I started homebrewing a long time ago, and when I began brewing wine, I used swing-top bottles because I could easily uncork it and drink my wine and also because I get to consume it within three months. But when I want to produce a large quantity of wine, I avoid using swing-top bottles because they are only suitable for short-term storage. So, swing-top bottles are good for small batches. If you age your swing-top bottles longer than a year, the rubber gaskets will gradually degrade, thus allowing air into your wine which is not favorable for the quality of your wine. If you cherish your wine and you want it to age properly, then you should use corks. Corks are way better than swing-top bottles.
You can bottle wine in swing-top bottles. But they are only suitable for a few years if you store them upright. You can use them for only one year.
Swing top bottles are costly compared to other regular bottles. If you want to produce a large batch of beer, it will be cheaper for you to try using regular bottles with common corks you can find around.
Apart from the swing-top bottles, there are many corks you can try with regular bottles. ‘Stoppering’ is a concept that refers to the process of sealing a wine so that it doesn’t oxidize or become ‘corked.’
The preferred wine closure option for centuries has been wine corks because they enable wines to age without going bad. The porous material of the wine cork allows tiny amounts of air to interact with the stored wine, helping it to age and get better in aroma and flavor. The elasticity of the wine cork seals the bottleneck by expanding and ensures all liquid is completely sealed within the bottle.
A few other wine closure options have entered the market, but traditional wine corks remain the most popular option for modern wine brands.
Let me list out different wine bottle corks you can try out when homebrewing.
1. Natural cork
This is a recyclable, renewable, and biodegradable wine closure. This natural cork is the most traditional form of wine closure, which has about 70 percent of all wines closed with cork seals in recent years. The percentage is even higher for fine wines, with 89 percent of Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines in 2016 featuring cork closures. This is also because high-quality natural cork affects the subtle and complex flavors of the wine as it ages.
2. Agglomerate cork
Agglomerate cork or grainy corks are the cheapest corks you can find in the world. They are typically held together by cork chips that have been glued together. These corks are bets used for wines that are for immediate consumption. Avoid using these corks for wines that require aging.
3. Champagne cork
Champagne corks are made from high-quality compressed cork. They can withstand the high amount of pressure from all of those bubbles. The average bottle of champagne contains more than a million bubbles and withholds more air pressure than your average car tire. Champagne and sparkling wine corks vary from traditional wine corks in the form of the cork disks at the bottom of the cork. These discs are more elastic, so when combined with the carbon dioxide and six-to-eight bars of pressure in sparkling wine, they expand to form the mushroom-shaped cork we all know today. Champagne corks can fly as high as 90 km/hr.
4. Regular cork
Regular cork is the standard cork that you see in almost all bottles of wine. Wine brewers commonly use them. I have used it several times too. There is a more extended version of this regular cork that has an extra inch in length used by only a few wineries like Apollonio Winery in Puglia, who swear by its ability to allow wines to keep for longer.
5. Synthetic cork
These synthetic corks are made from plastic compounds designed to act as natural corks; they are not made from corks. I use this cork sometimes because I don’t get to deal with cork taint or suffer the risk of TCA contamination. You can find this cork in different styles and quality levels; they allow you to still have the ‘wine experience’ by pulling the cork. But you should avoid using it for wines that need aging.
6. Screwcap
Screw caps are used in different wineries all over the world. You may not enjoy all the authentic wine experiences that you desire if you use this wine cork. They are the best short-term wine stopper for fruit-forward red wines and white wines that don’t need aging.
7. Vino-Lok
This recently introduced wine closure choice is produced from glass, making it a reusable and environmentally-friendly option. But due to the high cost and ineffectiveness of aging wines, this specific closure option is not as valuable as other corks. This cork is quite expensive to adopt.
8. Zork cork
This cork is very fun to use on a bottle. You will see it on Leese-Fitch bottles. It seals like a screw cap; there is more of an experience to be had as the ‘popping’ is similar to that of a cork. Zork corks became famous as the world’s first on-bottle resealable stopper for sparkling wines.
9. Capped cork
One unique thing about this cork is that it combines the benefits of the natural cork and plastic cork, with one part of each making up this bottle closure. These closures are primarily used for beverages with high alcohol percentages that are not meant to be drunk at once.
10. Hermetic Cork
They are reusable, airtight corks that are usually used when resealing a bottle after partial consumption. It is a perfect option for sparkling wines, and if you try to recork these wines with their original cork, it can sometimes lead to the cork popping back off in the refrigerator.
11. Tasting Cork
These corks are designed for easy and quick re-sealing and opening of wines. They are pretty similar in appearance to capped corks, and you can find them quickly at wineries and tasting rooms.
There are still many other corks that will go well with your wine bottle.
Conclusion
If you intend to use swing-top bottles for your wine, ensure you will consume it within a short period; the highest length you can store it there is one year. Swing top bottles cannot last for a very long time. I use swing-top bottles when I know I will finish the wine within three months, and I also use them before they open.
There are many wine corks you can use for regular wine bottles. Explore them to know which you prefer.