One bottle cap doesn't fit all?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

signpost

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
Messages
1,351
Reaction score
168
Location
Berkley
So, I was bottling a batch the other day (my Signpost Edge the Belgique). I put about half of the batch in bombers. I used a bunch of the Dogfish Head bottles (from My Antonia and others with that same bottle style) and I had one 750 mL bottle from La Chouffe (I tried it after finding out the yeast I used for this batch is the same yeast they use - Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes). I got going with filling the bottles. When I had the big bottles filled, I switched from filling to capping. The Dogfish Head bottles worked just fine. I knew they would, because I had used a couple of them before.

But then I tried capping the La Chouffe bottle. The top of the bottle was bigger than the cap. It just flat out didn't fit. I ended up gently pouring that bottle back into the bottling bucket. I had my wife tip the bucket to the side, so I could pour down the side of the bucket to avoid splashing. So, no worries about the bottling session. It went smoothly as I then put the rest of the batch in 11.2 oz bottles from Hacker Pschorr Octoberfest (from which the labels fell as if they were allergic to the hot water I soaked them in as I prepped for the bottling session).

Is there a different size bottle cap that would fit this bottle? Or does La Chouffe magically stretch out regular bottle caps to fit their bottles?

I distinctly remember it being a bottle cap and not a cork, and the pictures on their website confirm that.

Is there a way I can still use this bottle at some point?
 
Ah.

I must admit. I was hoping they did it magically. I mean, they do have the gnomes.
 
They are 29mm caps (as pdxal said) as opposed to the "normal" 26mm caps. You'll need a bigger bell for your capper to use them.
 
If you have the red baron or other bell capper you can buy the larger diameter bell for the Euro caps. That metal bell just unscrews and you screw the other metal bell back on.

It's kind of a PITA and I'm slowing giving away all my Euro cap bottles.
 
Back
Top