Using ah-so to remove cork from beer=glass splinters everywhere

I haven't used one for beer. I've only used one of those to extract a cork that was lodged in a bottle of wine.

Why did you feel the need to include a pic of your bloody finger? The explanation was more than sufficient...

 

Beer should be no different to open, so check out Youtube videos. Googled and noted a couple. Would rather have seen you post a picture of the ah-so since I had never heard of it or seen one, though I have seen plenty of bloody fingers.

 

No, never used an ah-so with either wine or beer. Can't say as I've ever had a bottle of either beverage I didn't manage to open reasonably well with a classic corkscrew wine opener.

 

A little research reveals that the purpose of an ah-so is to open vintage wine without crumbling the potentially dried out cork, so that it does not end up in the wine. If done right, it will also preserve the cork for those who collect. I expect some waiters are quick and efficient with this - and remind me never to attack a waiter since this would make a decent shiv. I agree, corkscrew for me - I don't drink beer so old that the cork would crumble since that probably takes 30 years or more. I'm not that patient.

 

Not only am I not that patient my budget won't support buying a vintage wine someone else has aged that long. I have appreciated a few such wines in the past but have been saved from buying/owning really expensive wines by having developed a fairly expensive taste for Single Malt Scotches and for high quality beers.

But I guess my more general point really was that I wouldn't use such a specialty tool on a non-aged cork in the first place. Specialty tools are designed to be fit for certain specific purposes and special purpose designs often don't work well for other more general purposes.

 

Sounds dirty. I just use my hands.

 

When we used to drink wine, we used this device on new corks, old corks, artificial corks, etc. They called them "waiter's friends" around here. I was told part of the idea was it preserved the cork so you could put it back in, which of course is complete nonsense. But somebody gave us one, and we used it. It worked well enough...for a while.

We stopped when we chipped a bottle on the inside of the finish more or less as you show (sans the blood). And now we don't drink wine at all, so there you have it.

I do, however, question the overkill you describe. Cork plus crown cap plus wax? Beer for the impending zombie apocalypse... The finish and geometry of the glass is different for the two. Seems to be a bit (a lot?) much, and possibly an unwise move to begin with unless the bottle is specifically designed for the application. I don't know the brewer, so maybe they did have a bottle designed to accommodate a cork and a crown.

Regardless, even with bottles designed for a cork, I had the same thing happen.

 

The cork was under the cap, ala Lindemans.

 

Was the beer worth the effort?

 

The same with my 375 bottles of Cantillon.

 

Even though they were reportedly originally intended for removing brittle vintage corks, they have apparently seen a wider application. I suppose waiters that use them just fall into the habit of using them for all wine. Kind of like when you have a hammer, everything is a nail. But for non-brittle corks, you should be able to use a standard corkscrew without mutilating the cork, yourself, or the bottle. Then again, if the bottle came pre-cracked, a corkscrew might have done the same thing if you levered it out vs just pulling.

I suppose that in deciding which tool to use you have to make a guess whether the cork may be brittle, though for beer if the cork is brittle I'd question whether the beer is still drinkable. The only way to know would be to try a corkscrew, and if the cork crumbles then you say "damn, should have used that ah-so shiv thingy".

 

big beer bottles with a thick wax head covering a cork(or bottlecap) is a pain in my ass. the wax top alone is a pain in the dick

 

Yup - some of that plasticized wax is downright dangerously tough, as it forces you to use a knife when you may already have been drinking.

 

I wouldn't have drank it because I'd fear glass in the bee . That really sucks. I'd just use a corkscrew.

 

Or, in deciding while serving wine in a high end setting. You just make life simpler by not having to choose between which to use and just use the ah-so. Then you have only one tool to use without having to spend time looking and deciding which to use with the bottle you are opening to serve. Plus those guests, who may only know about the cork screw, experience the "ah-so" moment and are impressed with your skill at a task that seems to them it happened, "as if by magic." Guess who also adds in a bigger tip, the guest who is impressed with your service or the guest who regards it as routine.

 

I've chipped a bottle top using a regular corkscrew or, at least, you know, the kind you screw in and then press down the two side handles to pry the cork out.

I used to have an ah-so - although I didn't know that's what it was called. After the second time I impaled my palm with it I smashed it into a doorframe so hard I couldn't get it out until we remodeled the kitchen a couple years later.