Bottle necks breaking!?!?

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WissahickonBrew

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I utilize a variety of bottles and handle them all the same regarding cleaning, storing and sanitizing. Last night when cracking open a few to taste our latest batch of Imperial IPA, I literally broke off 3 bottle necks in a row! I almost started to cry by the third one since again I had to dump the contents down the drain for fear of glass shards!

Has this happened to anyone else with any frequency? When popping the cap off, the whole neck breaks!

Thanks!
 
Sounds like old bottles, pre-bottle bombs, or both. If you've had a few over carbed beers in there, or wash them in the dishwasher the glass can fatigue over time.
 
If I had any bottles break with an IIPA in them, I would take it as a sign from the beer gods that it's time to step up to kegging. I feel your pain, man. Thinking about pouring out an imperial is making me want to cry.
 
I would be interested in hearing how you clean and sanitize along with what you use to bottle with. I believe there are a few threads stating that some of the cappers are breaking bottles
 
When the wing-type cappers get worn they can place an excessive amount of stress on the bottles. Some of the cheaper ones wear VERY quickly.
 
I would be interested in hearing how you clean and sanitize along with what you use to bottle with. I believe there are a few threads stating that some of the cappers are breaking bottles

I don't think my cleaning process is unusual but this is the general process: Soon after pouring brew out of a bottle they get a quick rinse and placed on the bottle rack to drain. When it's time to refill they get power rinsed with hot water using the inverted nozzle on the utility sink faucet, get immersed immediately in iodophor solution to soak a bit, then back to the drying rack.

We use a heavy plastic wing capper, but breakage during capping never happens!
 
I bet they cracked at capping. You have to watch that CLOSE!

Brew is too valuable.

SA and dos equis bottles (I know, I know "most interesting" blah blah blah) were the only ones I used after losing a few brews.
 
I asked about the sanitizing because I know some people use their oven to sanitize. I would worry about using a oven just because I worry :cross:

Going with Cheezy on this. I have read tons of threads where winged cappers cause problems. I got lucky and bought a nice benchtop capper right out of the gate and never have had a bottle break or fail.
 
I asked about the sanitizing because I know some people use their oven to sanitize. I would worry about using a oven just because I worry :cross:

Going with Cheezy on this. I have read tons of threads where winged cappers cause problems. I got lucky and bought a nice benchtop capper right out of the gate and never have had a bottle break or fail.

Maybe a different capper is the answer. Whats the model/name of the bench top capper you use?
 
Maybe a different capper is the answer. Whats the model/name of the bench top capper you use?

Not sure of the model but it is a grifo benchtop capper and it is green. From what I understand the wing capper grabs the bottle on the neck and pushes the cap on while the bench top type pushes the whole cap and body down.

I would think the wing capper would be faster but after reading some of the problems folks have had I think slower is better.
 
I got the super agata bench capper by Ferrari,the same ones that make the vinator & bottle tree. I wore out the bell on the Red Baron & did break a couple SN bottle necks with it.
 
I've used my Red Baron capper for over twenty batches of beer...and I've broken off a few necks! I find I need to be GENTLE when pulling the handles down, and DON'T pull them too tightly. Once I got that figured out, I haven't had any broken bottle necks in quite a few batches.

glenn514:mug:
 
I too broke one bottle on about my fourth batch using the Red Baron. After adjusting my technique, I've not broken one in about 20 batches. I'm considering that Ferrari myself.
 
I just replaced it because I've found that the bell on the Red Baron has stretched out just enough to not seal the caps real well. When the room would get really warm,I could smell sweetish malt.
 
If I had any bottles break with an IIPA in them, I would take it as a sign from the beer gods that it's time to step up to kegging. I feel your pain, man. Thinking about pouring out an imperial is making me want to cry.

Definitely this. Sounds like the beer gods are sending out the message of a new kegging setup.
 
I've used a red double handled capper now for 36 batches and have had no problems. I don't see any difference in it since the day I bought it. I suspect they can wear out but??
 

I'm now wary of the bottles with just a little thin ring below the top. They can crack easily with a wing capper. The glass on those seems to be thinner at the top as well.

Last weekend, I was bottling a 5-gallon batch of AG Milk Chocolate Stout. I used my best clean bottles first (the ones with the nice, thick collar below the top), but came up a few short and had to grab the ones with the little thin ring. I was being very careful with the wing capper, but it did no good. After cracking three and losing precious ounces of my stout, I gave up on those bottles and grabbed some decent ones out of the garage, de-labeled, cleaned and sanitized them quickly to finish the bottling session.

After cleaning up, I went through my entire bottle collection and tossed all of the thin ringed ones in the trash. I won't even bother de-labeling those anymore. Fortunately, for every batch I bottle, I keg three.
 
+1 on the wing capper comments. The bottles that have given me trouble are the light-weight glass bottles used by some breweries. New Belgium is one that comes to mind. Although I've never had one break at opening they sometimes break during bottling, especially when I've tried to use my wing capper.

Now I use an old bench-top capper that my dad used for bottling his beer back in the 1950's. Ugly as sin but still works great!

