# Waxing bottle tops



## Batz (27/1/14)

Has anyone done this? I'm putting down a few Belgians in champagne bottles and thought a coloured wax top would look kinda cool. 

Can you use cheese wax? I see lots of the US sites use crayons and glue sticks, I'll rather not go to all that hassle. 

So has anyone actually done this?


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## Online Brewing Supplies (27/1/14)

Brewcraft has it.
*Bottle Seal Wax Beads help you achieve a tough, moisture-resistant coating that preserves freshness, flavor and fragrance in your wines, or beers, with these blends of FDA approved waxes with FD&C approved colors. We recommend melting the beads in soup cans; no mess to clean up off of pots, and any unused portion may be left in the can for remelting at a later time. You can dip the bottle in the wax for a more rustic look, or use a small measuring cup or spoon if you want the wax in a specific location. A one lb. bag of beads is good for approximately 65 bottles. *
*Nev*
*Looks like thats the USA brewcraft ...*


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## Online Brewing Supplies (27/1/14)

Closer to home : A specially formulated wax blend for ease of application on wine, oil, vinegar or general bottles. Offering a soft sheen finish and a good seal this bottle sealing wax is used to seal, decorate and provide a tamper proof seal for containers. Having a relatively low melt point the sealing wax allows application at around 80 degrees C. This sealing wax is easily removed by peeling away like plastic without creating chips and breakage like harder waxes. Standard colours are: Red, Black, Navy, Green, Purple, Burgundy.
Metallic Colours: Silver, Gold and Bronze. Special colours also available.
This bottle sealing wax is non-toxic and is available in 600 gram blocks. One 600 gram block will do 100 wine bottles dipping once. Instructions for use are on the container.


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## TimT (27/1/14)

Sounds fun. Always looking for new ways to use beeswax, so this might be the go.


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## Black Devil Dog (27/1/14)

Australian web site with some stuff here.


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## citizensnips (27/1/14)

A very mellow relaxing informative short clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NVcSZxdVu0


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## TimT (27/1/14)

It's pretty.... but is it only really useful when you don't have another way of actually sealing the bottles? Say, when you've got a bunch of screw tops and want to seal them?

Bees wax, I think, would be a pretty good material - it smells lovely (every cheese maker ought to cover their cheeses in it, it goes well with the bitter cheesy tang). And I'm pretty sure it would have some natural anti-bacterial properties. (Though it's not as good as propolis, which bees use to seal up gaps and cover up dead creatures which get into the hive).


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## _HOME_BREW_WALLACE_ (27/1/14)

Surely it wouldn't matter weather it was a crayon or a couple of candles from a cheap shop would it? Or use a cheap candle, then use a crayon for colour? or a candle and some food colouring for colour?

I'd love to have a stamp aswell with the brewery logo or just my initials. This would really finish the product!


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## beers (27/1/14)

I've done it a few times now using a mix of approx 50/50 of crayons & hot glue sticks. Works well.


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## beers (27/1/14)

Here's a link with some more info. Play around with the ratio's to find what works for you. I find if there is too much glue sticks the wax can get too hard & be a bit difficult to remove
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/hot-glue-bottle-wax-experiment-127485/


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## _HOME_BREW_WALLACE_ (27/1/14)

Hot glue sticks? Does it make it tougher to open. Ive used Hot glue sticks before to do models. Its pretty tough stuff.


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## Batz (27/1/14)

Gryphon Brewing said:


> Closer to home : A specially formulated wax blend for ease of application on wine, oil, vinegar or general bottles. Offering a soft sheen finish and a good seal this bottle sealing wax is used to seal, decorate and provide a tamper proof seal for containers. Having a relatively low melt point the sealing wax allows application at around 80 degrees C. This sealing wax is easily removed by peeling away like plastic without creating chips and breakage like harder waxes. Standard colours are: Red, Black, Navy, Green, Purple, Burgundy.
> Metallic Colours: Silver, Gold and Bronze. Special colours also available.
> This bottle sealing wax is non-toxic and is available in 600 gram blocks. One 600 gram block will do 100 wine bottles dipping once. Instructions for use are on the container.


That sounds like the go Nev, I'll email them to get some prices.

Batz


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## Bubba Q (27/1/14)

Batz said:


> That sounds like the go Nev, I'll email them to get some prices.
> 
> Batz


I have bought wax from Australian wax co before. I think prices were about $15 for a 500gm block. Last time I went to order I was advised that they had a $50 purchase minimum despite them previously selling me one or two blocks at a time.


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## Dan Pratt (27/1/14)

So glad this popped up today. I have a cermanic tawny port bottle from my old mans Vietnam Vets commemorative set and the last IPA I put in didnt carbonate because the cork didnt seal right ( had 3 uses + the port use ) Now i have researched some tappered corks for this and it would be a great addition to use a wax/crayon mix to seal it up.


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## DU99 (27/1/14)

this link might help


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## jphowman (27/1/14)

I used the black wax from Cheese Links.

$15 bucks for a kilo and probably only used 20-30g per bottle, so a kilo will take a long time to get though.

I've only opened 1 bottle so far, but it worked alright. I had to dig the wax off the edge of the crown seal and then used a bottle opener. The wax was too soft to peel off but that didn't make much of an issue, Except for a few crumbs all the wax stayed stuck to either the bottle or the cap.

For reusing the wax my missus had the great idea of pouring the hot wax into silicon muffin moulds. The wax popped straight out once it was cool.


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## TimT (27/1/14)

Wax can be hard to clean off stuff - you can usually get it off metal and stainless steel though it can get right in the fiddly corners. We pour our wax into empty cardboard milk cartons and leave it for a day; when done just tear the cartoons apart and you have a neat block of wax.


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## Batz (4/2/14)

OK so I'm keen on this, Saison almost ready to keg and bottle. I scored this blue cheese wax, I keep you posted.

Batz


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## Kieren (4/2/14)

I have bought from the Australian wax co. before. $50 minimum order too, so bought 3 blocks. Still going through them but I get good results. Depending on the consistency of the wax you may want to double dip. Dip once in the wax, then in some cool water to set the wax, allow to dry then repeat.


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## Batz (9/2/14)

So I bottled my Sasion today and had a go at waxing the caps. It seems to have worked OK, I did use cheese wax and that does seem a little soft (it's been 45mins or so).

I expect it will harden a little over time, I'll try taking some off tomorrow to see how that goes. I hope it's not a pain to remove, wax in your beer and stuff like that  Still it does looks cool and that was the idea.

Batz


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## barls (9/2/14)

batz if its the same stuff i use, it just peels off clean. ive had other stuff that stuck like shit then melted while i was cleaning the bottles and was stuck on everything


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## Batz (9/2/14)

barls said:


> batz if its the same stuff i use, it just peels off clean. ive had other stuff that stuck like shit then melted while i was cleaning the bottles and was stuck on everything


Thanks Barls, mine came from 'cheeselinks' so hope it the same stuff.

Batz


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## barls (9/2/14)

easy way to check how does it peel


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## Batz (9/2/14)

barls said:


> easy way to check how does it peel


Well ATM it doesn't look like it wants to peel at all, more of a scrape. I'm feeling just a little deflated :lol:

Did you buy the bottle wax? I wanted that but not $50.00 worth....mistake perhaps?


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## MHB (9/2/14)

You could Try Here



Mark
Ah poop, the link isn't what I wanted, choose advanced search and choose Wax under Material


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## TSMill (9/2/14)

Every time I see this topic pop up, I think "yep, nothing worse than pubes in your mouth when you're drinking beer".

Nothing useful to add.


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## Rodolphe01 (9/2/14)

I used bees wax once to seal bottles and it was a ******* pain to remove, and apply too for that matter,


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## Batz (9/2/14)

I don't really care about removing it, bottle opener on the lid and done. The bottles will go recycle, I have no need to reuse them.

Lets see how it goes....I've got a kilo of the stuff. :lol: 

Batz


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## TimT (9/2/14)

Lot of brew stores have cheese supplies too. You can usually get wax there.


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## barls (9/2/14)

Got mine from g&g ages ago or was it from the states. Actually need to get more


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## Batz (9/2/14)

TimT said:


> Lot of brew stores have cheese supplies too. You can usually get wax there.


I have no problem scoring cheese wax, in fact I have a kilo of it, it's bottle wax I was talking about.


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## beers (15/2/14)

_WALLACE_ said:


> Hot glue sticks? Does it make it tougher to open. Ive used Hot glue sticks before to do models. Its pretty tough stuff.


If you use too much it does. The crayon softens the mix, making it more pliable & easier to open.


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## MHB (15/2/14)

[SIZE=medium]Here is one I prepared earlier...[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]It was made up as the prize for the BOS beer for the NWS State comp in 2011, the bottle is a Methuselah (6L) Champaign bottle.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]The wax is proper bottle sealing wax, applied over the cork and cage. I got it from the people in my post above; I just put the wax into an old kit can and stood that in hot water until the wax melted.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Dipping the still hot wax into cold water gives it that glossy finish you see on commercial sealing wax.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium]I think it will be worth investing in the proper stuff if you want to keep the bottles for any time, it is made to do the job and will protect your beer, if you use some other product I don’t know what will happen – I know cockroaches will eat cheese wax, bees wax, candles and I suspect most other alternatives. I think it will be hard to get the balance between good sealing/adhesion and removability right – with a commercial product people have spent a couple of hundred years experimenting to get it right.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Mark[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]
[/SIZE]


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