where is the "good bottle" list?

i know i saw a list on here that showed the bottles that worked with a wing capper and the ones that didnt....

id like to add two to the list
moosehead
anchor steam

and i want to know what bottles i need to collect....does someone have this bookmarked or sticky

Its in my signature....

awesome thank you!

Deschutes is may favorite. I think that hop vine makes it the perfect longneck.

Moosehead bottles are great becuase the labels come off extremely easy.

histo320 said:

Guinness bottles are great becuase the labels come off even extremelyer easy. Also, they are a cool shape.

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Fixed that for ya.

Most import's labels fall right off. Even Bud & Michelob's do. The worst tend to be the smaller micro brews.

I've caped two twist off bottles with my red caper by total accident and both ended up fine. I wouldn't risk a batch with them. I hate it when a good beer comes in a twist off.

What's the deal with Urquell?

Conroe said:

Most import's labels fall right off. Even Bud & Michelob's do. The worst tend to be the smaller micro brews.

I've caped two twist off bottles with my red caper by total accident and both ended up fine. I wouldn't risk a batch with them. I hate it when a good beer comes in a twist off.

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Like Legunitas'...

Goose Island: The best beer by far that comes in a stupid twist off bottle IMHO.

The foil on Samuel Smith bottles and the whole dang label on Black Dog just doesn't want to come off. I've stopped using those two, but everything else I've tried soaks right off in an Oxiclean bath.

Except, of course, Guinness. I think I could delabel, dewidget, clean, and sanitize a guinness bottle in 20 seconds.

Franziskaner has the foil too. I love Those Bavarian style bottles and their labels come right off but the foil on top is such a pain.

Also, there's this crappy lager from I want to say The Czech Republic or Slovakia called Golden Pheasant. The bottles are cheaper than buying them from a HBS. The beer is a little above a BMC but I always grab one or two (20 oz.) when I'm at the liquor store just for the bottles.

I had a six pack of Tractor Stout. It was nasty beer with labels glued with some freakishly nasty glue. I had to trash them because I never did get the scum of.

llazy_llama said:

Goose Island: The best beer by far that comes in a stupid twist off bottle IMHO.

The foil on Samuel Smith bottles and the whole dang label on Black Dog just doesn't want to come off. I've stopped using those two, but everything else I've tried soaks right off in an Oxiclean bath.

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Go with the 18.7 oz Sam Smith organic lager and organic ale bottles. No foil, and you get reasonably big, striking looking bottles that delabel easily:



I'm trying to put together enough of them for my Sunset IPA (traditional 1840s style IPA).

My goal is 12 complete (5 gallon) sets of 12-24oz bottles (longnecks in brown and green, Sierra stubbies, Grolsch, the big Sam Smiths, Anchor, Red Stripe, Guinness, brown swing-tops, Schneider/Erdinger 16.9 oz weizens, 22oz and 24oz bombers), plus a couple complete sets of Belgians and American champagnes. Then I'll start in on the odd stuff.

I'm lucky to find Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout and Taddy Porter up here in SD. Asking for organic beer is way out of the question given our limited distrobution.

But, if I ever do see it, I'll be sure to pick up a few.

llazy_llama said:

I'm lucky to find Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout and Taddy Porter up here in SD. Asking for organic beer is way out of the question given our limited distrobution.

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FWIWI Whole Foods is carrying them now, so if you have an organic food store around it's worth checking.

They look much cooler in person, sort of square shoulders compared to most bottles and the 18.7 oz size is bigger than an American pint but smaller than an Imperial pint--apparently it's a "Victorian pint". Whatever that means, it seems good for a traditional British-style beer.

Conroe said:

What's the deal with Urquell?

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I had trouble capping Urquell's with my wing capper as well as a bunch of other bottles (I hate that thing). A friend gave me an old bench capper that he had laying around in his barn. It's kind of cantankerous but, it's better than the wing capper. I haven't had a bottle yet, that I couldn't cap with it.
The labels come off Urquells easily but, there's a little clear label on it that I couldn't get off.

