# Re-using Caps



## bradsbrew (6/6/08)

Is it possible to reuse the caps on bottles. with my opener I can open my brew bottles without creasing the cap. So I am wondering if I can clean and sterilise my caps and use them again. I know they only cost a coupla bucks a hungie, but it is another cost better spent on ingredients. Has anyone tried and been successful at this.

Cheers Brad


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## Sammus (6/6/08)

I tried once but without the edge of the cap all splayed out they dont seem to fit properly. Give it a crack and see how it goes.

Personally I can't even remember why I tried... too much effort and risk for so little savings...


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## Cocko (6/6/08)

Really??

I think the risk over cost is a absolute no brainer, don't bother.

Do you use white sugar to save a buck? I hope not, Just buy new caps.

IMO.


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## bradsbrew (6/6/08)

Cocko said:


> Really??
> 
> I think the risk over cost is a absolute no brainer, don't bother.
> 
> ...



Yep you are right. Why risk 20 to 40 bucks of ingredients to save 2 bucks. <_< Maybe I'll try to save in other ways, sell an organ perhaps.

Doh, damaged by alchohol !


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## Stuster (6/6/08)

Definitely no need to re-use caps in my book. They're only a few cents a go.



Cocko said:


> Do you use white sugar to save a buck? I hope not



But I definitely use white sugar. There's a place for it (maybe not a kilo to go with a kit) in several styles in moderation and it's certainly fine to use as priming sugar.


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## lagers44 (6/6/08)

My old man re-uses caps , he just pries them off with a long bread knife or such a twist & there're off. He says he gets a few failures now and again but mostly they're OK.

Lagers


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## SJW (6/6/08)

why?


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## Brewtus (6/6/08)

You can use PET bottles and reuse the cap time and time again.
I use soft drink bottle caps to identify brews. I have black caps on my last Morgan's lager, vanilla coke caps on a pilsner, plain white caps on a stout and Diet Coke caps on a batch of Red Ale.


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## PostModern (7/6/08)

I'm all for recycling and whatnot but, ****, this is going too far. The earth is mostly iron, hence our red blood. What is the issue with tossing your crown seals? One in 50 failures makes the carbon lost to your beer greater than the carbon spent making 100 crown seals (numbers pulled from my arse, but I reckon that estimate is close as hell).


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## Ducatiboy stu (7/6/08)

PostModern said:


> One in 50 failures makes the carbon lost to your beer greater than the carbon spent making 100 crown seals (numbers pulled from my arse, but I reckon that estimate is close as hell).




Jeezuuzzz PoMo....dont mention the CARBON....they will include it in an emissioins trading/tax scheme if they get wind of it....  

Then I will hold you personally responsible for getting a $50 carbon tax every time I make /open a brew... :angry:


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## Pumpy (7/6/08)

PostModern said:


> I'm all for recycling and whatnot but, ****, this is going too far. The earth is mostly iron, hence our red blood. What is the issue with tossing your crown seals? One in 50 failures makes the carbon lost to your beer greater than the carbon spent making 100 crown seals (numbers pulled from my arse, but I reckon that estimate is close as hell).




PoMo ,

Please moderate you language to less than one profanity per sentence .

Pumpy ( self appointed unofficial moderator )


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## Kleiny (7/6/08)

SJW said:


> why?



WHY ??????????? 

The risk you run for the money you save is disproportional to the time space continuium


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## tourist (7/6/08)

I used to bottle 1/2 a batch using new seals, the other 1/2 with reused ones from the brew before. This way you are recycling (my main motivator), saving $ and not risking your entire batch.

I don't recall any experiencing any dodgy bottles that I could attribute to this practice.

I don't do it any more because I'm kegging, but still have a stash of used, good condition seals that I will use at some point.

Don't just go on the 'advice' given by a bunch of blokes who haven't even tried it - give it a go.


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## Klemmstein (7/6/08)

Yeah, I can see it now.... Friday night, kicking back with some mates and the last few long necks of your favourite iced cold home brew bevvy. 

Then, when you go to crack the last few bottles........ nothing....flatter than last years road kill! 

Doesn't have to be a mastercard moment to know that it doesn't always pay to be frugal.

Cheers,

K


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## schooey (7/6/08)

Maybe you can get together with pokolbinguy and do a bulk buy on caps...


