Brewing Master

Question:

I saw a neat thing posted at Leener’s. It was plans for a "cork humidor". Basically you take a food grade pail, tall enough to stand a wine bottle up in. Make a sterilizing solution 1.25 % (8 Tsp metasulphite in a gallon of water). Fill the wine bottle half full, pour the corks in around the botle. Then you cover the pail tightly for a week. It will keep the corks moist enough so they won’t dry out, and sterlized too. You can store your corks this way so they are always ready to use. I’ll be making one of these. Full info at: http://www.leeners.com/winemaking04.html – Tim – – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –       What is right way to sterilize corks? I have been soaking them over night in one step cleaner. I put them in a pail with with the one step cleaner, than put a pail of the same size on top with just enough water in it to the push the corks under the step cleaner water. Maurice

Response:

I had a very long talk with a Portuguese cork manufacturer at the recent Annual Home brew and Wine show in Southport UK. To cut a long story short, his recommendation was, simply put, not to sterilise at all, never to soak in hot or cold water. If difficulty was experienced in cork insertion then he recommended to rub the corks gently against a block of candle wax. Now I have always sterilised my corks but I have just done  60 bottles using "dry" corks directly from a new batch — I will see what happens in about a years time! — Trevor A Panther In South Yorkshire, England – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I put them in a sulphite solution for 15 minutes just before corking. They soften enough to make the corking go well without soaking up a bunch of water that will squirt into the wine as the cork is compressed… I have not had a problem in the several years I have been corking this way. Rick       What is right way to sterilize corks? I have been soaking them over night in one step cleaner. I put them in a pail with with the one step cleaner, than put a pail of the same size on top with just enough water in it to the push the corks under the step cleaner water. Maurice

Response:

      What is right way to sterilize corks? I have been soaking them over night in one step cleaner. I put them in a pail with with the one step cleaner, than put a pail of the same size on top with just enough water in it to the push the corks under the step cleaner water. Maurice

Response:

I put them in a sulphite solution for 15 minutes just before corking.  They soften enough to make the corking go well without soaking up a bunch of water that will squirt into the wine as the cork is compressed… I have not had a problem in the several years I have been corking this way. Rick – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –       What is right way to sterilize corks? I have been soaking them over night in one step cleaner. I put them in a pail with with the one step cleaner, than put a pail of the same size on top with just enough water in it to the push the corks under the step cleaner water. Maurice

Response: