Securing a cork in a pressurized bottle

Practical Knots
21

Hello Everyone,

I found this thread while looking for info on how a brewery called Ale Apothecary ties the corks on its beer bottles. I believe DrugstoreBrewer may be the owner of Ale Apothecray and there are photos online of their bottles and the knots used.

Regardless, I found this thread super informative and useful. I just bottled up some barrel aged saison with a high carbonation level and used the Champagne Knot with one modification: I didn’t quite trust the surgeon’s knot on the top and that friction would hold so I just added a square knot on top of that to fully secure the knot and corks. The simplicity of the knot is impressive and once you’ve done it once or twice it’s easy to redo again and again quickly for additional bottles.

The bottles are still carbonating so I don’t know for certain that this will be successful but I’m fairly confident. Here is a link to a photo of the finished bottles: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cIfhjKSLWbSuRoYv2

If it is okay with you guys I would like to write a post about this on my blog. I will link back to here in the post of course.

Thanks for sharing your expertise!

22

Hi Mutedog and welcome,

about the Champagne Knot, it is usually tied two times in a crossed form as you can see in the following picture

http://avis-vin.lefigaro.fr/var/img/161/40089-650x330-le-ficelage-des-bouchons.jpg

(http://avis-vin.lefigaro.fr/magazine-vin/o40089-dans-les-secrets-du-champagne/le-ficelage-des-bouchons)
You can find some historical notes (in French) and a tying method at
http://carcapsules.over-blog.com/pages/HISTOIRE_DU_MUSELET_ET_DE_SA_PLAQUE_DE_COLLECTION-5379006.html

In Italy, it is used a single legature (by tying a Beer Knot) but the twine is doubled on top as you can see in the following videos

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oxm8JjZ6uKQ

or

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ljGHIoelKVs
(0:18" - 0:40")

Please notice the different internal pressure of the Champagne, Prosecco, Beer …
Hope this helps.
Ciao,
s.

23

Interesting about the double champagne knot. It looks like they seem to trust the surgeon’s knot on top and cut the cord right at the edges too. I like the added grooves cut into the top of the cork, though that adds an extra step.

Thanks for the extra info!