solution for capping euro neck bottles

Yes, I'm too cheap to buy a $25 bench capper (that'd buy ten gallons of beer!) to cap the smaller necked european bottles. Since my roommate has been drinking a lot of Tucher wheat beer and giving me the bottles (On a side note, that beer seemed quite awful when I tried it - is it very representative of wheat beer?). Well, I considered wrapping some tinfoil around the neck of the bottles - it works. But and even easier solution is to wrap some tinfoil around the metal edges of the butterfly capper where it comes together to grip the neck. This method works just fine and now I don't need to buy another larger, more expensive capper. I know it doesn't seem like much but I thought I'd share. It's the small victories in life....

Happy brewing

Good to know.

Can you tell the one's that are going to be a problem just by looking at them?

Well the Tucher bottles are definately different from those my HBS sold me. For one they're smaller at 11.2 oz. The neck doesn't really appear to be narrower but the lip/tang that the wing capper clamps onto is very clearly different - it is just plain smaller. If y'all are really interested I could take some photos of the bottles side by side but I don't know how to post the pics. I think American bottles are generally compatible while European imports are narrower. Of course I don't know about Mexican beer - does anyone know if Dos Equis or Corona have the narrower neck?

There's nothing wrong with Tucher beer or their bottles.

First, I'd like to suggest that you got some old beer.

Second, I've never had any trouble capping their bottles with just a regular butterfly capper. I have cases of their bottles that I've reused a lot.

I'm not stating this to get you angry, and I'm doing my best to not be myself, but the problem has to be something else...

homebrewer_99 said:

I'm not stating this to get you angry, and I'm doing my best to not be myself, but the problem has to be something else...

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And a fine job you be doing there HB

Well my roomate likes it a lot.. I may have to give it another try.. it just had an odd sort of tang that just didn't seem right in a beer. Of course I drank the last couple sips out of a bottle (he fills a glass) so I probably got the yeast/dregs and whatnot and that probably didn't help the taste. Or wheat beer may just rub me the wrong way.. I've learned to each his own seeing as how I'm the only one in my group of friends that worships the creamy goodness that is guiness fresh off the tap.

Anyhow that picture of the heiny bottle is exactly what I'm talking about, the Tucher bottles are just the same.. the lip on the neck is not as tall (obvious) and does not appear to be as wide since my butterfly capper slips over the lip almost everytime I apply downward force to the capper. This is why I put foil (maybe a hose split down the middle would work better) on the capper.. it fits the narrower neck better.

If your wing capper isn't having any issues with Tucher bottles then I envy you.. you probably got a better unit than the cheapie I got from my HBS or maybe you just lucked out. I wouldn't argue though that it's a non issue with those bottles because many people are also having issues capping european bottles with wing cappers. There's a fair bit on the internet about the smaller Euro neck and my HBS guy confirmed it aswell.. this certainly does not make it fact but I am inclined to believe it having heard it from someone I know is quite a bit more knowleable than I.

And don't worry, I'm not insulted, angry, or anything else - I hope you won't be either after reading this post.

Edit: I read over the other thread currently discussing this topic and someone pointed out that the metal part that forms the ring that grips the neck is reversible.. I'll be damned if he isn't correct. BTW mine is reddish orange just like the one in the pic posted in the other thread. However, the other side appears to be 29 mm.. larger than the 26 mm size that slips over the neck of my bottles... neat though. Now if I can just figure out how to change the plates around...

Lost said:

Now if I can just figure out how to change the plates around...

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I used a flat head screw driver to push it out from the back of the plate (the side where the handle is)

Lost said:

it just had an odd sort of tang that just didn't seem right in a beer. Of course I drank the last couple sips out of a bottle (he fills a glass) so I probably got the yeast/dregs and whatnot and that probably didn't help the taste. Or wheat beer may just rub me the wrong way.

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Great. You know you should never drink HW out of a bottle...especially just the yeast without any beer mixed in.

And yes, HW does take some getting use to for a lot of people. Americans are too used to rice (Bud) and corn (Miller) beers.

Try to find a Julius Echter, Bamberger Weiss (from Maisel's Bamberg brewery) or a Brauhaus or Roth (Schweinfurt). These are a bit sweeter. Yes, there are bitter and sweet weizens.

I regularly cap both styles of bottle lip as posted by mrzud a few posts up. I thought that my capper wouldn't cap the ones on the right, but it does. I prefer the ones on the left though as they're slightly easier to cap.

Lost said:

Edit: I read over the other thread currently discussing this topic and someone pointed out that the metal part that forms the ring that grips the neck is reversible.. I'll be damned if he isn't correct. BTW mine is reddish orange just like the one in the pic posted in the other thread. However, the other side appears to be 29 mm.. larger than the 26 mm size that slips over the neck of my bottles... neat though. Now if I can just figure out how to change the plates around...

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Of course he's correct - he's a damn sound bloke !

You can either use a pair of pliers to pull the plates out or use a flat headed screwdriver to push them out from the other side.

The trick with capping the bottles with the smaller lip is to exert pressure to force the wings of the capper into the bottleneck and then once it has grabbed it, force the wings down to push the cap on.

It took me a bit of practice but once I'd sussed it out the method seems to work quite well.

HTH

80/-