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  • sparkle tops

    anybody evr used condessa sparkle tops. managed to get 3 packs from ebay. they look like a neat idea. they say they are a safety valve for sparkling wines also enabling you to remove sediment with out opening
    http://www.iecomputing.co.uk
    http://www.volksfling.co.uk

  • #2
    Yup, they are ok, and do the job for sure. Very rare these day's though, you have been lucky to find them Ian.
    Last edited by Duffbeer; 24-12-2009, 10:50 PM.
    Discount Home Brew Supplies
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    • #3
      Originally posted by Duffbeer View Post
      Yup, they are ok, and do the job for sure. Very rare these day's though, you have been lucky to find them Ian.
      dammit, they do the job but are rare! i want some waaaaaah
      To most people solutions mean answers. To chemists solutions are things that are mixed up.
      A fine wine is a fine wine, 1st time may be by accident, 2nd time is by design - that's why you keep notes.

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      • #4
        sorry but i have heard of them ,
        i always thought they were a myth,
        I never realised that they realy did exsist!!!
        any chance of a photo as i have never seen one
        Wine from grapes is alright, but nothing beats the proper stuff to make wine with.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by hedgerow View Post
          any chance of a photo as i have never seen one
          The last time I found sparkle tops in a homebrew shop was around Xmas 2006 near Birmingham and they'd just got a batch in, so I bought a few:

          My Brewlist@Jan2011

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          • #6
            i though these condeser tops have valves in them , the ones in the photo looks as if they dont,

            the ones that i have brought are just normal wine bottle stoppers that are a bit stronger and have the top that has marks in it for the wire cages
            Wine from grapes is alright, but nothing beats the proper stuff to make wine with.

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            • #7
              those ones have valves in them, the valves are really small.....
              N.G.W.B.J.
              Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
              Wine, mead and beer maker

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              • #8
                This is the top with the valve plunger pulled up in the open postion:



                And this is the tiny outlet on the underside of the sparkletop:



                They come 6 to a box.

                I also got sets of of the spare cages to go with them when I bought mine, but 'standard' wire cages can be twisted to fit.

                I hope this helps some one identify them lying in the bottom of a box of odds & ends at a car boot sale!
                Last edited by David; 27-12-2009, 06:13 PM.
                My Brewlist@Jan2011

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                • #9
                  Yer....sparkle tops work really well!!! and lucky to find some

                  Still have mine, and why the hell don't someone start making them again
                  Alcohol causes you to forget things, and some other stuff I don't remember!

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by ms67 View Post
                    dammit, they do the job but are rare! i want some waaaaaah
                    hi my name is brenda just happened to come across this site i know the man that invented the sparkle top because he is my father.as a little girl i helped to assemble the tops,he started to manurfacture them in Belfast as he already had an engineering business where he made his first prototype! Condessa Hoole and packageing co. the manageing director Richard Heart Jones contacted him and took the lot tools and all to England on an agreed business contract!To cut a long story short he went bankrupt and opened up a company called Condessa where he continued to manurfacture the sparkle top cuting out the inventor completly unfortunately leaving him powerless to retrieve his product and tools for manurfacture !!!!!! good news is i know dad has kept a good few boxs if you would like me to send you a box plaese send me your address. you may do this through my email. email address removed please contact using the PM system


                    Last edited by lockwood1956; 06-11-2011, 04:21 PM. Reason: email address removed to protect from spammers etc

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                    • #11
                      Hello Brenda and welcome to the forum

                      That is very interesting and a very kind offer.....not a good idea to post your email addy on a forum though, it can be done through the PM system.
                      Alcohol causes you to forget things, and some other stuff I don't remember!

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                      • #12
                        Spot on advice there Wurzel. Plus someone'd have to "co-ordinate" the kind offer from Brenda, as I suspect that there's a number of us who'd like to get our greezy little hands on them.......

                        And of course, Welcome Brenda to the forums......
                        Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

                        Some blog ramblings

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                        • #13
                          Sparklers

                          They are good. You can use them as a direct ferment in bottle, or do it the Champagne way. Ferment to a finish, blend/adjust your wine and restart. Restarting is best, not so much gunge in the bottle.

                          Thanks for reminding me. Here is my last bottle of Gooseberry/apple, almost ten years old. The thread has pulled through the valve stem and I never got round to working a way round it. The stopper is still straining the wire cage, which is good for a plastic stopper. here's a picture of the lost/found bottle.

                          DSCF1298A.jpg

                          Regards to all, Winemanden.

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                          • #14
                            @Brenda 007 I know its been a while, but do you still have any? It was recommended in a book i have on winemaking and i can't find it anywhere

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                            • #15
                              Brenda?

                              Sorry to resurrect this old thread. Did anyone get any Sparkle Tops from Brenda?
                              Steve

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