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Corking
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[[File:Cork mushroom.jpg|thumb|[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1676883129006561/ Colin Burton shows mushrooming a cork with a bench capper after inserting the cork with a floor corker.]]]
Corking and caging can be used for both champagne-type bottles and the brown glass 'fat-lipped' Belgian bottles, both of which are generally thicker glass and rated for higher CO2 pressure. Generally corking and caging is used for bottles with 29 mm openings, though some have cork and cage finished bottles with 26 mm openings. Make sure your bottle type can take corks before using it.[https://www.corklink.com/index.php/agglomeratdor-natural-corks/ Agglomerated type corks] are generally used when corking and caging.
Corking and caging does require some more special equipment. Most wine corkers are designed to push the cork all the way into the bottle, which is not what you want. Brewers will at least want a [[Floor Corker|floor corker]] for standard wine bottling. These corkers are designed to push the cork entirely into the bottle but they can be modified/adjusted to control the cork depth and leave some cork protruding from the bottle, which is necessary for caging. Bench corkers such as the Colonna capper/corker work as well. Champagne floor corkers are available and make the task of partly rather than fully inserting corks easier, though they are more expensive. It is difficult to control the exact depth of the cork with a two arm corker, and we do not recommend this for corking and caging.