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Some beers, like Lindemann's lambics, come in a bottle that resembles a champaigne bottle (but smaller), with a cork -- and a bottlecap. What does the cap add to this? Why is it there?

(By "resembles a champaigne bottle" I mean the glass is thicker and the bottom has that "indent" characteristic of bottles whose contents are under higher-than-normal pressure.)

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The bottle cap has the same purpose as a wire cage-- to ensure that the cork doesn't pop itself under the bottle's interior pressure.

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  • I hadn't realized that the pressure could do that. (I guess, now that you mention it, champaigne does tend to have wire cages, though most wines don't.) But is a cap really strong enough to prevent that?
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented Jan 22, 2014 at 18:01
  • I don't have direct experience in bottling that beer, or beers of that nature, but apparently so. I think it's mostly precautionary, and probably a small cost to prevent accidents (and a poor reputation).
    – object88
    Commented Jan 22, 2014 at 18:05
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    Prevent entirely? Probably not - but you wouldn't want that either, @Monica. In a "catastrophic failure" scenario, popping a cap is preferable to breaking the bottle itself. Under normal conditions, the fermentation produces juust enough pressure to give the wine/beer a nice sparkling carbonation and the cap a satisfying "pop" - the over-cap would need only to keep it in place long enough for you to enjoy it.
    – Shog9
    Commented Jan 23, 2014 at 1:30

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