Euro bottles

My bro-in-law saved me a case of Harp bottles for my homebrew. I think it was a one-night stand, but I digress. Anyway, I scrubbed those bears down and stored 'em away.

I got 'em out tonight for bottling, and just out of curiousity, tried to slap a cap on one. Well, sheeeee-hit, the thing just spins on the bottle.

Are most European bottles a different size mouth, or am I screwing it up somehow? Can I get a different capper? Will the same caps work,or will I need different caps as well?

My in-laws were here for 6 weeks, and I just couldn't get the 3 or 4 hours I like to have for any beer activities. Well, I can drink on much less time, but brewing activities. I missed you guys.

Depending on what type of capper you have, you'll either need a whole new capper or a different sized bell.

Why does everything have to be different over in the US and in Europe? I'm stationed here in England, and everything is backwards... I miss the USA.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a different size. All the stuff we get on base is American imports (or exports depending on how you look at it), so the bottle size is the same.

While I've been traveling around though, they didn't seem all that different than regular US bottles.

Do you have the Red Baron capper?

Check your metal neck clamps to see if there is a second cresent moon on the back side of the one that currently grasps the neck. See picture. Notice the left side is smaller?

If you reverse them they'll grab the neck differently and allow you to clamp the caps.

Give it a try on a bottle filled with water and test the tightness of the cap.



I have about 20 cases of German bottles and all kinds of imports that I use.

Beodude123 said:

Why does everything have to be different over in the US and in Europe? I'm stationed here in England, and everything is backwards... I miss the USA.

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Beodude123, first thanks for your service. Second, I agree everything is backasswards. I tell that to my local friends, then they remind me their country came first. Damn.

Anyway, it looks like all the cool bottles I have saved won't work (or will be a pain) back in the States. Glad I saw this thread, it will save me packing those things home.

Turns out that my capper does have a reversible thingamajiggybob, so next time I bottle, I'll try it out. Thanks for the heads up. Only 'downside' is that the capper doesn't have the 'set-screw', and hafta be wrestled out with a pair of pliers. I have another capper, looks 'older', doesn't seem to work right on my usual bottles, maybe I'll try it as well, see if it's for euro bottles.

Again, thanks

You're welcome.

It doesn't matter if they're screwed in or not. I have another capper that has a little bump in the center that holds the plates in.

Either way you're pushing them "in" when using.