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## SJW (7/6/08)

If you re-use caps to save money , please post your bank account details and I am sure a few of us can transfer a couple of dollars each to get u a couple thousand more. I hate to see good beer go to waste.


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## Barley Belly (7/6/08)

I dunno how you can get em off without bendin them?????

Not that I'd reuse em if I could

Each to their own


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## Muggus (7/6/08)

I have used old bottle caps to seal beers once before, but only to reseal beers i'd already opened and couldn't finish. 
Not that the beer was any better the next day though. :wacko: 

Personally, I wouldn't risk on a fresh brew...too much could go wrong.


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## PostModern (7/6/08)

Pumpy said:


> PoMo ,
> 
> Please moderate you language to less than one profanity per sentence .
> 
> Pumpy ( self appointed unofficial moderator )



I make that post as 0.75 profanities per sentence on average, and that's only if you count "hell" as a profanity. I think I scrape in there, mate


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## tourist (9/6/08)

PostModern said:


> The earth is mostly iron, hence our red blood.



OT

I found this comment interesting (and expletive-free). So if the Earth was mostly Copper, would our blood be green?


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## PostModern (9/6/08)

tourist said:


> OT
> 
> I found this comment interesting (and expletive-free). So if the Earth was mostly Copper, would our blood be green?



Only if we had a completely different biology and we breathed sulphates. I doubt copper is reactive enough to be used as an oxygen carrier in a life form. 

But the  have me puzzled. The red in blood actually is from iron. http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/blood.asp


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## Stuster (9/6/08)

PostModern said:


> Only if we had a completely different biology and we breathed sulphates. I doubt copper is reactive enough to be used as an oxygen carrier in a life form.



Plunging completely off topic, just to say that other organisms do have copper-based blood. Molluscs and horseshoe crabs have blue blood because of that. Link.



> The blood of most molluscs, including cephalopods and gastropods, as well as some arthropods such as horseshoe crabs contains the copper containing protein hemocyanin at concentrations of about 50 g per litre.[11] These creatures do not have hemoglobin (iron containing protein) which is the basis of oxygen transport in vertebrates. Hemocyanin is colourless when deoxygenated and dark blue when oxygenated.


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## white.grant (9/6/08)

verdigris looks nicer than rust.


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## PostModern (9/6/08)

Stuster said:


> Plunging completely off topic, just to say that other organisms do have copper-based blood. Molluscs and horseshoe crabs have blue blood because of that. Link.



There you go. I guess because of the copper being readily available in sea water as opposed to us terrestrial life forms.


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## alexbrand (9/6/08)

tourist said:


> So if the Earth was mostly Copper, would our blood be green?



No, but probably if the earth was mostly magnesium. The only difference between chlolophyll and haemoglobine is that chlorophyll is bonded to magnesium and haemoglobine to iron...  

Alex


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## Millet Man (9/6/08)

So if we re-used caps made from copper and then drank the beer whilst devouring an entree of shellfish would that be ok. :wacko: 

:icon_offtopic: i think

Cheers, Andrew.


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## tourist (10/6/08)

PostModern said:


> Only if we had a completely different biology and we breathed sulphates. I doubt copper is reactive enough to be used as an oxygen carrier in a life form.
> 
> But the  have me puzzled. The red in blood actually is from iron. http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/blood.asp


Sorry, I was just being a wanker - I know the role of iron in haemoglobin and that its presence makes the blood red, however I was challenging the assertion that you made about the iron in the earth being the main reason ("hence") that we also have it in our blood - like we go around munching on big hunks of iron-ore. I would say that there are a number of other factors  .....oh, sorry -  . I am happy to be wrong, however.

Again, I was just being a prick and I apologise.

This, however is complete bullshit:


alexbrand said:


> The only difference between chlolophyll and haemoglobine is that chlorophyll is bonded to magnesium and haemoglobine to iron...


If they're the same, surely they're interchangeable????


That's really interesting about the molluscs, though!


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## PostModern (10/6/08)

tourist said:


> Sorry, I was just being a wanker - I know the role of iron in haemoglobin and that its presence makes the blood red, however I was challenging the assertion that you made about the iron in the earth being the main reason ("hence") that we also have it in our blood
> 
> Again, I was just being a prick and I apologise.



