Capping Twist Top Bottles

[DrewCarey82]

Hello.

I have a ton of bottles unfortunately they are twist top.

I have a brigalow bench top capper it doesnt seem to seal the bottles all that well however when I fill with liquid and tip upside down no liquid escapes.

Is this fine to use or not?

Any handy hints, I have the normal metal bottle lids from my HBS.

Cheers fellas.

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

Get yourself one of these:

They work great

PZ.

 

[DrewCarey82]

Get yourself one of these:

They work great

PZ.

[post="84988"][/post]​

cannot see a thing.

 

[Fingerlickin_B]

Wierd, I can :huh:

Well it's a Super Automatica capper...around $50 from your local HBS.

PZ.

 

[T.D.]

Yeah, I have a Superautomatica (the brand that fingerlickin posted). They are a great capper. However, I think the brigalow version is pretty similar (perhaps not as sturdy, but the same principle). I reckon at least half of my bottles are twist tops and I have no trouble whatsoever capping them with my bench capper. they do require a bit more force (only a bit) bit that's it - they seal just as well as the pop tops. I don't really know where this myth came from that youi can only use pop top crown seal bottles for home brew - I have always used both them and screw tops with no problem. I guess it might have something to do with the old fashion cappers where you whack it with a hammer. In the old days I did break a few bottles this way and I guess they were mainly screw tops.

Anyway, if its a proper bench capper, screw top bottles should not be a problem at all.

 

[sluggerdog]

I found that some bottle caps work better then others. One batch I bought would not seal properly but then the other batch did.

Maybe try some different caps?

 

[bindi]

There was a time Iwould not use screw top bottles untill a mate gave me 4doz, a year later, not a problem.

 

[Wortgames]

Over time and repeated use you are probably more likely to get chips etc in screw cap bottles, so a 'fleet' of pop tops is probably better for that reason.

If you are using longnecks, it's worth considering champagne bottles - they are bulletproof and some of the 'posh' ones are almost black. The only inconvenience is that you won't be able to get the larger caps from the supermarket, you'll need to get them from yor LHBS. A champagne cap fitting is only a couple of bucks and they change over in seconds.

Posh hotels turf out hundreds of them after new year's eve or any other big night.

You can get 375ml champagne bottles as well but they are a bit harder to find.

 

[DrewCarey82]

I found that some bottle caps work better then others. One batch I bought would not seal properly but then the other batch did.

Maybe try some different caps?

[post="84997"][/post]​

Thats exactly what I was thinking, I brought mine from the HBS in a batch of 600 though

I may try some of the ones from big W, not sure what brand they are though.

 

[peas_and_corn]

If they aren't leaking when you turn them upside down, then I'd consider that to be a good seal

I get my caps from my work (BiLo); they are a good price and they work fine- haven't had any explosions or leaks so far (fingers crossed). Also, they are gold and I like the colour

 

[Mothballs]

Hello.

I have a ton of bottles unfortunately they are twist top.

I have a brigalow bench top capper it doesnt seem to seal the bottles all that well however when I fill with liquid and tip upside down no liquid escapes.

Is this fine to use or not?

Any handy hints, I have the normal metal bottle lids from my HBS.

Cheers fellas.

[post="84984"][/post]​

When you say that they don't seem to seal properly do you mean that the caps are very easy to take off the bottle just after capping? This is not unusual. I found this used to happen to me when bottling and I also thought it was a problem. It is not a problem as when the beer carbonates it seems to exert pressure on the cap and you will barely be able to remove the cap with your bare hands.

Cheers
:beer:
mothballs

 

[DrewCarey82]

Hello.

I have a ton of bottles unfortunately they are twist top.

I have a brigalow bench top capper it doesnt seem to seal the bottles all that well however when I fill with liquid and tip upside down no liquid escapes.

Is this fine to use or not?

Any handy hints, I have the normal metal bottle lids from my HBS.

Cheers fellas.

[post="84984"][/post]​

When you say that they don't seem to seal properly do you mean that the caps are very easy to take off the bottle just after capping? This is not unusual. I found this used to happen to me when bottling and I also thought it was a problem. It is not a problem as when the beer carbonates it seems to exert pressure on the cap and you will barely be able to remove the cap with your bare hands.

Cheers
:beer:
mothballs

[post="85021"][/post]​

Thanks mothballs that was exactly the problem, swearing @ myself for throwing out about 40 longnecks the other week with that problem.

Thanks for all the info guys.

 

[devo]

I've used the standard caps you get at the super market with one of the above pictured cappers and never had a problem.

 

[PostModern]

I used all manner of seals with all manner of twist-top bottles and never had an issuse with compatibility. I have also only ever chipped one neck in three years and I think that was from putting the cap on slightly askew before lowering the bell.

 

[Murray]

In the dim dark days when I first started brewing, I used to cap screw-cap bottles with a hand capper and mallet. After a bit of practice I became quite proficient at it, only breaking a bottle every couple of batches or so .

 

[apd]

I reuse twist-top caps on twist-top bottles. The biggest problem I've found is that I'm paranoid about not putting them on tight enough so they end up too tight and I almost have to use a bottle opener to get them off.

 

[peas_and_corn]

I have to use a bottle opener all the time on the twist tops; same paranoia here. But, I'm used to it.