problem capping commercial bottles?

Gentlemen,

Watch out, noob question.

I bottled 1/2 of ny first batch last night (put the other halk into a secondary for later comparison) and ran into a problem. Using a red, 2 handled, capper and caps from the local HBS, the commercial bottles I had saved wouldn't cap right. These were Dos Equis and Pilsner Urquell bottles. The caps wouldn't crimp on properly, had a slight flair at the bottom. I had bought some bottles from the HBS that capped perfectly so I was able to bottle anyway but I'd like to use these bottles. Can I use them? Would they have been ok? (the caps seemed tight but just didn't look right). Is there another type of cap I have to use with them? Thanks for any help.

SSB

I don't know about the bottles in question but I do know not all comercials will cap with a lever capper. Wichwood brewery bottles are one example. I guess if you have a mallet type capper that would do them.

Chill. As long as they are not screw-on type bottles you should be OK.

Place them on their side (lay them down) to check if any are leaking and change them out or RE-crimp them if they are.

One of the habits I've gotten into when capping is when I put the cap on the bottle I put a little downward pressure on the cap and give it a twist to kind of seat it and make sure it fits. Try this next time and see how it works for you.

exactly what hb99 said. if they don't leak theyre ok. another bottle that never seems to cap right for me (i like to get the little indention in the middle for some reason) is fat tire/new belgium bottles. i have a ton of these cause i got a lot of bottles from my neighbor who is from fort collins and loves his NB, but none of them seem to cap right. they just seem loose to me.

That indentation is caused by the magnet in the capper.

One of mine does that too. It's like it's slightly longer (or unscrewing).

if you use the big lever style cappers you won't have this problem and you will have NO problem with twist off's either. Been using one for 13 years. Only problem with twistoff's I've ever had is a harder to twist off cap. But so what. At worst, just makes it the same as a regular bottle.

I have noticed that the mouth of Dos Equis bottles is slightly smaller than other bottles. When I cap them they do have a noticable flare....However....Have never had any problems with them. They seal fine.

singleshotbuff said:

Gentlemen,

Watch out, noob question.

I bottled 1/2 of ny first batch last night (put the other halk into a secondary for later comparison) and ran into a problem. Using a red, 2 handled, capper and caps from the local HBS, the commercial bottles I had saved wouldn't cap right. These were Dos Equis and Pilsner Urquell bottles. The caps wouldn't crimp on properly, had a slight flair at the bottom. I had bought some bottles from the HBS that capped perfectly so I was able to bottle anyway but I'd like to use these bottles. Can I use them? Would they have been ok? (the caps seemed tight but just didn't look right). Is there another type of cap I have to use with them? Thanks for any help.

SSB

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There are two types of bottles out there. The difference is in the neck design and can be seen here.

The Dos Equis bottles are typical of the "short" neck design and can cause problems for some cappers. It just so happens that my capper (a Jet capper)prefers this neck design.

The Sam Adams bottles are typical of the "tall" neck design and are what most hand cappers are made for. If you take a look at the bottles when you go to the store, you can pick out the types of bottles that will work best with your capper. I think you will find that the bottles from your LBS are of the "tall" neck design which explains why they capped better than the Dos Equis bottles.

The way to eliminate this issue altogether is to get a bench capper. Bench cappers press straight down using leverage from the capper structure and not the lower lip of the neck, so neck design is irrelevant.

I've found another type that can't be done with a 2 lever hand capper.
A pity 'cause I love the stuff.

Yea I ran into that myself last time I bottled...I already had one filled up when I realized it wasn't going to work. But, it's just the pints that have those necks...the 12 oz bottles have a regular neck.

El Pistolero said:

Yea I ran into that myself last time I bottled...I already had one filled up when I realized it wasn't going to work. But, it's just the pints that have those necks...the 12 oz bottles have a regular neck.

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Me too. I'm looking for a bench capper now for this reason and because I am having troubles with bottle necks cracking and breaking. I have at least one cap just break off when I cap each time. I found one conditioning that had a crack just below the cap and it was foaming from there.

Either I've got weak glass bottles or my capper is damaging them. I'm hopeing that a bench capper will take care of it.

tnlandsailor said:

The way to eliminate this issue altogether is to get a bench capper. Bench cappers press straight down using leverage from the capper structure and not the lower lip of the neck, so neck design is irrelevant.

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Yeah, that's the kind I meant earlier. The one on the right in the pick, though my is cast iron and more heavy duty.

I'm not certain of the black capper, but the red one has 2 metal pieces that grab onto the neck.

These pieces are removable (I use needle nose pliers) and are two different sizes. You can use them on thin or thicker neck bottles.

homebrewer_99 said:

I'm not certain of the black capper, but the red one has 2 metal pieces that grab onto the neck.

These pieces are removable (I use needle nose pliers) and are two different sizes. You can use them on thin or thicker neck bottles.

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that is great news for those that have the red baron capper. i just bottled a batch last night and had major problems with my capper on the Franzi, Spaten, and Dos Equis bottles. we ended up just using man power to push down on the bottle and help the capper do its thing.

however, i am having problems now with how to get those metal teeth out and flipped around. they seem to be bolted in there into the plastic. how did you get them out with needle nose pliers?