Why delabling them? I'm too lazy.. I usually clean them after I pour them into the glass and dry. Store...sanitize...bottle...
Of course, the bottles stay in the house....So no one will get confused with the original bottle label.

It'll be funny when you drink a Guinness and EdWort's Kolsch come out the other end.

OK... I'm lazy.

I don't see Blue Moon on that list...I have a bunch of those from the late 90s that work well (look like Sam Adams bottles to me).

I also like the 0.5L bottles from Tucher and Weihanstephaner (also not on that list) but the labels are a *****.

For the most part I don't know how easy/hard it is to remove labels because I almost never remove them.

I like these mostly because I don't like to cap they are very thick and are brown

SpanishCastleAle said:

I don't see Blue Moon on that list...I have a bunch of those from the late 90s that work well (look like Sam Adams bottles to me).

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Blue Moon's been in twist-offs for at least 5 years around here.

For the most part I don't know how easy/hard it is to remove labels because I almost never remove them.

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I soak my bottles in oxiclean for a couple of hours to clean them anyway, and that makes the labels float right off.

llazy_llama said:

The foil on Samuel Smith bottles and the whole dang label on Black Dog just doesn't want to come off. I've stopped using those two, but everything else I've tried soaks right off in an Oxiclean bath.

Except, of course, Guinness. I think I could delabel, dewidget, clean, and sanitize a guinness bottle in 20 seconds.

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+2 on hating foil bottles for re-using.
+1 on guiness bottles. They are great. They also have pretty sexy curves
I have mostly Sam Adams, Easy to de-label, and Sierra nevada (A PITA to de-label, but a cool shape bottle.

I also like Leffe Bottles for my Mead when I have it. Neat shape that lends well to the idea of the drink. Like a mini wine bottle.

Blue Moon's been in twist-offs for at least 5 years around here.

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Thanks. That's what 9 years of no brewing or hardly even drinking beer can do.

Most of these old Blue Moon bottles are not the Belgian White either...and that's all I see anymore.

New Belgium is my favorite 12 oz bottle because it is a very tough bottle and the label comes off easy. Widmer and Deschutes are good too though and between the 3, I am set.

I am not so picky on the 22 oz side though.

llazy_llama said:

Except, of course, Guinness. I think I could delabel, dewidget, clean, and sanitize a guinness bottle in 20 seconds.

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How do you de-widget? The guiness bottles with the plastic wrapper would be really nice to use, but I always assumed the widget is too hard to get out.

C4PNJ4ZZ said:

How do you de-widget? The guiness bottles with the plastic wrapper would be really nice to use, but I always assumed the widget is too hard to get out.

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I just de-widgeted my first ones last week. They are cake. Grab needle nose pliers, tilt rinsed Guinness bottle, grab widget and pull. They're barely wedge in there and slide out with no force.

Bass bottles look great but my wing capper has a hard time with them.

Pete's Wicked Ale - super hard to get labels off of. Also don't taste as good i remember from many years ago.

Also, what's up with Lagunita's? Great beer, disappointing bottles. $10/sixer, no keepers. boo!

Best surprise - Shock Top - i get these empties from the bar we frequent. Labels come off super easy, nice strong bottles. only drawback - the Michelob in raised lettering. not a problem.

Why is Heineken on the wiki list of bottles to be reused? They're GREEN!

Also, Penn Weizenbock has a nice big recappable bottle.

agroff383 said:

i know i saw a list on here that showed the bottles that worked with a wing capper and the ones that didnt....

id like to add two to the list
moosehead
anchor steam

and i want to know what bottles i need to collect....does someone have this bookmarked or sticky

Click to expand...

SkewedAle said:

Its in my signature....

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A list of pry-offs that don't work would be great! I found out the hard way a few weeks ago that Anchor Steam bottles are a no no. Broke three before I figured it was the bottle and not just me.

johntangus said:

Best surprise - Shock Top - i get these empties from the bar we frequent. Labels come off super easy, nice strong bottles. only drawback - the Michelob in raised lettering. not a problem.

