Need help with cork problem

[Dover wine]

Made my first batch of wine recently and am having trouble corking the bottles. I ordered bottles that said they needed No. 8 corks. I bought No. 8 corks and a hand held corker that was for No 8 corks.
The problem is the corks will not go thru corker. I cannot assert enough force to get any of the cork out of the corked. I am a very big and strong fellow and just can’t get it thru and into the bottle.
When I ordered the corks I didn’t realize they made a straight and a tapered cork and I ended up with straight ones. Do I need to order tapered ones or am I doing something wrong?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[Christopher Anderson]

Hello and welcome to WMT! I used a hand corker for my first batch. I had the same issue. Then I bought a floor corker. Works so much better. I can insert almost any cork into any bottle with little effort. Maybe you can borrow one to test it out.

 

[Rice_Guy]

welcome to WMT
I have used a European hand corker with a tapered plastic cone. To do it I took a rubber mallet and tapped the push rod while holding the device on the mouth of the bottle. It wasn’t too bad.
I put together a vacuum head that goes over the neck of a bottle to pull out air. As with the hand corker I used a rubber mallet to tap the push rod while holding the combined bottle and vacuum. This has been used for years and was written up in WineMaker magazine.
One of the members of Fermented Friends showed me his lever operated cork insertion tool and I am currently using that instead of the mallet.

Using the lever is about as hard as the mallet.
I have a floor corker which I hardly use. It seems to put creases in the cork which defeats the purpose of having a vacuum head.

 

[winemaker81]

Welcome to WMT!

You want straight corks. Tapered corks are for short term usage. Wine bottles take straight corks.

Generally speaking, I don't recommend #8 corks, as they are narrower and make a less tight seal. I've not heard of bottles that specify #8 corks, but I don't doubt they exist. Note that wine bottles vary in the internal diameter of the neck. If you use #9 corks, they fit all bottles.

Post a picture of your corker. Without knowing anything else, I'm sure your corker is a cheap one. Cheap corkers are an exercise in masochism.

Overwhelmingly, you'll get feedback to get a floor corker. The red Portuguese works well and it's reasonably priced. The significantly more expensive blue Ferrari (Italian) corker is better, but unless you're making hundred of bottles per year, the Portuguese is sufficient.

 

[Fitz]

I have a red Portuguese Corker. It cost more than a hand held corker but I think that it’s worth it in the long run. Also it is easy to put together and take it apart for storage.

 

[Rocky]

Made my first batch of wine recently and am having trouble corking the bottles. I ordered bottles that said they needed No. 8 corks. I bought No. 8 corks and a hand held corker that was for No 8 corks.
The problem is the corks will not go thru corker. I cannot assert enough force to get any of the cork out of the corked. I am a very big and strong fellow and just can’t get it thru and into the bottle.
When I ordered the corks I didn’t realize they made a straight and a tapered cork and I ended up with straight ones. Do I need to order tapered ones or am I doing something wrong?
Thanks for any advice.

No, you should not get tapered corks. They are only for temporary use on a bottle.

Get a floor corker. There are basically two types on the market, the Italian and the Portuguese. I have owned both and, while I feel the Italian model is superior in some ways, the price differential between it and the Portuguese model, to me, is not justified.

Search Craig's List, yard sales, this forum for people exiting the hobby and you can normally find a very serviceable model for a reasonable price. Here is an example from Craig's List:

https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/hsh/d/pittsburgh-wine-making/7828522859.html

 

[BPL]

Yes, you may have #8 corks, but the type may be the issue.

Typically hand corkers don't squeeze the corks to compress them. Floor corkers do.

Some corks have rounded edges that go into bottles easier using a hand corker. The rounded edge or bevel helps align the cork to the bottle. If you have the type that are sharp or square edged, those will be much more difficult or impossible to insert.

Wine bottle corks are slightly larger than the bottle opening. #8's are smaller than #9's, but both are larger than the opening.

 

[Raptor99]

I recently purchased a floor corker, but for several years I used a double lever hand corker like this: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Portugese-Double-Level-Corker/dp/B000FRWJNE/

I use #8 corks, straight natural corks. They are the ones with rounded edges like the left photo above. They require a little effort to put in, but not a lot. I bottled hundreds of bottles of wine this way.

The #8 corks probably do not seal as well as #9 corks, but I couldn't get them in with the hand corker.