Re-use twist off caps?

Can a proper fit still be made with a capper by saving caps from twist off bottles? I know they aren't flayed like unused caps from LHBS, but with a capper can you make a good fit? I was thInking about pouring fresh sprite in a bottle, attempting to reuse a twist off cap and open it in a week to see if it was still carbonated. Anyone tried this before with positive or negative results? I'm big on recycling and these caps are trash unless I can reuse them. Thanks in advance! :fro:

Caps are dirt cheap, why would you even want to risk anything by trying to reuse what is probably the cheapest thing we use in brewing there is?

Revvy said:

Caps are dirt cheap, why would you even want to risk anything by trying to reuse what is probably the cheapest thing we use in brewing there is?

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Guess I should stop reusing my water than.........

I would be interested in this expirement because then this means that I could reuse those caps with those bottles... I have a lot friends that would be willing to donate twist off bottles and caps

Bottles are cheap too, I never understood why people have problems finding bottles. We have old bins full of thousands of bottles, even if we didn't I'm sure I could find a brewpub somewhere to donate them, or a dang recycle bin somewhere or something? I'm confused.

COLObrewer said:

Bottles are cheap too, I never understood why people have problems finding bottles. We have old bins full of thousands of bottles, even if we didn't I'm sure I could find a brewpub somewhere to donate them, or a dang recycle bin somewhere or something? I'm confused.

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my friends would wash them out, so they are clean. Bars and stuff will have crab going in them... just one more worry or step in the cleaning process

I've never tried recapping a used cap onto a bottle but I have tried twisting it back onto the bottle. I put some pop into the bottle and had it upside down for 5 minutes and gave it a shake too. No leaks!

Like everyone else, I wouldn't recommend doing this. In a pinch maybe but it's really not worth the risk.

I actually lucked out and found someone getting out of brewing beer who sold me 2100 bottle caps for $25!

Revvy said:

Caps are dirt cheap, why would you even want to risk anything by trying to reuse what is probably the cheapest thing we use in brewing there is?

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So is it plausible? And I stated the reason why, these caps are TRASH unless I find a way to reuse them.

brettwasbtd said:

I would be interested in this expirement because then this means that I could reuse those caps with those bottles... I have a lot friends that would be willing to donate twist off bottles and caps

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I would not advise re-using twist off bottles to put non-twist caps on, they do NOT create a proper seal and your alcohol will come out flat. However, if you are able to tighten it up enough I wonder if using twist off bottles and tops would be a good alternative! I've been having to recycle bottles because they're twist-off, it'd be awesome if I could just re-use them!

Go for it. Personally, never tried it and no interest. The question is why?? I'm with Revy on this one. Sometimes you can cut corners--but sometimes really not worth it. My opinion, of course.

Personally, I spring for the oxygen absorbing caps and consider those a worthwhile investment.

mr_bell said:

Go for it. Personally, never tried it and no interest. The question is why?? I'm with Revy on this one. Sometimes you can cut corners--but sometimes really not worth it. My opinion, of course.

Personally, I spring for the oxygen absorbing caps and consider those a worthwhile investment.

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Why does it seem like no-one is reading what is actually written? Maybe my phrasing was a bit off, so let me clarify; it's not about saving the 2.49 for a can of caps. It is about NOT throwing hundreds (possibly thousands) of things into the trash that can potentially be re-used. Yeah, we drink a lot. . .

COLObrewer said:

Bottles are cheap too, I never understood why people have problems finding bottles. We have old bins full of thousands of bottles, even if we didn't I'm sure I could find a brewpub somewhere to donate them, or a dang recycle bin somewhere or something? I'm confused.

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I am not sure where you live, but bottles are not that cheap down here. If you'd care to donate some, that'd be fantastic! :cross:

Pretty ridiculous, but for the same price of 12 amber bottles (empty) from LHBS I can buy a 12 pack of Sam Adams lager. Not the best beer, but I can reuse the bottles and also get a mini-buzz! What kinda sense does that make!?

AugustDerleth said:

Why does it seem like no-one is reading what is actually written? it's not about saving the 2.49 for a can of caps. It is about NOT throwing hundreds of things into the trash that can potentially be re-used.