As far as using the oven goes, I sterilize my bottles in the oven and haven't had any problems with breakage. I do put them into the oven cold, preheat slowly and then allow them to cool naturally over several hours. I don't think that process adds any stresses to the glass. It may actually temper it a little.

2013 03-24 capper-2.jpg
 
Going against the trend here: anything wrong with your opener???

That's a good point. The first bottle was opened by myself with a standard hand bottle opener that's been used 1000 times. Second bottle I used a different opener. Third bottle I changed to a third different opener, and asked my grown son (actually he took the opener out of my hand fearing I was about to screw up another), and the same thing happened! We thought we were cursed! Fourth bottle was fine, and so forth...

I am leaning toward the wing capper might be the culprit. It does not seem to be adjustable, and the metal clips that seat under the glass bottle lip actually grab and squeeze the bottle, rather than just provide counter resistance for the crown to push the cap on.

I'm going on the internet to find the Ferarri bench capper for our next batch. I also ordered reconditioned cornies from kegerator.com.
 
I utilize a variety of bottles and handle them all the same regarding cleaning, storing and sanitizing. Last night when cracking open a few to taste our latest batch of Imperial IPA, I literally broke off 3 bottle necks in a row! I almost started to cry by the third one since again I had to dump the contents down the drain for fear of glass shards!

Has this happened to anyone else with any frequency? When popping the cap off, the whole neck breaks!

Thanks!

Gives a new meaning to "cracking open a beer" I guess :ban::mug:

Sorry, just had to.
 
I got the Ferrari Super Agata bench capper for $38 from midwest. Gotta grease the inside of the bell lightly,as instructions say. It keeps some capped bottles from sticking in the bell. But so far,no malt smells after using the bench capper...
 
I got the Ferrari Super Agata bench capper for $38 from midwest. Gotta grease the inside of the bell lightly,as instructions say. It keeps some capped bottles from sticking in the bell. But so far,no malt smells after using the bench capper...

Please update this thread once you've used it and decided if it has fixed the problem. I, for one, would be interested to know if it solves the problem for you.
 
Do you guys get dents in the top of your caps from the bench cappers? I've been using the colona (sp?) capper/corker and I'm afraid I might crush the bottles.
 
I don't get the dents with mine but I have seen plenty of dented caps here in the forum. I think you are fine.

My capper I lean on pretty hard when I cap and have never broke a bottle yet. I say that as I knock on wood :cross:
 
The dents are not an issue. Some cappers make them and some do not. I have the Colonna capper/corker and it makes those little circles on top. Not a big deal.
 
When we cap with the wing capper we give a little extra umph at the end in order to produce the indentation, thinking that was the assurance that a tight seal was achieved. That extra squeeze might be stressing the bottle neck, but then just the fact the neck is getting pinched below the cap might be enough to cause the weakness. Bench capper with just downward force sounds like the solution. Good to know the indentation in the cap is NOT necessary!
 
The dents are not an issue. Some cappers make them and some do not. I have the Colonna capper/corker and it makes those little circles on top. Not a big deal.

This.

I have the red wing capper that comes in NB's starter kits. Two of them.

No matter how hard I press down, I've never gotten a ring or dot.
 
I've broken a few bottles while capping, using the 'black beauty' wing capper. The trick is to just be gentle, and don't force it. I usually have to rotate bottles once or twice to get the capper to work smoothly.


The dents are not an issue. Some cappers make them and some do not. I have the Colonna capper/corker and it makes those little circles on top. Not a big deal.

LBussy, I've been seriously considering getting that capper/corker. How do you like it?
 
I've had newer Founder's bottles do this, are they normal longnecks or a different kind? Also, hold by the neck to uncap, not the base.
 
LBussy, I've been seriously considering getting that capper/corker. How do you like it?
I'm a kegger so take this FWIW:

It is new to me so I have not had a chance to wear it out. There are no instructions but possibly enough moving parts to need them.

For capping, it's a no-brainer. It is n excellent and very sturdy bench capper. It is large enough and the base is firm enough that securing it to a counter was not needed for the couple of six packs I have run through it. I capped both champagne bottles and beer bottle and it had no issues with either. It does leave those little dimples people seem to be so concerned about. I believe it's just an artifact of how the bells are made.

For corking I had some issues. I am NOT a wine maker so this may reasonably be attributed to me not having experience. It was relatively easy for me to get the ram off-center. Since the ram is smaller than the cork it leaves a small dimple as well that mostly goes away after about a week. Since it leaves the dimple a couple of my corks are "ugly" having been rammed off-center. There's probably some simple way to ensure this does not happen and I'll play with it some more. (if anyone has some hints here I am all ears) It does have a sort of tapered funnel thing that drops down on the bottle that I am guessing prevents this - and I am sure it is my ham-fisted operations preventing it from helping me.

All in all it is a BEEFY piece of equipment. The mechanical advantage is as good as any I have used. The adjustments available are more than I will ever need. I am pleased with the investment and I am looking forward to learning to use it better.
 
I had a bottle break on me as I opened it once, cut up three of my fingers something good. It was a New Belgium bottle. Needless to say, I don't use those bottles anymore, they use cheap glass.
If you want to avoid bottles breaking and want good, strong glass, get yourself some Sammy Smith's bottles. Those are the ****!
 
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