How to crown cap an E-Z Cap Bottle?!?

Is there a secret to getting the crown cap on the 500 ml E-Z Cap bottles that are supposed to accept a crown cap? My red baron-style capper can't get all the way down the tall, wide mouth of the bottle. It's the same whether I use the 29 or 26 mm insert that came with the capper.

Do you need to use a bench capper with these bottles? What gives?



EDIT: my beat-up black beauty capper fares a little bit better, still not great. Ironic, since I came very close to getting rid of that thing. Does anybody have tips for getting crown caps on these easily?

Are you sure they are supposed to accept crowns? I just tried 2 crowns on my bottles (same as yours) with my Super Agata bench capper and both failed with the standard 26mm bell. First one crimped the crown but it didn't seal on the lip. The second one barely sealed on the lip, but I was able to easily flick the crown off, so it wasn't sealed. If they are definitely supposed to accept crowns (I really don't know), I would try 29mm.

BrewThruYou said:

Are you sure they are supposed to accept crowns? I just tried 2 crowns on my bottles (same as yours) with my Super Agata bench capper and both failed with the standard 26mm bell. First one crimped the crown but it didn't seal on the lip. The second one barely sealed on the lip, but I was able to easily flick the crown off, so it wasn't sealed. If they are definitely supposed to accept crowns (I really don't know), I would try 29mm.

Click to expand...

Thanks for trying, BTY. If you look at the E-Z Cap ad in BYO, it shows an open bottle with a crown cap and church key sitting next to it. The text in the ad reads, "A castle... A throne... A crown... What more could a king desire? With the new dual finish bottle from E.Z. Cap, you can have it all." Am I crazy for reading that as a claim that the bottles will accept crown caps?

On the subject of 29 mm caps, I was heat sanitizing some DuPont 29 mm bottles and Sierra Nevada style 26 mm bottles last night, and compared the E.Z. Cap bottle to both. If it accepts a crown, it's definitely 26 mm.

I'm actually 90% confident with the seal I got practicing with my black beauty. I'll probably go ahead and crown cap these--carefully. But if any others have had reliable success with this, it would help me to know that.

Sorry, scratch what I said previously - user error. I was able to cap them on my bench capper and they went on pretty easily. Standard 26mm crown.

BrewThruYou said:

Sorry, scratch what I said previously - user error. I was able to cap them on my bench capper and they went on pretty easily. Standard 26mm crown.

Click to expand...

Good to know, BTY. Thanks again for your help with this. Now, to see if I can track down a bench capper...

They're pretty useful if you can set up a bottling station. Mine's just screwed down into a plywood tabletop which is screwed into 2x4 which rests in some sawhorse grooves.

tonyolympia said:

Good to know, BTY. Thanks again for your help with this. Now, to see if I can track down a bench capper...

Click to expand...

Bench cappers are great. I keg and have a huge supply of flip tops, but I'd never part with the bench capper.