Hammer Capping

[BrewerDave]

Hi

Another noob question...... I've been practising practising on an empty crown seal bottles with my hammer hand capper with some Brigalow crown/twist caps. I feel like I've been giving them a good whack but the cap won't budgem, any harder and I think the glass might shatter.

How hard do I need to whack these caps for them to go on, or are these caps lousy and I should try and get some Coopers crown seals?

Thanks

 

[warrenlw63]

Brewer Dave

Before you go any further wander over to your Home Brew store and invest in a decent lever capper.

Those hammer jobs should be outlawed. You'll be guaranteed to smash at least a couple of bottles of your precious in the filling/capping process otherwise.

Warren -

 

[AndrewQLD]

And never attempt to hammer cap an empty bottle, it should at least be full of water.

Andrew

 

[Andyd]

Hit it just hard enough to break the bottle - then ease off a little

Andy

 

[BrewerDave]

Brewer Dave

Before you go any further wander over to your Home Brew store and invest in a decent lever capper.

Those hammer jobs should be outlawed. You'll be guaranteed to smash at least a couple of bottles of your precious in the filling/capping process otherwise.

Warren -

Don't have a local home brew store in my town (other than Coles and Big W) so it's pretty much hand capping for me, but that will change with my next batch.

Hit it just hard enough to break the bottle - then ease off a little

Andy

So at least the neck will be capped even if the rest of the bottle is all over the kitchen floor?

 

[peas_and_corn]

Just get a bench capper, I've read enough stories of people saying "Argh, I smashed a bottle and cut my finger off!!!! I got a bench capper after the visit to the hospital"* to know that the happer type are too much to deal with






* Dramatisation may not have happened.

 

[white.grant]

Brewer Dave

Before you go any further wander over to your Home Brew store and invest in a decent lever capper.

Those hammer jobs should be outlawed. You'll be guaranteed to smash at least a couple of bottles of your precious in the filling/capping process otherwise.

Warren -

+1

Once you break your first bottle you will never use it again.

cheers

Grant

 

[sponge]

Don't have a local home brew store in my town (other than Coles and Big W) so it's pretty much hand capping for me, but that will change with my next batch.

Kmart and Big W both stock bench cappers im pretty sure, they both have a section of homebrewing stuff

I know i got mine from kmart...

 

[BrewerDave]

Kmart and Big W both stock bench cappers im pretty sure, they both have a section of homebrewing stuff

I know i got mine from kmart...

Already looked at Coles, Big W, Woolworths (every place in town that sells at least some homebrew stuff), no capping devices of any kind, or spaces on the shelves for them.

 

[sponge]

Already looked at Coles, Big W, Woolworths (every place in town that sells at least some homebrew stuff), no capping devices of any kind, or spaces on the shelves for them.

Hmmm..... touche then

Have you tried asking if they can order any in? Maybe buying one off the internet?

 

[Swizzle]

Have to agree on the hand cappers, having smashed a bottle or 2 per brew when I first started and had a low hardware budget.

Reckon you could probably order a capper on-line if you have a surf around. It's another point in favour of the Coopers PET bottles - can re-use the screw on lids time and time again! (i still really hate spending on hardware...)

Swizzle

 

[BrewerDave]

Hmmm..... touche then

Have you tried asking if they can order any in? Maybe buying one off the internet?

I could order one, but my brew has been ready to be bottled for a few days. I'd rather not put it off any longer incase it starts to taste a bit funny

 

[sponge]

Sall good, i leave all my brews for at least 2 weeks, no matter how long it takes them to ferment, just to help them clear up. Ive left 2 brews for over 3 weeks with no problems. But still... no rush to get a bench capper, but they are pretty amazing

 

[peas_and_corn]

Here's a capper- http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/product_in...roducts_id=7319
It's $59.00000, which is a pretty good price

 

[afromaiko]

Yes bench cappers are awesome, the only way to go. If your beer has just finished fermenting carefully put the fermenter somewhere cool away from heat sources etc and it'll be fine to leave it another week or so. I always leave at least 2 weeks and I've left mine 3-4 weeks before without any problems even over summer . Have a look at the sponsors up top or search on Google, there are plenty of places you can order a bench capper online from, you'll be stoked that you did. It'll make bottling day a joy compared to hammer or lever cappers. As mentioned above too, Cooper's PET bottles are dirt cheap and I never noticed any difference over glass. In fact I liked them better because no risk of bottle bombs and you can squeeze them to test when they are carbed up.