screw cap bottles

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Shifty11

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I asked my friends to save their beer bottles for me so I can use those instead of buying them all the time.
A question popped up that I don't know the answer too...
Will screw cap bottles work? Will the cap seal well enoygh with a bottle capper??
Thanks all!
 
I've heard that you can cap them with a bench capper, although I never have. You may want to read around and see if you'd need special caps or anything like that before giving it a try.
 
Just my $0.02 but I have read over and over to NEVER use screw top bottles. Well, unless you have an industrial capper anyway. The glass is thinner and is much more susceptible to breaking.

What has worked for a lot of people is they have their local bar/pub save empties for them. You'll have to wash them obviously but they usually get them free of charge. Guinness bottles work the best for me!
 
I have friends that say their bench cappers can handle them without problems with leaks or breaks. My own experience is that it works for the most part, but I have had some that didn't carb properly and I suspect that it was due the seal (other bottles including non-screw cap bottles carbed up just fine in the same time period). I only use them now if I didn't plan properly and ran out of clean non-screw cap bottles.
 
The reason wing cappers won't work on twist offs is because the little lip the capper holds onto is not the same. I also had a problem capping some short bottles like Abita bottles. I have a benchtop not and don't have a problem with either type bottle.
 
I've always heard don't use them but I've accidentally had a couple in the set before and they seemed to cap with no problem. shook it a bit, turned it upside down, etc, no beer came out.

I generally toss them, but couldn't hurt to hang on to 10 or so just in case you get to bottling day and realize you only have 45 bottles.
 
Due to running low on bottles, I just capped a case (Boulevard wheat bottles) of twist tops with my wing capper. No breaks and so far they're sealing fine.
 
I've bottled maybe 10-20 screw cap bottles. They work, and bottle condition fine. BUT they are a pain. My redwing capper gets stuck on them sometimes. Other times the alignment is just off, and the cap seems off centered.

I have also managed to break 4 bottles, and now I just recycle the bottles.
 
I have seen screw on caps at Friar Tuck Beverage (where I buy most craft beers). I have never tried them since virtually all beers I drink are pop off tops and I did buy a case of bomber bottles for half my Witbier.
 
Ive used screw tops (yeunglings) since ive started with no problems other than what scuba stan mentioned. They tend to get stuck in the wing capper. No breaks or bombs to date. Im planning on transitioning them out eventually, but theyre workable for now & I only have about 150 or so bottles.

If you want to use them with a wing capper, make sure the glass has a crown on top beneath the lip.

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What are anyone's thoughts on using the original screw caps that came off the screw bottles? Not using a capper, just cranking the original caps back on (after cleaning/sterilizing of course) New to brewing, looking for a cheap way to bottle my experiments.
 
I've got a bench capper and have not had any problems with twist bottles. I've bottled with mostly twists for a few years.
 
Well now I know why I broke two bottle necks capping my first batch...
Never considered the screw top vs pop top bottle being functionally different for re use.

Hmm, guess we will see what happens over the next few weeks
 
Well now I know why I broke two bottle necks capping my first batch...
Never considered the screw top vs pop top bottle being functionally different for re use.

Hmm, guess we will see what happens over the next few weeks



Search some more, its well known twist tops are thinner glass not designed to be reused. Some people still try to reuse them with some luck but then again even the sun shines on a dogs rump from time to time.
 
neo71665 said:
Search some more, its well known twist tops are thinner glass not designed to be reused. Some people still try to reuse them with some luck but then again even the sun shines on a dogs rump from time to time.

The twist offs i use are thinner than pop tops, but have been working fine for countless batches with a bench capper. Ive never broke a bottle this way and have always sealed properly.
 
Based on what I've read I'm gonna give it a shot. Brewed a honey oat amber ale recently and i gotta use some screw cap bottles. Gotta have some roast beers for the warmer months; I love em too much to make them seasonal.
 
Just to be sure, there are not special caps for this... everyone is talking about using regular crown caps squeezed onto bottles designed for (screwing regular) caps (off when opening)?

?
 
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