 ingress and publish the rates on their website. And the closure age rating, does corelate to O2 permeability. I think the sweet spot for home winemakers is probably the Select Green 300s. You can buy bags of 1000 on Amazon for about $250. The shelf life seems pretty infinite.

 

[Scooter68]

I've got the blue corker with brass jaws but it's a tabletop model. Will probably make a custom height corker stand for it so I can chose the height to work at. I like the easy to adjust bottle height option on mine it takes two hands but that's fine for me.

 

[crabjoe]

I've got the portuguese floor corker too. Wish it could be used for sparkling wines.

 

[CDrew]

@CDrew where do you buy your corks. I've looked at several vendors and they just say "Normacorcs"...very little specifics about what they're selling.

Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/s?me=AR01OPNKCIOBT&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[Intheswamp]

Oh well, the quantities are a bit more than I need. But, they *are* there for the getting. Thanks for the info.

 

[CDrew]

Oh well, the quantities are a bit more than I need. But, they *are* there for the getting. Thanks for the info.

You need wine making friends at split up things like this. We did a 4 way split of 250 each and I filled in with a 60 count bag of the select 900s. You can buy small quantities on Amazon if you look around. Honestly, the Classic 900s may be a "5 year cork" but they seem fine when used. I'm not sure what would limit their life. Unless I learn something different over the next year, I'll use them again next year.

 

[Intheswamp]

Yeah, I'll keep looking and maybe a group-buy might be created in the future! Great idea!