Corkpops gas cartridge bottle openers

Im a big fan of all sorts of wine gadgetry... and Ive been using compressed gas openers for a long time. Any other fans out there?

Also, does somebody know why they dont have a model for super large bottles...? It seems that all you need is to have an extra long needle and these should just work fine for those super large bottles that are sometimes difficult to open with traditional corkscrews, or?

Nobody uses these things around here....?

I guess not... I know what you're talking about, but I tend to stay with the conventional Screwpull or the Laguiole corkscrew I received as a gift.

Well, I received one for Christmas and used it twice, but....... generally no.

Alejandro, I probably have 6, or 8 of this type wine opener sitting in my cellar. I bought them some years ago for a song, and outside of testing them, I haven't used one. It seems to me that there would be a possibility of pushing a cork into the bottle, especially on an older soaked cork. I usually use my $5 double jointed waiters friend. Of course I have a lever pull, and several screwpulls, and a table top type, and a laguiole. the problem with the leverpull and screwpull is that the teflon wears off and they no longer work very well. a couple new worms will set me back the price of a decent bottle of wine, but someday I will bite the bullet.

I'd be worried about the combination of a very sticky cork and a thin bottle, which would result in a nasty, shrapnel-filled explosion.

I'll stick with the long-screw "waiter's friend" that I got in Sancerre. For all but the trickiest of corks, I prefer this even to the Screwpull.

I've had no luck with the "ah-so" style cork pullers--I invariably end up pushing the cork into the bottle.

-Paul W.

Nobody uses these things around here....?

Sorry, no.

I did use an early version (where you hand pumped air in) many years ago, and it scared me when tehcork stuck firm wondering whether there was a flaw in the glass that would shatter before the cork lifted.

A hinged waiters friend is easy, cheap and effective. The gas thing is a nonsense, imho.

I've got lots of wine opening gadgets bought or given to me. Favourite wine opener is a GBP 0.50 / USD 1.00 waiter's friend from ASDA Walmart.

On gadgets I have just bought a pH meter.




And no, it isn't a White Zin in the glass.

Once you find a wine's pH, what do you do with that information? Do find any correlation between quality and ph?

Coooool PH meter !!!!!

To avoid possible cuts with explosions, I wrap a towel around the bottle when using these things.

Once you find a wine's pH, what do you do with that information? Do find any correlation between quality and ph?

It is to calibrate my palate wrt acidity. I like high acidity (3.0 > 3.2 pH) but find many people do not.

Now looking for a residual sugar meter.

I have one of these and use it sparingly. I find it to be ineffective with tight artificial cork stoppers. It is my weapon of choice, however, with older wines. I use a very light downward twisting approach to ensure I do not push the old cork into the bottle. Once the tip is clear, a small puff of gas sends the cork out quite easily.

-- Clark

Once you find a wine's pH, what do you do with that information? Do find any correlation between quality and ph?

It is to calibrate my palate wrt acidity. I like high acidity (3.0 > 3.2 pH) but find many people do not.

Now looking for a residual sugar meter.

If you find one, let me know. The standard home winemaker tools only measure up to 1%. Presumably this is because anything higher probably means that you're going to have refermentation.

Maybe you could dilute the sample by a factor of five and measure up to 5% that way. Here's the "Clinitest" sugar testing product, which I believe is used to diagnose diabetes! http://morewinemaking.com/product.html?product_id=18745

Walt