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I guess I would put it a different way given your response. I don't think it's possible, however never tried it. I suppose, if one wanted to really find out, take a few bottles from your next batch and cap with the used twist offs, give them some time and do a comparison to the beer without the twist off caps.

Ok, I get it, re-use, recycle etc.

mr_bell said:

I guess I would put it a different way given your response. I don't think it's possible, however never tried it. I suppose, if one wanted to really find out, take a few bottles from your next batch and cap with the used twist offs, give them some time and do a comparison to the beer without the twist off caps.

Ok, I get it, re-use, recycle etc.

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I appreciate the responses, and your input. As originally posted I was considering trying it with carbonated water so as to not potentially waste brew, and was simply wondering if anyone had tried re-capping twist off caps during bottling, with positive or negative results. I suppose I'll just go ahead and try it with Sprite, and just figure it out on my own due to the fact it seems no-one has tried this before and many people find the idea ludicrous. Thanks.

The best way to obtain bottles when first starting out is to buy the beer with the pop offs. The cheapest is probably sam adams, but it wouldn't hurt to get some good craft beers and understand the different styles, figure out what you like and dislike, ect... Sure $8-12 is kind of steep for a 6 pack, but if you go to any local bar they'll sell you crap rice beer at what $2.50 a bottle. No thanks. You can always reuse the bottles, and its a small investment compared to the average price to do a 5gal extract batch of $45-$50. If they don,t work you could essentially end up dumping $50 down the drain.


Check craigs list also, I see people trying to get rid of bottles on there for free all the time.

Bit the bullet for the bottles, and dont risk the beer.

Good luck!

I sure as hell wouldn't do it. Even twist off bottle caps have pressure applied to them when cap them, so when you un cap them you are going to distort them. If you didn't have to apply some force to get them open, they're pretty soft metal as you know if you bend them with two finger out of boredom. It doesn't take a lot of force, so even the little bit to twist them of is going to spften/weaken the metal in some way. You really don't want to risk your beer to oxydation, undercarbonation or worse infection to something like that?

They were made to be used and discarded...otherwise don''t you think they'd be returnable items like bottles? i can almost guarantee that there is one brewer on this entire huge forum who's done it. Otherwise someone would have piped up by now.

Laminate your bar table with them, don't recap your beer.

Revvy said:

They were made to be used and discarded...otherwise don''t you think they'd be returnable items like bottles? i can almost guarantee that there is one brewer on this entire huge forum who's done it. Otherwise someone would have piped up by now.

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I assume you meant to say "there is not one", and that is just what I was wondering. I wanted to know, and so asked, if anyone has tried this and what their results were. I wasn't necessarily interested in what people thought about the idea, but more if someone had tried it and what they had found. I never thought I could be as successful as I currently am, but I still managed to get here. Sometimes the things that seem simple, or in some people's opinions even stupid end up being wonderful. Thanks for your input. :fro:

I use sprite bottles all the time I have some beer in several right now. I reuse the caps as well. They seam to work just fine for me. I like the little 12oz-ers.

barnyard said:

I use sprite bottles all the time I have some beer in several right now. I reuse the caps as well. They seam to work just fine for me. I like the little 12oz-ers.

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You are talking about PLASTIC bottles and PLASTIC caps. Not glass screwtop beer bottles. They are two entirely different animals. Those kind of screwtop bottles can be reused, caps and all. But they are quite different from a screw top bud light bottle.

I was talking about plastic bottles and plastic caps. The only glass sprite glass bottles I've seen have been from Mexico. I'm not sure why somebody would reuse a metal cap when you take them off you distort them (even on a twist top). If they did not distort you could not get them off. When you take the cap off something has to give either the cap or the bottle.

I saw a barn once with a wooden ramp leading to the door. Nailed to the ramp was bottle caps turned upside down so no one would slip on wet wood. There are probably lots of uses for bottle caps that don't involve bottling beer.

I was saving my beer caps to recap my clean and empty beer bottles so I wouldn't have to worry about spiders or dirt getting in them until I got a bunch of 20+ year old unused caps and now I just use those to store my bottles.

Butcher said:

I saw a barn once with a wooden ramp leading to the door. Nailed to the ramp was bottle caps turned upside down so no one would slip on wet wood. There are probably lots of uses for bottle caps that don't involve bottling beer.