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FYI: All the Michelob "craft," beers have pop tops. So far the only one I'm willing to drink is the Porter... maybe Amber Bock. I have heard the Marzen and Dunkel are okay, but nothing special.

humann_brewing said:

New Belgium is my favorite 12 oz bottle because it is a very tough bottle and the label comes off easy. Widmer and Deschutes are good too though and between the 3, I am set.

I am not so picky on the 22 oz side though.

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I had a bad experience with a New Belgium bottle exploding in my hands while capping. It just might have been because I dropped it first and it didn't break...

SkewedAle said:

I had a bad experience with a New Belgium bottle exploding in my hands while capping. It just might have been because I dropped it first and it didn't break...

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Yeah, that may have had something to do with it

I forgot to mention Redhook bottles are really good too.

I like Redhook, too. Really thick. Those labels are a huge PITA though unless you're soaking them in oxy clean over night.

humann_brewing said:

New Belgium is my favorite 12 oz bottle because it is a very tough bottle and the label comes off easy.

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I agree, with New Belgium bottles the labels almost come off without needing a soak, and I have noticed they are slightly shorter than other longnecks, and the mouths seem to be a bit wider too which makes a quicker easier pour. Their glue is easy to remove, and I have had no problems with capping them whatsoever.

On a side note I think NB has some freakin awesome beers especially the Abbey Ale MMM YUMMY!

BioBeing said:

A list of pry-offs that don't work would be great! I found out the hard way a few weeks ago that Anchor Steam bottles are a no no. Broke three before I figured it was the bottle and not just me.

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Anchor Steam bottles work great for me, with the wing capper (Red Baron) or the Colonna bench capper. Great-looking bottles, too.

The labels also float right off after no time. They're probably my favorite 12oz bottles.

Call me an *******, but why not end your woes and be able to use any bottle, twist-off or pry-off, by buying a 30$ bench capper? It's peanuts compared to the hassle and time you've got to devote to finding pry-offs with necks strong enough to withstand the butterfly capper. I've yet to find a bottle my bench capper won't seal, and I haven't broke one bottle neck with it.

Budweiser American Ale

The Absolute best I`ve Tried to Date.

I Have Never Had a Bad Beer From One Yet.

I Have 300 on Hand ,and still Looking for More.

Only Thing is the AB Logo in the Glass.

Chupacabras said:

Call me an *******, but why not end your woes and be able to use any bottle, twist-off or pry-off, by buying a 30$ bench capper? It's peanuts compared to the hassle and time you've got to devote to finding pry-offs with necks strong enough to withstand the butterfly capper. I've yet to find a bottle my bench capper won't seal, and I haven't broke one bottle neck with it.

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I used a wing capper exclusively (Red Baron, came with my kit).

I've collected batches of bottles based on what bottle I like, and I've capped a fair assortment of stuff: regular long necks (Flying Dog/Magic Hat/Sam Adams), green ones (Heineken/Beck's), Anchor Steam fluties, Guinness curvies, Red Stripe hand grenades, Sierra Nevada stubbies, Samuel Smith 18.7oz victorian pints, Schneider and Erdinger 500ml weiss curvies, Guinness 22oz bombers, Sierra 24oz big boys, 750ml champagne and cider bottles, whatever.

I've yet to find a bottle that takes a regular crown cap that the wing capper had any issue with.

I just picked up the Colonna capper/corker last week so I'd be able to cork up some Belgians and barleywines, but the wing capper never had a problem doing its job.

SumnerH said:

Anchor Steam bottles work great for me, with the wing capper (Red Baron) or the Colonna bench capper. Great-looking bottles, too.

The labels also float right off after no time. They're probably my favorite 12oz bottles.

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I bottled 10 gallons into about 100 different bottles, and the only ones that broke were 3 Anchor bottles. One Anchor one that did not break had foam coming through under the cap the next morning. Glad they work for you, but I wont be using them again!

Anchor Steam bottles seem to have the shorter bevel on top to make it harder to use with a wing-capper. Same with Bass. Although I've used both and never had an issue.

wendelgee2 said:

Why is Heineken on the wiki list of bottles to be reused? They're GREEN!

Also, Penn Weizenbock has a nice big recappable bottle.

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How does it matter unless you plan on leaving your beer in the sun or florescent light.