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I received a bottle of Delirium Tremens for my birthday and this will be the first time I have tasted that beer. I see that it has what appears to be a cork which is surrounded by 4 wire posts at the corner. The following site (of some random person I don't know) has an image of a bottle looking very much like my own.

So that I don't mutilate what is sure to be a wonderful beer, how should I get about opening it?

demongolem
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2 Answers2

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The cage is simply twisted closed. You'll see that bottom wire is twisted tight and bent upwards. Simply bend it back down to horizontal, and untwist to loosen the cage. At that point you'll be able to lift the cage free, and un-cork by hand. It's been a year or two since I've had a bottle of Delirium Tremens, so I don't remember how tight the cork was, but certainly some beers that are corked and capped like this do have corks that are fairly resistant to removal. If that is the case for your bottle, then I find that twisting the cork as I pull up will generally free it nicely.

Xander
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  • I usually hold the base of the bottle against my stomach and dig my thumbs into the cork as I push, rotate bottle, push, rotate bottle, etc. Not classy but works. – Andrew Cheong Feb 13 '16 at 02:12
  • My cork came out with a loud pop very easily with just the slightest of twists (and the beer stayed in rather nicely). – demongolem Feb 13 '16 at 03:01
  • I remove mine by holding the bottle firmly with one hand and pulling/twisting the cork with the other. I've never had a problem from Delirium. (I've never tried the "push with both thumbs" approach that some use; that seems harder to me.) – Monica Cellio Feb 14 '16 at 05:03
  • I have had some older bottles where the top of the cork breaks off. Then you use a standard bottle opener (waiter's friend) to open the bottle. – Atron Seige Feb 17 '16 at 12:21
  • @AtronSeige Very good tip. I've had this happen from time to time as well. – Xander Feb 17 '16 at 13:46
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I cannot recall delirium ever being packaged in a strange way the site (in dutch) also only shows Deliria packaged the way you describe. In either way i think they should be opened like a bottle of champagne, open the metal wire casing twist the cork out (or push it with your thumb) and it's often advised to wrap your hand around the neck of the bottle which will make it less eager to foam excessively.

Here you have some pictures to take a look at: How to Open a Champagne Bottle.

Ken Graham
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Arthur D
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