Homebrew supply flip-top bottles

I was at the homebrew supply shop a while ago and they had used half liter flip-top bottles for cheap. I checked them out, they looked good, so I got them. They were a mix of actual grolsch bottles and amber flip-top bottles (the kind you can buy new at the store). The grolsch bottles are great, but the amber ones don't seem to hold pressure. I noticed that they give almost no pop when I open them and the beer is veeerry lightly carbonated. I also noticed that they don't take as much force to close. Anyone else have this happen? I've checked for dry seals and replaced any that were hard. I had one grolsch bottle that was flat but I noticed a chip in the ceramic stopper so I got rid of that one. The amber ones have plastic stoppers.

Haven't had a crown cap fail me. I'll stick with those from now on.

I would say the amber bottles are failing because of the plastic flip top gasket. Can you switch them up with the rubber ones that come with Grolsch bottles? I know you can buy replacement rubber gaskets for Grolsch bottles....just a thought.

I have heard of issues with the plastic stoppers. Unfortunately buying new stoppers/closures is probably going to cost nearly what the bottles did. Stick with ceramic stoppers when you can.

You can try to bend out the wires to get a tighter seal, and boiling your rubber gaskets, but I wouldn't want to waste beer trying to get them to work right.

broadbill said:

I would say the amber bottles are failing because of the plastic flip top gasket. Can you switch them up with the rubber ones that come with Grolsch bottles? I know you can buy replacement rubber gaskets for Grolsch bottles....just a thought.

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When I was talking about checking the seals I was talking about the gasket. I replaced them. It's the actual stopper that's plastic on the lhbs bottle and ceramic on the grolsch bottles. Crown caps are seriously the way to go.

I read in another post with exact same topic someone recommended bending the wires for a tighter seal, and someone else mentioned using 2 rubber gaskets instead of 1 if that didn't work.

Soperbrew said:

I read in another post with exact same topic someone recommended bending the wires for a tighter seal, and someone else mentioned using 2 rubber gaskets instead of 1 if that didn't work.

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Both not bad ideas, thanks.