Not sure if my bottles are capped right!

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Pandaren

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Finished my hard cider about 3 weeks ago and i'm about to bottle my first beer. But I'm worried that my capper is working right! I'm using used non-twist-off bottles and new caps (gaskets are good). I noticed on some of the bottles from my cider, there is a distinct indention on the cap on the inside after I cap it, and some that don't have that. The ones that do tend to hiss more when I open 'em. I'm using a handhelp capper. Made sure my priming solution was distributed evenly before bottling, stored on top of my kitchen cupboards-in dark and even heating.

I guess my main question is: what exactly should the caps look like to make sure they aren't leaking? Is it normal not to have the indention on the inside of the caps?

Thx in advanced!
Cheers!:mug:
 
Yes; I have noticed that too. It seems to vary by bottle brand....

Looks like a small depressed "o" in the middle of the cap?
 
that indentation is from the magnet post holding the cap on.

if you look at your capper, inside the mechanism you will see a brass bell, then inside that bell there will be the magnet.

How hard you're pressing down on the capper will determine if you see that indentation or not.

There's some posters here that have stated if you're seeing that indent you are pressing too hard and can actually break the bottles while capping.

All the capper does is press that bell down over the cap to wrap the ribbed edge over the bottle lip. If its done that, then the bottle is capped.

Personally I find that indent ugly, with a bit of practice you can get the caps on without that. Or you can just get a bench capper and do the same thing =P
 
My butterfly capper has a release plunger. As you pull the handles back up, the plunger comes down and pushes on the cap to release the capper from the cap. This is what leaves the indent. I place the cap on my bottle, place a quarter over the cap, and then cap the bottle. No more dent.
 
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Sorry I can't help, I just have to comment on Altayres signature.

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I see the same thing with my capper. Dunno why it does or doesn't show up. Just turn the bottle upside down and see if it's leaking...
 
:off::off::off:

Sorry I can't help, I just have to comment on Altayres signature.

01001110 01101001 01100011 01100101
00100000 01110011 01101001 01100111
01101110 01100001 01110100 01110101
01110010 01100101 00100000 01000001
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01110010 01100101 00100001 00100001
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Nice signature Altayre!!!
 
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01001000 01100101 01111001 00101100
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that indentation is from the magnet post holding the cap on.

if you look at your capper, inside the mechanism you will see a brass bell, then inside that bell there will be the magnet.

How hard you're pressing down on the capper will determine if you see that indentation or not.

+1 to this. I have also noticed this, only when I push down extra hard on the capper. Haven't had any problems with my brew though.
 
Sweet! Thanks for the quick reply guys! Ya, most of my caps don't have the indention but some did. To test it, I took a dry bottle and capped it, then held it submerged in water for a couple minutes in my sun tea pitcher and watched for bubbles. No bubbles! Guess I was just worried that the gaskets weren't getting sealed against the bottles properly. :eek:
 
I've broken bottles before by capping too hard, usually my sign is if I see the indentation I'm capping too hard. The thing that sucks is it doesn't break then and there, usually the top of the bottle breaks off when cracking the bottle open to drink.
 
Sweet! Thanks for the quick reply guys! Ya, most of my caps don't have the indention but some did. To test it, I took a dry bottle and capped it, then held it submerged in water for a couple minutes in my sun tea pitcher and watched for bubbles. No bubbles! Guess I was just worried that the gaskets weren't getting sealed against the bottles properly. :eek:

This is your best test. The indent is from pushing harder than the non-indent neither is a massive problem except for potentially breaking a bottle as some have mentioned.
If in doubt about whether they're capped submerging them and looking for bubbles is simply way to tell. You could always compare a few bottles with indents and without to be really sure their isn't an issue.
 
Loving the signatures guys! More importantly, I like the quarter on the caps idea, genius! I to have see that. I knew a guy that did it on purpose, his signature I guess.
 
I am in the same camp, if I indented the cap I often cracked the necks of the New Belgium bottles I use... went to a bench capper now for when I need one but next batch of beer is going into 2 kegs!
 
Good thread, and some great info. When I bottle we use a bench capper; it usually leaves a dent from the magnet. Haven't broken a bottle yet, either during the capping process or trying to pop a top...I'll call myself lucky! :)
 
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