Capping Heineken bottles

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Dave258

Dave258

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Last night I bottled my First batch of Apfelwein.
I used Heineken Bottles with oxygen barrier caps and a bench capper. After capping, I was able to twist some of the caps alittle bit. They moved slightly side to side, but if turned upside down, no liquid leaked out. This is the first time I used heineken bottles and the o2 caps. The caps still had star san on them when capped, could enable the cap to move? Or are those bottles that had movement not sealed?

On a side note, that Apfelwein is GOOD! I had a half of bottle left when done so I drank it. It taste great without carbanation. Next time I think I will split the batch.

Thanks,
Dave

I tried to attach a picture, don't know if it will work.

mail.jpg
 
Heineken bottles have a very thin lip which may not always seal well with home capping equipment. Stick to bottles with a larger lip for the crown cap to grip like a conventional non-twist long neck.

BTW while it's not a problem with wine, green bottles are not the best color choice for beer use. Stick to brown bottles for beer to get better Uv protection.
 
I use brown bottles for everything else. Wanted green for the Apfelwein. I just checked the bottles real quick, and could not find the ones that were able to twist. If they do twist, does that definetly mean they are not sealed? Nothing drips out. The few that are not sealed, i assume they will not carbonate, but will it still be drinkable? I actually wished that I kept some un-primed after tasting it.
 
I don't remember why, but I read on the forum awhile back that Heineken bottles don't work for capping & should not be used. I think dimensions on them are different or something. Try a search.
 
well that makes me wounder. i use a hand capper ( red Barron) and the bottles have been chilling since last month. i can turn them over and nothing drips out. it could just be that I'm Awesome ;). jk but i what would make it seal for me and not others?
 
thanks for the thread man, I have 10 22oz hienys saved for my next batch I saw this post and capped 1 of them . Itdid the same thing
 
FWIW, O2 barrier caps should not be sanitized with a wet sanitizer before use. They become activated and quickly lose their effectiveness. There really isn't a good process to use to sanitize them and retain their O2 absorption cabability.
 
Yuri_Rage said:
FWIW, O2 barrier caps should not be sanitized with a wet sanitizer before use. They become activated and quickly lose their effectiveness. There really isn't a good process to use to sanitize them and retain their O2 absorption cabability.
Click to expand...

I see said the blind man to his deaf son... Making a note of this for not only the caps but the use of the hieny bottles I have been using... Sorry for the partial hijack but this is great information. Thanks..
 
Yuri_Rage said:
FWIW, O2 barrier caps should not be sanitized with a wet sanitizer before use. They become activated and quickly lose their effectiveness. There really isn't a good process to use to sanitize them and retain their O2 absorption cabability.
Click to expand...

so, do you not sanitize them, or don't use them?
 
Sounds like the problem I have with 22 oz of Becks. They are harder to cap than regular bottles and sometimes it looks capped but its not.
 
Dave258 said:
so, do you not sanitize them, or don't use them?
Click to expand...

I haven't heard about the barrier losing the absorption capability, but I suppose if you sanitize them they just become regular bottle caps?

I feel like there has to be some kind of misinformation being conveyed, though. Anyone doing food packaging is going to want to sanitize the caps before use, so I find it hard to believe they'd make a product for food packaging which makes it impossible to do so without destroying the primary benefit of that product.
 
weirdboy said:
I haven't heard about the barrier losing the absorption capability, but I suppose if you sanitize them they just become regular bottle caps?

I feel like there has to be some kind of misinformation being conveyed, though. Anyone doing food packaging is going to want to sanitize the caps before use, so I find it hard to believe they'd make a product for food packaging which makes it impossible to do so without destroying the primary benefit of that product.
Click to expand...

Industrial applications (i.e. commercially manufactured beer) where the beer is tunnel pasteurized after filling won't have to worry about sanitizing caps.
 
Hi guys,

I've been using green screw-top Heineken bottles for apfelwien for quite a while now...

Capped about 60 of these guys recently: I've learned that these bottles are frail and tend to break VERY easily! (cut my leg on some flying shrapnel even)

Caps go on ok using a bench capper but to prevent breakage, I now cap in two or three 'pulls' if you will. Pull the capper lever, rotate bottle ~60degrees and repeat to seat cap fully. (less pressure per pull puts less stress on the bottles overall). No problems with loose caps here either.

What's this crud about oxygen absorbing caps??? IMO, save your money and use regular old caps. Personally, I've had better results with just placing the caps on the full bottles and letting them sit for ~20minutes to let CO2 displace some of the O2 in the head space before closing them up. YMMV

- Mike

:mug:
 
Rip said:
Hi guys,

I've been using green screw-top Heineken bottles for apfelwien for quite a while now...

Capped about 60 of these guys recently: I've learned that these bottles are frail and tend to break VERY easily! (cut my leg on some flying shrapnel even)

Caps go on ok using a bench capper but to prevent breakage, I now cap in two or three 'pulls' if you will. Pull the capper lever, rotate bottle ~60degrees and repeat to seat cap fully. (less pressure per pull puts less stress on the bottles overall). No problems with loose caps here either.

What's this crud about oxygen absorbing caps??? IMO, save your money and use regular old caps. Personally, I've had better results with just placing the caps on the full bottles and letting them sit for ~20minutes to let CO2 displace some of the O2 in the head space before closing them up. YMMV

- Mike

:mug:
Click to expand...

None of your bottle caps had any movement at all? I used a bench capper, the caps look crimped. Some of them would twist a little.
I bottled it on Friday, and keep checking the caps. There are no signs of leaking, no hissing, turn the bottles upside down everything seems ok.
And, none of them move now. Go figure...
 
None of your bottle caps had any movement at all?
Click to expand...

Nope. I didn't notice anything lose about them... No leaks either, my apfelwein pushes the carbonation envelope for bottles too (~3 atmospheres).

Not related to OP: I wouldn't worry about getting those Oxygen Absorbing caps wet before capping (just don't boil them or leave them in a bucket of water overnight or something). And for G's sake, sanitize your caps... I don't know why anyone would ever advise another course of action!?!

- M

"The only trouble with giving out advise is that someone may actually follow it."
 
RCCOLA said:
I have a few heineken bottles that I have used on a couple of batches.No problems for me w/ a benchtop capper.
Click to expand...

to OP: i'm also surprised that you're not getting a seat with a bench capper. were you trying to be gentle at all? perhaps you can just give them one more little jolt to get them on there properly... i know someone else said they are fragile, but i'd give it a shot on one or two just to see if that's the problem.

even if it doesn't work, i've had a few suspect caps on green bottles with the thin shoulder on them and they've always resulted in carbonated apfelwein.
 

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