No worries. It's just hard to detect sarcasm (or even emphasis) in the written words. My assertion was based on the idea that we evolved iron-based haemoglobin due to the relative abundance of iron in the earth and its crust. A mineral readily available is more likely to be used for an essential process than a relatively rare one, say molybdenum. The shellfish using copper for the same function is quite interesting, and I'll stand by my WAG that you won't find a terrestrial creature with copper based blood, simply because there isn't enough of it in other life for it to available enough in food.

But here I go on another nutty tangent.


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## Barramundi (10/6/08)

back on topic ...

my father has a mate who re uses caps to the stage where he gets others to save them for him , i came across a shopping bag of used caps in the garage the other day and questioned what they were for and when my father told me i couldnt believe it ..

im all for saving a bit of coin and have thought about doing the same thing with caps at one stage years ago ,however i found that they are harder to put on when used , the seal inside is squashed and as others have said is it really worth potentially wrecking a brew for the sake of a $2 bag of lids , they are probably the cheapest part of our process so in my view its new caps for me , but to those who want to go that way glory to you


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## alexbrand (10/6/08)

tourist said:


> This, however is complete bullshit:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I didn't say they're the same. Chlorophyll and hemoglobine share the same basic structure. A porphyrine ring around a central metal ion. In the case of chlorophyll this is magnesium, in the case of hemoglobine it is iron. So what is complete bullshit now? 

BTW: I wasn't really serious about it.... 
Alex


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## mika (10/6/08)

Everyone else is getting in on this thread, so I feel a bit left out 

If you're re-using the caps do you sanitise them ?


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## Muggus (10/6/08)

mika said:


> Everyone else is getting in on this thread, so I feel a bit left out
> 
> If you're re-using the caps do you sanitise them ?


I'd highly recommend santising them. You never know what nasties have come into contact with the inside of the cap.


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## microbe (10/6/08)

I consider myself pretty tight but I don't go to the extent of reusing caps. Even the pretty coloured ones @ 3c each  are not thought an extravagance.

...maybe I'm not as frugal as I thought .... :huh: 

Cheers,

microbe

ps if you do, surely you won't bother sanitising either


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## bradsbrew (10/6/08)

microbe said:


> ps if you do, surely you won't bother sanitising either



Well what if I let the sodium met solution I use evaporate. This will then turn back to a powder, I can then use this to sterize my used caps. 

Has anyone got some spent grain I might be able to squeeze a bit of malt out of.  
Btw this is being sarcastic. :lol:


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## olafurson (22/6/08)

bradsbrew: what brand/style of opener are you using? I have been looking for an opener that doesn't bend caps... thanks much!


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## Ade42 (30/3/09)

Im Reusing caps, Only about 10 -12 330ml Bottels. Im making a Mex Cervaza and want to put 2 6packs back into "Sol" bottels . (sol's cheaper than 20$ for 6 Corona's) Its just for a laugh. Not going to do it full time.


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## raven19 (30/3/09)

I could see how it can be done if using a twist top bottle - I bottle the remaining beer (after kegging) into usually a 6 pack of coopers stubbies. Crown seal them on, twist them off - hence no damage.

And I knew a guy many years ago who recycled them. And when he told me I was gobsmacked...

I have never reused them, too risky IMO for all that good beer to go to waste.

But as many others have said, for under $2 for a pack of 100 at Woolies (no affiliation, etc) or the LHBS, it hardly seems worth it.

There is my 1 bottle cap's worth... (2c)


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## Mantis (30/3/09)

The global economic meltdown hits home brewing


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## Pollux (30/3/09)

I pay $13.50 for 500 caps, and they are coloured....

@ an average of 60 stubbies (23L) per batch, that equates to $1.62 per batch in new caps...

if you can't afford that, I question if you can afford brewing or beer in general....


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## bradsbrew (30/3/09)

I cant believe i started this thread. In under 12 months I've gone from trying to reuse bottle caps to spending a Shite load on AG equipment and kegging gear. Dont worry about the carbon release of one failed cap Pomo think about the carbon footprint my gas burner stamps in.

Cheers Brad


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## brenjak (30/3/09)

Kevin Rudd is giving me money. I am going to lash out and but some new crown seals. Can you purchase them individually?

and yes...sarcasm is hard to translate in the written word.

They are a cheap part of the process so buy and use "fresh" and "new" ones.

As for the scientific arguments....forget about it. Gave that stuff up in year 10 along time ago in a galaxy, far, far away!


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## /// (30/3/09)

Yep all possible - i reuse caps all the time ... for the kegs ....

