Cork and cage

Well.. While I'm sure many people here have, don't you think corked and caged bottles get shipped from brewers in Europe to the U.S. by plane all the time?

 

I flew from SF to Philly a few years ago wit a bunch of Russian River stuff with no issues whatsoever. If you get nervous, take some duct tape.

 

Isn't the cork and cage more secure than a standard crimped cap?

 

I fly all over the US for work weekly and have checked bags with every bottle, crowler, growler you can think of. Its all in how you pack them. I wouldn't worry about the cork and cage at all. Most beer I have flown at once was 65 lbs of goodies from Portland to Miami. So dont worry and just pack well!

Edit: I travel with bubble wrap. But if its just under 8 bottles? Wrapping with clothes is fine. Stick smaller bottles in your shoes.

 

Over the years, I have been able to safety transport 750 ml corked and caged bottles of Temptation, Gouden Carolus Easter, Cascade Apricot Ale, and many others, and that is between different continents!

 

Flew from Brussels to San Francisco with plenty of corked & caged bottles in my suitcase. No problems.

 

I think he meant cage bomber lol

 

I have only seen one true disaster on checking alcohol on the plane, was at a special area to pick up odd sized stuff and there were like 3 boxes of wine that had been heavily duck taped and they were beat to hell and back, soaked in red wine, made my eyes watered and the people that owned them were gobsmacked that they didn't survive the flight. I simply remarked "Duck tape is good for many things, protecting wine is not one of them". That earned me a nasty look. I think the baggage dudes took it as a challenge to see how well the duck tape could hold up.

 

With enough duct tape, they should be able to make that entire case waterproof (wineproof). Its just a matter of making sure ALL the glass breaks and attaching a tap to the side of the case.

 

I would think the cork and cage would be more secure than the typical bottle cap.

 

I've never had an issue. I always ziploc them either way.

 

Just flew back from CA with some RR sours, no issues for me. I put them in ziploc bags and a little duct tape over the cork just to be safe but probably not necessary.

 

Same here on the Brussels to US flight. You'll be fine.

 

Are cork cage beers VERY prone to infection, or do I just have really bad luck with them? I usually tend to avoid them, since most beers I'm interested in aren't in that format, so I've probably had about 7 in my lifetime. 6 of those 7 were infected to the point where they had to be drain poured. The only good one was BA Narwhal.

 

Yeah, typically when a store gets a case of 12, only one or two of them are drinkable. It used to shock me that they keep ordering and stocking C+C beers, but the world just keeps spinning, as they say.