My flip-top bottles aren't full sealing... Help!

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Wahoo Wheat

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I bought a case of flip-top bottles from LHBS, and after my second batch bottled, i've determined that they must not be sealing consistently. i.e. some bottles are carbonated and others aren't. The gaskets are fine, so it must be a problem with the tops not sealing tight enough. Any ideas on how to remedy this?? Also, if I do remedy it and am able to get the tops to seal tighter, will my brew be alright if I add the appropriate carbonation tab to re-carb??? Any ideas would be appreciated.....

Thanks
 
Could it be that when you added the priming sugar, that you didnt mix it thoroughly and that is whats causing some bottles to be carbonated and others not?
 
I agree with brewtOOl, first test the seals.


I have always had trouble with the flip-top bottles that have a plastic stopper that I got from my LBS. Despite changing the seals (I tried both rubber/neoprene) and adjusting the sealing pressure (bending the wire assemble appropriately).

Since then, the only flip-tops I use are the Grolsch and Schwelmer commerial brew flip-tops. Both have a ceramic stopper and seal correctly everytime. Just my experience.
 
I've heard stories about such bottle tops where the hole was drilled too large, resulting in bad seals (i.e., the clamp doesn't hold the lid tight). That might be your problem, but as the others said, you need to test the seal first to see if it's an equipment failure or user failure.


TL
 
I have noticed that the rubber gasket on Grolsh bottles is much more form fitting. the new gaskeks from LHBS are thinner and not good on the fit. I have yet to try this but I intend to boil an appropriate amount of new gaskets in water ( or at least get them hot ) and then while very hot put them on the bottle, clame them down and allow this "memory" to form.

is this a good idea?
 
Dr Vorlauf said:
I have noticed that the rubber gasket on Grolsh bottles is much more form fitting. the new gaskeks from LHBS are thinner and not good on the fit. I have yet to try this but I intend to boil an appropriate amount of new gaskets in water ( or at least get them hot ) and then while very hot put them on the bottle, clame them down and allow this "memory" to form.

is this a good idea?

Get em from Keystone?

I bought my replacements from there and haven't had a problem them on my swing tops (Fischer, EzCap and some generics)....also re-use them until the wear out.
 
Hey Everyone,

thanks for the responses! I have ruled out user error because I bottled 6 of the beers in normal 12 oz bottles (as a test sample) and used the standard cap and capper. All 6 of these beers have been consumed, and all had perfect carbonation. So, when these 6 were finished, I moved onto the flip-top bottles. The first one I opened was fine. The second and third ones were completely flat. This is exactly what happened on my first batch (which was bottled entirely in flip-tops) where 1 out of 3 were carbonated. I have had my suspicions since first bottling as well, b/c the tops don't seem to clamp down that tight when I seal them.......

Any thoughts as to how to save my precious brew? I don't really want to discard it as the flavor is fantastic, and I'd rather not have to wait another 6 weeks for my next batch to be ready!

Also, they have been in the bottles for over 3 weeks.... So, it's not an issue of opening prematurely.

thanks,

RC
 
You can always put the beer into different bottles and add carb tabs, just make sure you transfer the yeast on the bottom of the bottle when you do it.
 
Off hand, I can't think of any way to do it without at least introducing some oxygen. Maybe someone else will have an idea. If it were me, I'd probably just swirl the bottle to get the yeast into suspension, then CAREFULLY pour it with the second bottle tipped so that there's no splashing.
 
brewt00l said:
Get em from Keystone?

I bought my replacements from there and haven't had a problem them on my swing tops (Fischer, EzCap and some generics)....also re-use them until the wear out.


Yes I got them from Keystone. Good to know that they will fit properly as is!
 
I had that problem, bottled a 5 gallon batch with 12 flip tops and the rest standard bottles, and 4 of the flip tops were completely flat while the standard bottles were all just fine. They were from my lhbs, but I haven't used flip to since.
 
I use a mix, crown caps and flip tops. The flip tops are Grolsch bottles slowly accumulated over a number of years. Some are at least ten years old. One thing I do, is to ensure that when bottling, the sealing ring between the stopper and the bottle is setting square over the bottle opening.

Some bottles do end up flat though. I simply flip the gasket around on the stopper before I rinse the bottle.

I use the Grolsch bottles almost exclusively for stouts, although I have used them for many other styles. They represent about 50% of my bottle collection. The rest are a mish mash of glass bottles collected from different brews. I do not use plastic.

Umm... I'd be careful about boiling rubber seals. If you do any canning, one of the instructions is to not boil the rubber lined lids. This can degrade and soften the rubber to the point of messing up the seal.

