zeg

Recipes 

Heh, to illustrate your point, I don't bother. I fill until the last bottle comes up short, then dump that and the clear beer from the bottling bucket into a glass, chill it, and drink it immediately. Nothing wasted either way, I just prefer the early preview (and I don't mind uncarbonated beer).

GoCrew

Recipes 

Very good info, I changed my bottling method to closely match the OP's and I improved bottling speed and overall there was less mess. I don't have a bottle tree or vinator so it usually took me around 2 hours to bottle a 5 gallon batch. I did it last night in 1.5 hours.

tommyguner03

Recipes 

bottled my first batch and well i had a lot of sediment.. i let it sit for three weeks and i dry hop on week 2.. im thinking maybe it was from the dry hop .. other than that everything went well expect capping.. i may of got a default capper any suggestions on what to get to cap?

Brewsday

Recipes 

I have managed to collect (accumulate?) 6. My favorite is the old guy in the back row on the right. I like the spring return and the feel when I thump down the cap. Plus it stays at the right height for the type of bottle I'm using....but it has it's dangers! (see second pic) The tall brown one is great to cork wine but the bell fell off for beer. Lots of guys favor the 2-handed winged type. Put a "want to buy" ad on your local craigslist or here in the HBT classifieds once you know exactly what you want.

By the way, nearly sliced the tip of my thumb off that day...but notice the orange wallpaper "wetting" tray in the back...one of my favorite accessories. I put about 1" of starsan in there and keep long things sanitized like spoons, canes, tubing, I even throw in bungs and bubblers and a shamwow to wipe things with...my "tip of the day".

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glenn514

Recipes 

I have both a bench-top capper and the two-handed "Red Baron" capper. I prefer to use the Red Baron because I ruin fewer bottle caps with it. But I have been known to remove the very top portion of a beer bottle with it, as well! DOH!

glenn514

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Illinois...the United States' answer to Greece!

Getzinator

Recipes 

[QUOTE=Brewsday;4916017]Plus it stays at the right height for the type of bottle I'm using....but it has it's dangers! (see second pic) /QUOTE]

Dang, did that crush a glass bottle? That's nuts.

I always use the Red Baron, myself. Haven't broken a bottle yet, but there's a first time for everything.

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My spoon is TOO big.

Ogri

Recipes 

I have a bench-capper that is very similar to the one at top right and a wing-capper that is identical to bottom left, except mine is red. The bench-capper has a silicon rubber mat under where you place the bottle which possibly absorbs some shock.

Definitely use the wing-capper more often and the bench-capper when I come across bottles with strange neck/lip features/dimensions such as the Wychwood Brewery bottles.

Cool. 666th reply on this thread Think I'll listen to some Iron Maiden

Brewsday

Recipes 

The crushed bottle was one of those limited release bottles from Sam Adams...they have sort of a "pinched" area near the bottom and, as you can see, that's where the bottle gave out. I have banned them from my collection (didn't have many). I just have to believe a nice straight cylinder body has better engineering characteristics for bench capping. I've also changed my technique and hold the bottle by the neck. Seriously, I probably should have gone to the hospital...but didn't...just clean the cut, wrap it up and keep bottling. Later I went to the pharmacy for some finger cots...now there's something handy to have around for small cuts when brewing (or cooking)!

zeg

Recipes 

Oof, I don't touch the bottle while capping it. My bench capper keeps the bottle in place well enough.

Ogri

Recipes 

Yeah, I'm recoiling at just the thought of holding onto a bench-capper induced imploding bottle at the moment of loss of integrity.