Sorry, sorry, yessss yesss ...

Scotty


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## HoppingMad (30/3/09)

raven19 said:


> I could see how it can be done if using a twist top bottle - I bottle the remaining beer (after kegging) into usually a 6 pack of coopers stubbies. Crown seal them on, twist them off - hence no damage.



+1 Yup, that's what I was thinking. It can be done quite easily with twisties. But reusing soft drink bottles would be much better for tightwads, or get some of those swing top Grolsch bottles - built in caps! 

Trouble is, unless you know someone who drinks a few of those bottles - they cost more than a $2 bag of homebrand caps at Coles. D'oh! (slaps forehead) :lol: 

Hopper


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## manticle (30/3/09)

I actually drink every glass of beer twice.


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## tcraig20 (30/3/09)

raven19 said:


> I could see how it can be done if using a twist top bottle - I bottle the remaining beer (after kegging) into usually a 6 pack of coopers stubbies. Crown seal them on, twist them off - hence no damage.
> 
> And I knew a guy many years ago who recycled them. And when he told me I was gobsmacked...
> 
> ...



An uncle of mine has done this for years with twist tops. I think he's convinced that you cant use crown seal caps on twist top bottles (although 'crown seal' and 'twist top' caps dont actually exist in the first place). 

He keeps his caps and soaks them in hot water prior to capping. The hot water reinvigorates the plastic in the cap giving a better seal. Then he twists them tight using a bottle opener.


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## Leigh (6/4/09)

manticle said:


> I actually drink every glass of beer twice.



After reading that, I nearly had another look at my lunch :icon_vomit:


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## technocat (6/4/09)

When I was bottling before I went over to Kegs I use to save all my screw top caps and donations from friends and used them again with no probs. I just wash them and leave them in sun to dry and keep them in a icecream container. When it came to bottling I would put 30 odd in a bowl of sterilizer, screw them on and Roberts your fathers uncle. If the had any rust on them I would chuck em.  

Cheers


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## Mantis (13/4/10)

Well you did point us too this thread again Brad. You really are a tightarse eh :lol:

Edit: and I bet you are using some of the ideas above


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## bradsbrew (13/4/10)

Mantis said:


> Well you did point us too this thread again Brad. You really are a tightarse eh :lol:
> 
> Edit: and I bet you are using some of the ideas above




:lol: ........It all got a bit confusing with the earth being iron so my blood is red but if it were copper my blood would be green and the carbon emisions I could risk by one bottle leaking Co2 and the whole world would die because I reused bottle caps..................So I bought some kegs to save money on bottle caps  

Did i mention Manticle admitted he drinks his own piss in this thread h34r: 

Funny thing is I was looking at one of the sponsors sites today and he has oxygen sucking bottle tops.

Cheers


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## MaltyHops (13/4/10)

Muggus said:


> I have used old bottle caps to seal beers once before, but only to reseal beers i'd already opened and couldn't finish.
> Not that the beer was any better the next day though. :wacko:
> 
> Personally, I wouldn't risk on a fresh brew...too much could go wrong.


Actually, this is not a bad idea. I bottle with Coopers longneck bottles
- glass, strength, less to wash - but dont usually drink a whole bottle at
a time and have tried those lever operated rubber bungs but found that
they bend after not that many uses.

So I thought to try opening the crown seals little by little around the cap
and then use my bench capper to reseal the opened bottle. This worked
quite well - even recapped a bottle twice over a few days - CO2 can be
retained quite well too if bottle is poured from gently.


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## Bribie G (13/4/10)

I drink straight out of primary. Sod the caps.


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## Sammus (13/4/10)

BribieG said:


> I drink straight out of primary. Sod the caps.



hear, hear!


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## jiesu (13/4/10)

LMao! Why even go through that process? Buy a can of goop drink it down and take a shot of yeast. 
Sorts the ment from the boys I find.


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## tehdilgerer (13/4/10)

Can of goop?

Real men mash the grains in their mouth, add some hops and a shot of yeast.... Now thats a meal


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## Hatchy (14/4/10)

I thought I was tight until I read this thread. Does anyone know how I could power my fermenting fridge using a rat & some used bottletops?

The last time I bought bottletops I got 1000 & figured that when I start on the 2nd bag of 500 I'll buy another 500 bag. I don't remember what they cost so I can only assume it wasn't much.


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