One last thing...freshly sterilized bottles, poorly rinsed and still wet from the sterilizing medium may have an effect?

Crown caps are a lock though. I use them.
 
Wahoo Wheat said:
I bought a case of flip-top bottles from LHBS, and after my second batch bottled, i've determined that they must not be sealing consistently. i.e. some bottles are carbonated and others aren't. The gaskets are fine, so it must be a problem with the tops not sealing tight enough. Any ideas on how to remedy this?? Also, if I do remedy it and am able to get the tops to seal tighter, will my brew be alright if I add the appropriate carbonation tab to re-carb??? Any ideas would be appreciated.....

Thanks

I've never done this myself but after you are sure that it's a sealing problem, try stretching a small balloon over the top of each bottle next time. The leaky ones should become apparent if the balloons begin to inflate.
 
I suspect that my flip top bottles are doing the same thing. They are 500ml, cobalt blue ones that I have just recently purchased. This is my first batch in them. I've only opened one so far and I'm not sure when the next time I will get to open another one (taking morphine and I certainly want to live awhile longer so I can brew more beer to enjoy).
I had bottled using two caped bottles to finish off the bottling session and consumed those first. They were carbonated. Then the last bottle I opened, my first swing top, and it was completely flat. Very surprising, I had to stop and imediately think back to, "did I just hear nothing" and "where did the sound go?"

I was thinking you could throw carb. tablet into each bottle and close back up without transfering to anything else right? Wouldn't that cut down on the possibility of oxygenation?
 
For my first batch, I used a combination of plastic soda bottles and Grolsch bottles. All the plastic ones turned out perfectly fine (even if it is weird to pour a beer out of something that says "Vanilla Pepsi" on it), whereas half of the Grolsch ones were infected with some nasty-tasting gusher bug. All bottles, caps and seals were sanitized in One-Step.

The next day, I ordered a bench capper and am switching to regular glass bottles. Flip tops are convenient, but from my (limited) experience and from what I have read, they are hit-and-miss in terms of quality.
 
nduetime said:
I suspect that my flip top bottles are doing the same thing. They are 500ml, cobalt blue ones that I have just recently purchased.


I was thinking you could throw carb. tablet into each bottle and close back up without transfering to anything else right? Wouldn't that cut down on the possibility of oxygenation?

those are the same bottles that I have.

I am going to carb tab the ones that are flat, after I determine which ones are leaking. I also like the idea of adding a second rubber gasket to ensure a full seal. thanks for all the responses guys. I'm glad to hear that I am not the only one who has problems.....

RC
 
Wahoo Wheat said:
Hey Everyone,

thanks for the responses! I have ruled out user error because I bottled 6 of the beers in normal 12 oz bottles (as a test sample) and used the standard cap and capper. All 6 of these beers have been consumed, and all had perfect carbonation. So, when these 6 were finished, I moved onto the flip-top bottles. The first one I opened was fine. The second and third ones were completely flat. This is exactly what happened on my first batch (which was bottled entirely in flip-tops) where 1 out of 3 were carbonated. I have had my suspicions since first bottling as well, b/c the tops don't seem to clamp down that tight when I seal them.......

Any thoughts as to how to save my precious brew? I don't really want to discard it as the flavor is fantastic, and I'd rather not have to wait another 6 weeks for my next batch to be ready!

Also, they have been in the bottles for over 3 weeks.... So, it's not an issue of opening prematurely.

thanks,

RC

I bought 3 cases of 16oz amber flip-tops and out of a batch, I had MAYBE 6 good ones..Just to see it wasn't me not sealing them right, I used a couple for the next batch and had the same problem..Every batch I've done with caps came out great..It sucks because i'd rather use the flip tops..I know people swear by them. I'm not having any luck and probably won't use them again..
 
Just another case in point that the more you search on homebrewtalk.com the more likely you are to find someone else with the same problems that you have...I was just thinking the same thing about my Holiday Brown Bear. I haven't cracked any of the 12's yet, but all of my Grolsch bottles that I have cracked have had little pop and absolutely no carbonation or head. Again, not a problem with prematurely opening bottles as they have also been in for 3 weeks, and the temperature in my cellar are pretty steady at 68 due to my miraculous little ceramic heater. Will be watching this post with interest...I would hate to have to stop bottling in my Grolsch bottles...
 
balto charlie said:
good idea, a condom might fit better:D

But then if you did have a poor seal the condom would inflate....and that would just look funny! You would have to rename the whole batch "Dick Beer"


On topic though, I had similar problems with my fliptops from the LHBS. I havent figured out how many were lost, but the first one definatly was. Personally though, its not really a "loss" you still have good beer, just not carbonated.
 
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