What is the Difference Between Spirits Cap and Sparkling Wine Cap?
2025-03-28

There are significant differences in structure, material, sealing performance and application scenarios between aluminum spirits bottle caps and aluminum sparkling wine cap, mainly stemming from their different needs for pressure tolerance, sealing durability and user experience.

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The following is a detailed analysis of the core areas:

1. Structural design differences

Characteristics

Aluminum spirits bottle cap

Aluminum sparkling wine cap

Main structure

Mostly knob or pressure screw design, emphasizing the re-sealability after multiple openings (such as whisky caps).

Mushroom stopper + metal crown cap composite structure (e.g. champagne bottle cap), or reinforced thread design to withstand high pressure.

Anti-theft ring

Single-ring or double-ring anti-theft teeth, to meet the anti-theft can be (torque 1.2-2.5N-m).

Double anti-theft ring or thickened breakpoint design is required to prevent accidental opening due to high pressure gas shock (torque ≥ 3.0N-m).

Internal support

Inner cushion is thin (0.3-0.5mm), mainly PE/PVC.

Inner cushion thicker (0.8-1.2mm), using elastomer materials (such as TPE), to enhance the pressure cushioning.


2. The material and process requirements

Dimension

Aluminum spirits bottle cap

Aluminum sparkling wine cap

Aluminum thickness

Conventional thickness 0.20-0.25mm to meet the basic strength.

Thickened to 0.30-0.35mm, even local stamping reinforcement, to cope with ≥ 6 bar internal pressure (such as beer bottle cap).

Coating treatment

Focus on corrosion protection and appearance (anodizing/color printing).

High-pressure resistant friction coatings (e.g. ceramic overlay) are required to prevent scratching of the aluminum when opening the cap.

Sealing technology

Single gasket, focusing on long-term static sealing.

Dual sealing system: primary gasket + secondary gas barrier (e.g. Saranex™ barrier film).


3. Comparison of performance test standards

Test Items

Aluminum spirits bottle cap

Aluminum sparkling wine cap

Pressure resistance test

Conventional pressure resistance 0.3-0.5 MPa, simulating transportation vibration

High-pressure test ≥1.2 MPa (champagne up to 6 bar), holding pressure for 30 minutes without leakage

Air tightness test

Helium leakage detection rate ≤1×10-⁶ Pa-m³/s

Required to pass CO2 permeation test (permeation <0.1g/year)

Cycle life

Maintain sealing ≥90% after repeated opening 50 times

One-time opening design, but need to ensure the safety of residual pressure release after the first opening (anti-burst)


4. Application Scenarios and Typical Designs

Aluminum spirits wine bottle cap

Representative liquors: whisky, vodka, white wine.

Special design:

Anti-counterfeiting integration: built-in RFID chip or laser engraved code (e.g. Maotai bottle cap);

Luxury craftsmanship: gold/enamel plated decoration with cork inner cushion to enhance the texture.

Aluminum sparkling wine cap

Representative wines: champagne, beer, sparkling wine.

Special design:

Mushroom stopper structure: cork outer aluminum shell, using metal hoops to fix it (e.g. champagne crown cap);

Pressure relief safety valve: part of the design contains a pressure release mechanism to prevent high temperature expansion of the bottle.


5. Industry Certification and Standards

Type of certification

Aluminum spirits bottle cap

Aluminum sparkling wine cap

International Standards

ISO 9001 (Quality Management), FDA 21 CFR

EN 13047 (Pressure Resistant Cap Standard), AS 4766 (Gas Packaging Test)

Special tests

Migration test (ethanol tolerance)

Burst pressure test (≥1.5 times working pressure)