Bottle Type Question

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SteveHoward

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Another of my noob questions:

Has anybody reused a screw-top beer bottle? If so, is it more difficult to cap? Is it something I should avoid? or not be afraid of?

I'm exploring the idea of cider and/or ale when my carboys are empty. I'm at the stage of planning where I need to look for bottles. I'd just like the benefit of someone else's experience on this.
 
A wing type capper will not work on screw top bottles.

You need a bench capper.
 
Get bottles that need a bottle cap remover to open. Do not buy import beers because they have a different lip. Go to the store and look at a Corona bottle vs a Pyramid ale bottle. the thick necked ones fit the capper's. I buy 22's as this is less work then capping 12's and I am never, ever going to dink 1 beer.
 
A wing type capper will not work on screw top bottles.

You need a bench capper.

Huh. I did not know that a bench capper would cap screw-type bottles. WHY DID I THROW AWAY ALL OF THOSE SCREW-TYPE BOTTLES? WHY, LORD? WHY?

Now I am sad. Fortunately, I have been drinking, so I'm not as sad as I could be.
 
Huh. I did not know that a bench capper would cap screw-type bottles. WHY DID I THROW AWAY ALL OF THOSE SCREW-TYPE BOTTLES? WHY, LORD? WHY?

Now I am sad. Fortunately, I have been drinking, so I'm not as sad as I could be.

now you just have to modify your drinking habits. funny how when I found this out I made sure any beer I purchased had the correct bottle to recycle.:rockin:
 
Get bottles that need a bottle cap remover to open. Do not buy import beers because they have a different lip. Go to the store and look at a Corona bottle vs a Pyramid ale bottle. the thick necked ones fit the capper's. I buy 22's as this is less work then capping 12's and I am never, ever going to dink 1 beer.

Ah, but do you drink that 22 fast enough so it doesn't get warm? I like the 12s as the second is as cold as the first. I'm not a fast drinker.
 
cfonnes said:
A wing type capper will not work on screw top bottles.

You need a bench capper.

I used a wing type capper to help a friend bottle his batch. It technically still WORKS, but I wouldn't recommend it.

If you compare both types of bottles, you'll notice that the lip on a pry-off is right at the top and is pretty much the thickest part of the bottle, whereas on a screw-top, a narrow lip sits just below the cap, and the threaded glass above it is actually extremely thin.

So the problem we ran into was that about 6 bottles out of 50 or so just ended up breaking at the top as we tried to cap. And the possibility of broken glass (and to a lesser extent, increased oxidation) meant we didn't just dump it into another bottle or anything - so we had to deal with broken glass AND we lost a six-pack of precious beer!
 
+1 to emjay's comment. You won't get a good seal, and you'll probably have glass to clean up. Import bottles should work just fine. I've never heard of anyone having issues with them until this thread.
 
I think it's only some imports that have a problem.

Avoid Amstel Light - my BIL drinks this almost exclusively. The labels are impossible to remove and I've heard they don't seal well when capped (though I haven't tried).

Another family favorite is Shocktop (an AB-Inbev product) which go right in the recycle bin if I get any.
 
Add "Negra Modelo" to the only use if no option list, did not have much trouble capping with a wing capper, but the labels are a PITA and that gold foil does not come off.... ever....
 
The import bottles I use are;
Paulaner
Franziskaner
Saporro
Smithwick's
They all have worked perfectly every time. And I just use a Red Baron wing capper. They also use the standard size caps.
 
Ah, but do you drink that 22 fast enough so it doesn't get warm? I like the 12s as the second is as cold as the first. I'm not a fast drinker.

I pour mine into a cold glass. My preference. If there is some left in the bottle, i place it in the fridge and return to it when I hear it calling me. I still bottle 12's just not 40 of them. I have 32's as well.
 
I think it's only some imports that have a problem.

Avoid Amstel Light - my BIL drinks this almost exclusively. The labels are impossible to remove and I've heard they don't seal well when capped (though I haven't tried).