I was saving my beer caps to recap my clean and empty beer bottles so I wouldn't have to worry about spiders or dirt getting in them until I got a bunch of 20+ year old unused caps and now I just use those to store my bottles.

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Hmm. I've been using foil. But I suppose even if the twist-off caps don't make a complete seal i could still use them as a replacement of the foil just to keep stuff out of my unused bottles.

AugustDerleth said:

Why does it seem like no-one is reading what is actually written? it's not about saving the 2.49 for a can of caps. It is about NOT throwing hundreds of things into the trash that can potentially be re-used.

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So put them in your recycling bins with the other ferrous and non-ferrous metals.



Where's the issue here?

I get what you're trying to do, but it's really kind of silly. You are creating the problem by throwing your old caps in the wrong bin. Want to solve the problem? Throw them away, but into the bin labeled 'Recycling', not the bin labeled 'Trash'.

Used caps are not going to provide a good, reliable seal, not even with a bench capper. So your "good" bottles are going to be hit and miss. Thus, in order to save sending a recyclable bottle cap to your recycling center where it can be recycled into more bottle caps, you're going to deliberately set yourself up to potentially waste the raw ingredients, time, effort and fossil-fuel energy on the brew.

That's throwing the baby out with the bathwater, no matter how you look at it.

Dude, buy fresh caps and enjoy your beer. Then salve your environmental conscience by recycling your bottle caps the conventional way, along with your pet-food tins and Guinness widget cans.

Better yet, get a keg setup for your homebrew. No bottling waste at all.

Cheers,

Bob

AugustDerleth said:

I am not sure where you live, but bottles are not that cheap down here. If you'd care to donate some to a lowly beginner brewer, that'd be fantastic! :cross:

Pretty ridiculous, but for the same price of 12 amber bottles (empty) from LHBS I can buy a 12 pack of Sam Adams lager. Not the best beer, but I can reuse the bottles and also get a mini-buzz! What kinda sense does that make!?

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Yea that's rediculous, All the bottles we have are saved from beer we drink, I have three boys in their twenties that live on the "ranch" so we can't brew enough to keep from buying beer.

If you'd like to pick them up, you can have them all. Or, if you want to pay for shipping, you can have them all, probably cost prohibitive but I don't know. We only bottle a 6 pack or so from every batch nowadays unless it is a bottle conditioned beer.:rockin:

Maybe we should start selling bottles if they cost that much?

Bob said:

So put them in your recycling bins with the other ferrous and non-ferrous metals.



Where's the issue here?

I get what you're trying to do, but it's really kind of silly. You are creating the problem by throwing your old caps in the wrong bin. Want to solve the problem? Throw them away, but into the bin labeled 'Recycling', not the bin labeled 'Trash'.


Better yet, get a keg setup for your homebrew. No bottling waste at all.

Cheers,

Bob

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That's an amazing idea, why didn't I think of...ohhh right. They don't accept caps, or else I wouldn't have even had a reason to begin this thread.

And I can give you my paypal information if you want to donate money to me so that I can begin kegging. Thanks!

COLObrewer: Oh mannn how I miss living on a "ranch." Well, it was deep in the woods so I guess not technically a ranch but I miss country-life. I'm going to assume from your name that you're in Colorado which is quite a trip for me! haha. I appreciate your kindness, and your generous offer though I think shipping and things would defeat the purpose. I've gotten on craigslist in an attempt to find cheap bottles and had a little bit of success. 50 wine bottles for $5 isn't too bad. :fro: thanks again COLO!

No offence, but if your concerned with recycling used bottle caps then I can't imangine what kind of anguish you must be under going through your daily activities. I'm all about recycling and being 'green'. I'm an environmental engineer and can honestly say that recycling bottle caps should be the least of your worries.

On another subject, what are you going to do with 50 wine bottles? Unless you plan on using champaigne corks & cages, their useless.

I used to recycle twist off bottles and caps when I made root beer back in high school. 25% of the time I had a bad seal and it was a major PITA getting those caps back on tight. I was only doing 12 bottle at a time and would end up with blister and cuts all over. I could never imagine doing 48 bottles like that.

I also had a handful of bottle bombs so I guess it is possible to get a good seal...

