I was wondering if Belgian-style corks (designed for Belgian bottles) would fit into Champagne bottles. Any experience?
The belgian corks are fatter then regular champagnie corks but i believe the bottle neck size is the same.
Not sure if you can get those corks squeezed down to fit in the bottles. Like Belgian bottles, there is some variance in the size of the mouth. Champagne bottles that held beer seem to generally have wider mouths than the bottles used for wine. I use champagne bottles for my sour beers and I cork them with plastic corks (it’s not very classy but effective and doesn’t require a corker). With bottles that held beer I can usually push the cork in by hand and carbonation will try to push the cork out without a tight fit on the cage. Some formerly beer bottles need a little extra work to get the cork in. The bottles that once held a sparkling wine almost always have tighter mouths and I have to (gently) hammer the corks in.
The bottles used by commercial brewers tend to fit a 29mm crown if you have a capper/corker that you can adjust to the larger bell. Might be easier (and cheaper) than buying another size of corks. Most of the champagne bottles you find in homebrewing shops fit the standard American crown. Same for Goose Island 750ml bottles.
BTW, I discovered you can if you have a good-quality corker (I do).
Which corker do you use?
I use this Ferarri Bench Corker: http://www.williamsbrewing.com/BENCH-CORKER-P1300.aspx
Basically, it squeezes down any cork to the size of a standard wine bottle, then plunges it in. A Belgian-style cork is about the maximum size that will fit, but it still does fit.