Another family favorite is Shocktop (an AB-Inbev product) which go right in the recycle bin if I get any.


Yes, I see. I have not drank every import on the planet. I was generalizing. It was something that was brought to my attention when I was first gathering bottles. I think a more appropriate way to say it then is to look at the bottles your getting and notice the neck difference so it will fit your specific capper.
 
I have a bench capper and have never attempted a screw on bottle, I recycle them or return them. I try to avoid buying them. I am not willing to take the risk, when it comes to my beer I am highly risk adverse.
 
I'll buy a 12 pack of screw tops if they have a sturdy box with separators,like Leinenkugel's. Then toss the bottles,& use those nice boxes to store my bottles/beers in.
 
I started a thread a while back about this because I accidentally bought two cases of screw top bottles from my local brewery. Here's what I gathered from the thread:

Most people will tell you to just not use them.

A smaller percentage will say it's possible to use screw tops, but you have to use a bench capper. The reason being, a bench capped presses down and doesn't put pressure on the thin neck of the twist off bottle, as a wing capper would. They will also--after all that--probably still suggest you don't use screw tops, just to be safe.

The smallest percentage will say they have used screw tops for years with no problem.

Personally, I didn't have a bench capper, or I probably would have tried using my screw tops. What I ended up doing was simultaneously putting two ads up on craigslist. One ad was WTB: bench capper. The other was WTB: empty bottles.

I got a hit on the empty bottles first and scored 55 Grolsch bottles for like $12. I still haven't found a cheap bench capper. Plus, everyone sufficiently scared me enough that I'd be worried to use the screwtops, even though you probably could without much problem. :mug:
 
I'll buy a 12 pack of screw tops if they have a sturdy box with separators,like Leinenkugel's. Then toss the bottles,& use those nice boxes to store my bottles/beers in.

:D That's what I ended up doing with the screwtop boxes I mentioned in my previous post.
 
They do make great,easily countable storage containers! I need to get more...I wish they had them at the store in a case size from those brands.
 
What about the line along the sides of some bottles? It looks like a seam, but I don't know the manufacturing process. This thread has ruled out half of what ppl have given me. I bet that line will knock out the other half.
 
I've used a pretty wide variety of imports bottle and to be honest I prefer them more as many of the bottles are thicker which seems more durable to me. I have also accidentally used some screw tops (all with a bench capper) and there was never a problem.

The only thing that hasn't worked initially for me has been a large bottle of Stella (some anniversary edition which I received as a gift). It needed a champagne cork and I didn't have the proper size so I stuck in a temporary cork that I normally use for Port after sterilizing it and stuck a cage on it so it wouldn't fly off which is what I expected. It carbed properly and tasted fine.

The moral is that you can cap most bottles with the right equipment. I wouldn't throw anything out, I'd just replace bottles over time with what you prefer.
 
Thank you.

I see the comments about labels being difficult to remove, and I may actually have something helpful to offer back on that. I don't know what you have tried before, but maybe this will help.

I have a friend which pretty much keeps me in all the champagne bottles I could ever use and more. Some of those have labels that are very difficult to remove. So what I did was pour hot water over them from the hot water dispenser on our sink (near boiling water - there for making tea or coffee by the cup) to get the glue on the labels hot. I then take a steak knife - not a serrated one, but one with a smooth edge - and scrape the label with short, quick strokes with the sharp part of the blade hitting the edge of the label. On some, they come off pretty easily like this and I can take large slices with each stroke. Some labels take a little more effort, but none of them are particularly difficult so long as the glue is hot. If it takes me more than 30 seconds or so, I'll run the hot water over it again.

Once the label is off, then just a strong dishwashing soap and a plastic scratcher with normal tap water will take off the remaining glue with not too much effort.

I've never tried the labels on the beer bottles that were mentioned, but would be willing to give them a try. It might work, and might be worth it if the bottles are good.
 
