liqueur bottles

[peteinwilts]

Hi Guys

I asked the wife to get some bottles for bottling home made liqueur and she brought back some with corks...

Can liqueur be bottled into bottles with corks or will the corks make it go off?

Cheers
Pete

 

[Frisbee]

Should be fine. Don't lie them on their sides though as cork will absorb the liquid and eventually leak if left like that, and if liquid is going out then air will be getting in.

Frisbee

 

[peteinwilts]

Thanks Frisbee

Is it worth dipping the bottom of the cork in beeswax or will it melt due to the alcohol content? (or just fall off!!)

 

[Frisbee]

Do you mean seal the outside? If so yes you could do that to seal the whole thing. I would still recommend keeping the bottle upright though as if the cork started to leak then it could possibly seep through the beeswax as well.

If you mean the part of the cork that is going into the bottle, then I've never heard of that and I don't think I would recommend it, the alcohol won't melt it, but it may not stick and may also reduce the seal as cork is flexible and fills a gap, beeswax may not do that.

Frisbee

 

[hedgerow pete]

hedgerow the home brewer to the rescue, yes you can bottle spirits with corks, no it does not matter if bottle lie down or stand up unless the corks are very sloppy fitting dont put bees wax on them as there is no use for it, if you want a clean finish use a heat shrink bottle sleive, they side over the top and then we pour hot water over them, do you want some free to print liquire labels for your bottles try this place, best on the web
http://www.freelabelmaker.com/

 

[Frisbee]

You've never had one leak on you then Pete?

Perhaps you drink yours before it has had chance to happen.

I've had several over the years, when they've been lying horizontally in a wine rack. It ruins the cork and ruins the wine/spirit.

Cheap corks maybe, but you buy what is available.

btw Peteinwilts, I don't suppose you have a corking machine? It just compresses the cork whilst pushing it in the bottle. If you soak your cork in boiling water, putting a weight on the top to hold it under the water, leave in for a few minutes, shake to dry as much as possible, then use in the bottle, push it in as far as you can, then push it right in level with the top of the bottle using a mallet and care....

Sure you can buy plastic or foil tops (in packs of 20 or so) but dipping in your beeswax would add a certain individuality to it.

Frisbee

 

[hedgerow pete]

I have had many leaks over the years fris but all from bad corks,

we try not to boil most modern corks , because most are made from cork particals rather than the better quality solid corks you can get some times,the boiling does them no good at all and can start them off to become brittel, we would normaly put the corks to be used in a meta sulf solution sorry metabisulfate solution of say one tea spoon or one camden tablet in a litre of warm water and then we put a plate on top to keep the submerged, i normal soak corks for around ten miniutes max some people just dip and some leave them for an hours horses and courses ,

I am talking about a proper wine bottle cork that will deffinatly need a corking inserter rather than corks that have a plastic stop on the top or tappered corks, so if your using stoppers rather than corks fris is spot on yes the bottles have to go upright, the main reason we lie bottles down rather than stand up is to keep the fluids against the cork, this prevents them from drying out which also causes leaks and can sometimes cause the liquir to go off as it were, if you had a wine that goes off we would normal call it ozidised or vinigar ha ha ha,

for some of the most helpfull people on pare with the beek forum try the "wines at home" forum they are a great bunch of people with far more and better knowldge than my 20 years of plonk making.

by the way is it just spirits your into or do you do beer and wine as well?