Zeward said:

I used to recycle twist off bottles and caps when I made root beer back in high school. 25% of the time I had a bad seal and it was a major PITA getting those caps back on tight. I was only doing 12 bottle at a time and would end up with blister and cuts all over. I could never imagine doing 48 bottles like that.

I also had a handful of bottle bombs so I guess it is possible to get a good seal...

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Rootbeer, that softdrink that is also an anti-personnel weapon.

AugustDerleth said:

. . . . I've gotten on craigslist in an attempt to find cheap bottles and had a little bit of success. 50 wine bottles for $5 isn't too bad. :fro: thanks again COLO!

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Craigslist is a great place for brewing stuff, also, yard sales, got 30 grolsch bottles from a yard sale for $20 last year. You might try some goodwill/salvation army/re-stores type places also.

Revvy: SKETCHY! hahaa. I was just about to make some root-beer for my girlfriend and it'd be kind of counter-productive trying to be nice, if I give her a six pack and a bottle explodes in her face. >_> heh.

COLO: Good suggestions! I shoulda thought of that. X_x and yeah, honestly put something up on craigslist in your area and I bet (eventually) some other homebrewer will contact you to buy those bottles! Charge him a quarter each or something. Heh.

AugustDerleth said:

I am not sure where you live, but bottles are not that cheap down here. If you'd care to donate some to a lowly beginner brewer, that'd be fantastic! :cross:

Pretty ridiculous, but for the same price of 12 amber bottles (empty) from LHBS I can buy a 12 pack of Sam Adams lager. Not the best beer, but I can reuse the bottles and also get a mini-buzz! What kinda sense does that make!?

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If you're really interested in being "green", roll up your sleeves and go through the recycling bins at an apartment a couple times a week. That would help out WAY more than reusing a few ounces of caps or buying new bottles (which is both expensive and wasteful), and you wouldn't be wasting good beer (or root beer) on a dodgy seal, either.

It is possible... I capped a twist top up by mistake a few batches ago. Made it all the way through my sanitation process! (don't know how I missed it! I even capped the sucker!!!)

Capped and held carb.... Plausible, YES... Recommended, NO! I think I just got lucky. Did the same thing Years ago when I was first starting, that one didn't hold a seal and was weakly carbed and a bit oxidized.

I apologize for being a ******. I should have thought about that. Around here, we don't even have to separate our metals. Ferrous and non-ferrous go in the same bin. If your local recycling won't take certain kinds of metals, all I can say is, "Wow." Sure you can't take 'em to someplace that will take 'em?

I still think trying to re-use crown caps is a terrible idea that you will regret.

Cheers,

Bob

AugustDerleth said:

I'm big on recycling and these caps are trash unless I can reuse them. Thanks in advance! :fro:

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Perhaps you could collect them, bring them to your local alum recycler, and use the money to buy proper caps.

starrfish said:

It is possible... I capped a twist top up by mistake a few batches ago. Made it all the way through my sanitation process! (don't know how I missed it! I even capped the sucker!!!)

Capped and held carb.... Plausible, YES... Recommended, NO! I think I just got lucky. Did the same thing Years ago when I was first starting, that one didn't hold a seal and was weakly carbed and a bit oxidized.

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Thanks for your response! Especially on-topic and a direct answer to the question originally posted! After all of the feedback based on experience, it appears this idea's cons outweigh the pros. I've still got a crown-top bottle, capped with a twist off cap which has carbonated water in it. I'm going to open it in another 6 days and see if the beverage is still carbonated, but more as an experiment than anything else, because I think either way I'll be contacting the local recycling plant and seeing if they will accept the tops, since the city's pick-up bins does not. Thanks to all for your input!

Bottle caps should be recyclable at a scrap yard. They are steel. The scrap yard will likely not pay you for them, but they should take them.

^^^ This. Find someone that takes all steel material (there's always some dude in a pickup that picks up scrap, always) and drop them at its place.

For six years I used the six quart bottles that came with my Mr. Beer kit and their screw on plastic caps. I also used recycled carbonated water quart bottles. Probably used them 30 times before donating to the thrift with no problems whatsoever.

I've never seen six quart bottles, and don't think I'd use them, because I usually can't drink six quarts in one sitting.