Sparkling wine.

[Ken L]

You used to be able to buy plastic wine bottle caps with a tube on the top. The idea was that when you wanted sparkling wines, you would cause a secondary fermentation and store the bottles upside down so that the yeast collected in the tube. When you wanted to serve it, you simply folded the tube over to trap the yeast, opened the bottle and poured it without having to worry about sediments.
I've been keeping an eye out for these caps but haven't seen any. Are they still available ?

 

[Moley]

I'm sorry but I haven't got the faintest idea what you're referring to and have never seen such a stopper.

I had never tried ‘degustation’ until prompted by something Cwrw posted somewhere, but I have now and it works.

Get yourself some hollow plastic stoppers, any HBS should sell them or Wilko's have them in bags of a dozen. You will also need to buy (or contrive) some wire cages. The plastic stoppers are a very tight fit in proper Champagne bottles, but will go in with a bit of gentle persuasion (like a rubber mallet). Wire the stopper in, store the bottles upside down and rotate them occasionally, and you should end up with all the sediment inside the stopper. Come opening time, remove the wire and ease the stopper out very gently while the bottle is still upside down over a sink. As it pops, flip the bottle upright. The second time you try it your losses should be minimal.

If you want to do it really really properly you should freeze the bottle neck and stopper first.

 

[mosh]

yeah the only other method i no other than with the hollow corks is called the cuve close method this involves a pressurised tank and isn't really sutible for the home wine maker if you find them plz post a link sounds like a good idea :thumb:

 

[Ken L]

I had a look at the hollow caps. They're OK but they mean that the wine will have to be opened upside down.
The caps I'm after were on the market something like 30 years ago and were made from the same type of translucent polypropellene [Sp?] as the hollow ones and were wired in in the same way.

 

[Taf]

I had a look at the hollow caps. They're OK but they mean that the wine will have to be opened upside down.
The caps I'm after were on the market something like 30 years ago and were made from the same type of translucent polypropellene [Sp?] as the hollow ones and were wired in in the same way.

those stoppers that trapped the yeast were called or made by sparkelex or something like that. I looked for them a while back, and was told that they are gone out of business, and are no longer being made.

That spelling might not be compeltely right as googled it, and nothing came back. I'm sure someone of a certain vintage, will be along to confirm the name though.

 

[Ken L]

Thanks for confirming that they were not just a figment of my fevered imagination Taf.
If they're no longer available, I might as well stick with crown caps on beer bottles.

 

[Samarith]

I think those were called sparkle tops, made by Condessa.

Sadly noone seems to make them now, though I've heard of them appearing on ebay from time to time.

 

[steve w]

In one of my books, Home wine & beer, by ben turner, (1983) he calls them blister stoppers, they look about 3 or 4 inch long, never seen them in any brew shop.


Steve