Thoughts on getting a Bench Capper?

I have never bottled in glass bottles but am going to start now that I have my 5 gallon kit. It came with a black beauty capper but I was thinking of getting a bench capper. What are your thoughts on bench cappers? Are they worth it? Does it save a lot of time and effort or not so much? I am on the fence about getting one but am buying some stuff tomorrow at Midwest and can include that in the flat shipping so now would be a good time to get it if I got one. Just don't know if I really need it.

What are your thoughts?

I haven't had a single issue with my two-lever style. I think a bench capper would probably be easier (and maybe marginally faster), but personally it is not worth any more money. If my capper breaks, I may try that next, but I can't justify getting rid of something that has never caused me a problem.

I really like my bench capper. I have a system where the bottling bucket sits of the counter over the dishwasher door to catch the spills. I mounted the bench capper to a piece of wood to keep it very stable. Glad I bought it. Which one where you considering buying?

msa8967 said:

I really like my bench capper. I have a system where the bottling bucket sits of the counter over the dishwasher door to catch the spills. I mounted the bench capper to a piece of wood to keep it very stable. Glad I bought it. Which one where you considering buying?

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I am thinking of getting this one: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/bench-bottle-capper.html

Which one do you have?

Save your money and use the two lever capper. Then spring for kegging and save yourself the time.

I spent the extra $5 to get this one: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/super-agata-bench-capper.html

I like it better since I use different sizes of bottles (especially tall ones) and this is easy to adjust. My reason for going with the bench capper was to limit how ofen I would get up and then crouch again during the brewing process. I have a bad knee so being able to do most everything from one seated position made bottling easier to do. I keg now but I also bottle much of my beer to give away to friends. I justified the expense by learning to wash and reuse my yeast. this saved me $6-7 per batch.

If you re going to continue to bottle...yes a bench capper is worth the investment IMO. I bought one.. then the wife got me a floor corker with a capper attachment( VERY nice) Then I started kegging.

Yeah I really can't see myself kegging anytime soon if ever at all.

BonzoAPD said:

Yeah I really can't see myself kegging anytime soon if ever at all.

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Me either, after a year and a half of brewing....

I vote for the super agata. It is very easy to adjust on the fly for different height bottles. My normal routine is to cap about 23-24 bottles for a normal 5 gallon batch.

About 12 or so quarts, about 6 bombers, and the rest 12oz bottles. That way, I can try the 12 oz bottles when deciding if it's conditioned and carbed up. Don't have to waste a full 32 oz's of beer if it's still green.

And... who really ever drinks just one beer? Anytime I crack open a beer, it's usually at least a couple o' pints = 1 quart. Get it?

I have the colona bottle capper/corker.Been pretty happy with it.

If you have never even used your current capper yet, there is no way I would spring for a new one. Try what you have out for a couple batches and see for yourself whether you think a bench model would save you time, make it easier etc.

IMO - capping is really the quickest part of bottling. It might take 5 seconds a bottle once they are filled. The real time killer is cleaning and sanitizing all the bottles.

I ended up buying the bench capper because the wing capper would not work on bottles with thin necks.

Something that never gets mentioned: How screwed are you if you break your wing capper in the middle of bottling? I like a backup, so when groupon had the midwest beginner deal, I got a spare of everything, including capper.

So, with that in mind, getting something different as well as having a backup is smart IMO. Especially if it helps your back. I will have to do a pictorial of my bottling process. It works pretty nice, and with my wife helping, very little up and down.

BonzoAPD said:

I am thinking of getting this one: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/bench-bottle-capper.html

Which one do you have?

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I have this one and it's great IMO. The black button on the side adjusts that height, but it helps if you're bottling a batch of about the same height or if you sort them by height before capping. I've capped about 500 bottles after owning it for a few years with this with not a single broken bottle or broken capper. It's also mounted to a small piece of plywood to help with stability.

After watching bench capper videos on utube, they look cheap and flimsy. I bought a vintage, all metal bench capper off ebay. Works great and will last forever. This one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bottle-CAPP...aultDomain_0&hash=item27cc292140#ht_142wt_864

I use the Colonna for capping and corking. Haven't had a problem yet. The bottle adjustment takes a few seconds so it is easier to cap all same size bottles or have them grouped by size in advance. No problems at all and I'm glad I got something heavy and stable instead of a wing capper.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_356_291_357&products_id=12012

I have the one you linked to (with the black push-button for height adjustment). It's easy enough to adjust that way, so I don't regret not springing for the quick-adjusting one.

When I first got mine, I thought it was annoying that it tended to lean way out when pushing down on the cap. It looked like it was going to break, and bottles would sometimes get stuck in it. I put up with it for a couple batches, then got fed up and investigated more closely. I found that the cap fixture had been cross-threaded when it was attached, so it was not on straight. I carefully reattached it and now it's perfect.

I've not tried the hand-capper style, but I am pretty happy that I went with the bench capper. It's not enough of a price difference to be a big deal, and I like being able to hold the bottle with one hand to be sure I don't tip it over.

I have a cheapy red one and it has worked fine for the 110 measly bottles I've done. I have busted 2 bottles with it though. One was the very first one I did, and the second was because I'm just a beast of a man :fro:

lou2row said:

Something that never gets mentioned: How screwed are you if you break your wing capper in the middle of bottling? I like a backup, so when groupon had the midwest beginner deal, I got a spare of everything, including capper.

