Flip Top Bottles - Leaking?

[benny_bjc]

Hello,

I bought quite few boxes of brand new glass 500ml Flip Top seal bottles from local homebrew store. I bottled up my latest brew and let it carb up - which it did, and had a bottle after about a month. Tasted great and carbonation was perfect. The next two bottle I tried a few months later was flat (as a tac - no head no bubbles)

Im quite annoyed as the whole rest of the batch is yet to be opened! Despite this the beer still tastes great - I just hope that if it is a leak that it won't also get infected too!

Has anyone else experienced similar issue with the flip top bottles??? - I could try replacing the seals but it seems a bit of a risk to keep using these new bottles. (They weren't cheap all up)

Thanks,

Beer007.

 

[Frank]

I have not had this issue before. One suggestion would be to lie your bottles on their side. If there is a small leak the beer will leak out a little and the stickiness will seal the bottle off.

 

[Gulf]

Well, if you have any more poorly sealed bottles, then you can expect them to be flat too. If you could be bothered you could re-prime them as you find them and put them away for another month (listen for the psssst when you open them!).

The problem with the bottles is probably not the rubber seals, but the wire that acts as the spring to hold them closed. I found it is possible to bend the hooks down a bit with some pliers to increase the tension (see pic for the bit i mean).

 

[benny_bjc]

Well, if you have any more poorly sealed bottles, then you can expect them to be flat too. If you could be bothered you could re-prime them as you find them and put them away for another month (listen for the psssst when you open them!).

The problem with the bottles is probably not the rubber seals, but the wire that acts as the spring to hold them closed. I found it is possible to bend the hooks down a bit with some pliers to increase the tension (see pic for the bit i mean).

Thanks heaps - I will give that a go.

 

[michael_aussie]

I have not had this issue before. One suggestion would be to lie your bottles on their side. If there is a small leak the beer will leak out a little and the stickiness will seal the bottle off.

I haven't had any problems with "beer bottles" (Grolsch) but have with other bottles (1 litre "hexagon" clear bottles).
I agree with the side lie suggestion, but ultimately this is not an ideal fix.

Well, if you have any more poorly sealed bottles, then you can expect them to be flat too. If you could be bothered you could re-prime them as you find them and put them away for another month (listen for the psssst when you open them!).

The problem with the bottles is probably not the rubber seals, but the wire that acts as the spring to hold them closed. I found it is possible to bend the hooks down a bit with some pliers to increase the tension (see pic for the bit i mean).

I have "reprimed" many bottles when I've found them flat and this always works fine.
On the dodgy hexagon bottles, I used to fit two seals to ensure enough compression, before I gave up on them.
I would suggest you go back to the HB shop and ask. They don't sound like they are fit for the purpose you purchased them for.
I'd do this before you start bending the wires.

 

[sbarries]

A couple elastic bands around sketch bottles (from top to bottom of course) will add a couple pounds more pressure on the lid, without increasing the risk of explosion too much.