I keg which is great. I heartily recommend that. But in the dark ages when I bottled :p I found that twist offs could be capped with a wing capper but they may not seal well and they may break. I wouldn't build a collection of twist off bottles, just have a few on hand in case you miscalculate and run short a couple bottles. Better to bottle that last bit in a twist off than toss.

It is also possible to bottle the European narrow neck bottles with a wing capper but it is also a royal PITA. A bench capper will work fine though. With my wing capper I found that I had to literally push/hold it together as tight as I could while also pushing down on the wings. This would minimize the slipping over the neck. Another option is to put a little tin foil around the metal ring of the capper to basically make the opening smaller (and thus fit the narrower neck). Either way, it's a pain and I don't recommend it unless you have bench capper.
 
The German Paulaner bottles have a taller,skinnier neck. But my wing capper works perfectly on them every time. But the labels on Great Lakes,Rogue,& Smithwick's have to be scraped off. Even after soaking a couple of days.
 
The only bottles I have ever used are canadian brands of screw top bottles, 5 times 5 gallon batches, and have lost a total of 4 bottles to breakage, using a wing capper. the Canadian brands have MUCH sturdier bottles than the US ones. There is no problem getting a good seal on these at all. Some of the thinner US versions, I would never try, but the thicker ones, go for it. I'm not sure if teh Canadian brands sold in the US are the thicker versions or not, but there is an obvious difference between the thick bottles (much like the imports) and the toss away US glass bottles.
 
unionrdr said:
The German Paulaner bottles have a taller,skinnier neck. But my wing capper works perfectly on them every time. But the labels on Great Lakes,Rogue,& Smithwick's have to be scraped off. Even after soaking a couple of days.

Um, I dunno about the other two, but Smithwick's are some of the easiest labels for me. A short soak in an Oxiclean solution and they literally just come right off in the bucket - most of the bottles I pull out and the labels have already fallen off, and those that haven't come off without any effort.
 
Do not buy import beers because they have a different lip. .

What? I have been saving my Guinness extra stout bottles with the hope of using them. Probably about 40 so far. Please tell me they will work.. I would hate to know that all the work I put in to emptying them hasn't gone to waste. :ban:
 
GatorBrew1 said:
What? I have been saving my Guinness extra stout bottles with the hope of using them. Probably about 40 so far. Please tell me they will work.. I would hate to know that all the work I put into emptying them hasn't gone to waste. :ban:

I have a few of them that I haven't bottled with yet, but I'm pretty sure those are fine. Compare it to a regular domestic bottle and see. In fact, I don't think I've seen ANY British bottles that use the bigger size.

Worst case scenario, you can just buy a cheap 29mm crimp bell for your capper, and buy a bunch of the appropriate caps for it.
 
I have a few of them that I haven't bottled with yet, but I'm pretty sure those are fine. Compare it to a regular domestic bottle and see. In fact, I don't think I've seen ANY British bottles that use the bigger size.

Worst case scenario, you can just buy a cheap 29mm crimp bell for your capper, and buy a bunch of the appropriate caps for it.

Thank you, sir for the info. I didn't kow that. That's why I come here. :rockin:
 
I've re-capped two cases of Yuengling twist top bottles with a wing capper without any problems. No breakage, and no loss of pressure.
 
You guys definitely gave me a lot to think about.

Today, on the trip to Costco, I looked for Gordon Biersch - my favorite. I could always find it in Costco in CA, but have only found it once in Costco up here. They didn't have it today, so I went with my second favorite: Sam Adams. I planned to have some cider in botle with Sam Adams raised in relief :).

Looking at the bottles, I am rather disappointed. The lip is very light-weight. I KNOW that is not the case with the Gordon Biersch I've had recently, and never paid any attention to the Sam Adams before.

I've already decided I need to use a bench capper. I hope the Sam Adams bottles are somewhat durable ... but if not, I guess I'll have to empty a few more bottles of something else :).
 
I checked my Guinness bottles last night, the caps go on but don't seal good. I guess it is true about the import bottles, at least for Guinness.
 
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