Do corked belgians lose carbonation?

[zimaclone]

So I brewed a Belgian quad last year and bottled in both corked belgian 750s and 12 oz crown-capped bottles and carbed to approximately 3.5 vols. and within 8 months the corked bottles were almost flat but the capped bottles pour a nice, dense, rocky head. I didn't use any kind of foil, shrink-wrap, or wax seal. The bottles were stored upright and undisturbed in the coolest room in my basement (55f winter- 70f summer).  My corker inserts the corks with about 3/4" protruding and they are not dried out. Has anyone else experienced this? Should I seal with the bottles with something? I'd like to use these type bottles in the future but not if my time/effort/patience results in flat beer! What did I screw up?

[tomsawyer]

I've had some that lasted over two years and held a lot of carbonation.  I use the Belgian corks and admittedly they are really hard and tough to get into the bottles, that probably ensures the good seal.  I also use cages to hold them in, more for looks from what I can tell.

Inspect your corks, maybe they are crimping when compressed or ae getting scored from the corker.

[bbkf]

I corked some mead 6 years ago.  The bottles sat up right for the entire time.  The mead was sparkling and is now still.

[narvin]

They shouldn't lose carbonation.  I once had a problem with some corks that didn't hold carbonation... they were sold as Belgian corks but they were harder and didn't have the "Ref" or (R) symbol on them.  I placed these bottles on their side and that fixed the problem, but in general I use the Ref corks and store upright without any carbonation problems.

[snowtiger87]

I have had 1 batch loose carbonation and those were the same corks that Marvin had (sold by morebeer). I store all my corked Belgian-style beers on their side. Some are years old now without loosing any carbonation.

[Jeff M]

Dont wine corks have different sizes?  You could be using a cork that fits to loosely instead of a properly compressed(i think?) cork like most wine people use with their corkers.

[zimaclone]

The corks are indeed ref corks and don't appear to be scored, crimped or otherwise beat up. I've had long term success with them before, but this one batch has mysteriously gone flat. I still have one 750 of a tripel, packaged with the same lot of corks, and a month older than the quad- about 13 months old. I'll open it tonight, inspect everything closely, and post the results. I'd love to open a corked and a capped tripel, and a corked and a capped quad, just for side by side comparison. But it might make for a rough workday tomorrow !   

[zimaclone]

So here's the update as promised. Well carbonated after 13 months. Packaged and stored exactly the same as the 12 month old quad which is well carbed in capped bottles but flat in the corkers. Mysterious.
(Wanted to post a picture but couldn't figure out how to on my phone. Sorry!)

[narvin]

Maybe it is gas gremlins.

Or it could be that the priming sugar wasn't mixed well enough.  If you bottled all the capped ones first, they could have taken more of the sugar if it sat at the bottom.

[ynotbrusum]

Isn't part of the reason for storing wine on its side to keep the cork wet?  If so, then maybe dry corks are more porous than wet ones?  Just a guess - I've never corked....

[zimaclone]

Never heard of gas gremlins. Where can I get gas gremlin traps?