So, with that in mind, getting something different as well as having a backup is smart IMO. Especially if it helps your back. I will have to do a pictorial of my bottling process. It works pretty nice, and with my wife helping, very little up and down.

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That is what I am afraid of. Plus I am worried about breaking bottles. I have a 1 & 1/2 year old and don't want broken glass for her to step on or pick up since as you know when glass shatters it gets everywhere. From what I have read bench cappers are much better at not breaking bottles correct?

Will this fit on the Super Agata?

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/review/product/list/id/3385/


And do Heinekin Bottles us 29mm caps?

^

How are you guys breaking bottles using cappers? I've bottled hundreds without 1 break, don't apply so much pressure........Sheesh.........

dstranger99 said:

^

How are you guys breaking bottles using cappers? I've bottled hundreds without 1 break, don't apply so much pressure........Sheesh.........

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I have broken a few....I do not apply much pressure.. and I went a LONG time and many batches before breaking one. I like the bench capper way better and the floor corker with attachment even better still.

Or you could just set the caps on and give them a good whack with a rubber mallet, we no need no stinking bottle capper

I ended up getting a bench capper from a friend and never used it until I went to bottle my pumpkin ale last month. I had emptied a bunch of Wychwood King Goblins for their unique bottle (as if you need a reason to empty a few King Goblins) and had full bottles when i discovered that the wing capper didn't work. Some bottles just need the bench capper. I still use both but +1 to having a backup.

Ok I think I am going to buy one tonight. Is the super agata worth the extra $5?

I just found this.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/reviews/agata-super-agata-bench-capper.html

It may help. This is the model I got from my friend and it worked well. Getting it set for multiple heights was a little bit of a pain but not bad.

Also before bottle day if you get the bench capper you can grab some of your different sized bottles and draw a line on the pole to mark where you need to adjust the capper to.

I have to put a word in for the black beauty you already have, I have the same one and it is very easy to use. I for one can't imagine any need to waste money on anything else.
I fill all of my bottles and place caps on them loosely, i then crimp them all at the same time.

BadBeagleBrew said:

Also before bottle day if you get the bench capper you can grab some of your different sized bottles and draw a line on the pole to mark where you need to adjust the capper to.

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When I jump from one size bottle to the next, I just set the filled beer down on the bottom and slide the capper doohickey down until it is resting on the top of the bottle. Then I pull the handle and it works itself up into the correct notch. I have 3 or 4 different bottle sizes, so I would probably spend more time trying to figure out which line was which bottle.

I do try to group the bottles by style just to minimize the height changes, but it's so minor that I don't worry much about it. (I bottle in groups of 6, rotating between prepping bottles, filling, and capping, so there's a fair bit of overhead. People who do larger runs of capping may be more annoyed breaking up the flow.)

The 29mm caps are common in champagne style bottles, mostly the rarer bomber import bottles. I have a 29mm setup and I rarely use it. I'd recommend standardizing on regular caps unless you have a good supply of 29mm bottles.

As for me, I used a hand-style capper that I got free for my first few batches and it worked fine. Eventually I decided to pursue the Super Agata bench capper and love it. However, if you're going to cap several different bottle sizes, the hand style is far more convenient since you have to adjust the bench style for each different style of bottle. It just disrupts the flow a bit. I usually do some 12oz for sampling and the rest in bombers and that's about all the adjustment I would want. More than that and whatever time it saves you, you'll spend adjusting the capper.

menerdari said:

I have to put a word in for the black beauty you already have, I have the same one and it is very easy to use. I for one can't imagine any need to waste money on anything else.
I fill all of my bottles and place caps on them loosely, i then crimp them all at the same time.

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I second that, makes the bottling a breeze.

Super Agata for the win!

I'm slowly moving away from 16oz swing tops and couldn't have been happier with this product.

I pulled the trigger and bought the Super Agata last night.

I was completely happy with my red plastic Capper until last night. I was bottling with some new bottles, a lot of off the wall German bottles from my uncle's German club, there were 3 i just couldn't bottle, and 7 others that took a few tries to get the cap on straight. I almost broke a couple just from the Capper slipping of and the bottle tipping over.

It's on my list now, one that i can change over to a corker for wine as well.

BonzoAPD said:

I pulled the trigger and bought the Super Agata last night.

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You won't regret it. You might have been happy without it, but I don't think you'll be disappointed with it.

I use a both, a wing and bench capper. I use my wing capper 99% of the time. I picked this old beauty up at a flea market for $10. I decided what the hell, I could use it. I have several Hobgoblin bottles that you really can't cap with a wing capper. So comes in handy when I use them. I'm always scared though using it, I feel like I'm going to crush the bottle while trying to cap with it haha

I think it is a good purchase, especially if you will be using recycled bottles and many different bottles.
I first had the red wing capper and was quite happy with it. But I got a lot of bottles from someone that I could not cap with it.
My LHBS actually let me trade my wing capper in for a bench capper, the self-adjusting one. Works really well, just gotta remember to put some lube in the bell part every once in a while, otherwise bottles will stick in there.