Corona Bottles

Quick question... Has anyone ever tried to reuse Corona bottles. The boy and I have brewed a batch of rootbeer for him and was going to bottle them in Corona bottles. I can't seem to get the caps to go on right. They are all crooked and leak. I'd rather not use my good bottles for rootbeer but... Does anyone out here have any suggestions about the Corona's? The tops look like they may be a little bigger then regular bottles. Thanks in advance.

Seems like that was actually two questions, but I'll do the best I can.

1: Yes, people have used the Corona bottles before with success.

2: IIRC, the tops should be the same size, but you may need a bench capper to make up for the difference in the size of the neck. Wing cappers (or hand cappers) need a firm grip on the bottle necks to cap properly. Bench cappers don't suffer from that same limitation.

I've used Corona bottles numerous times, they're great for cider and Apfelwein as I don't have to worry about skunking... I've always used a bench capper though.

I use them.

They're great for giving a slight skunk when you're trying to get a Heineken type of clone.

I've had problems with Dos Equis bottles and a wing capper. Guy at my LHBS said that a lot of the Mexican bottles don't cap well. Might work OK with a benchtop capper, but I haven't tried it.

when i bottled, i'd use corona bottles. they were slightly trickier than, say, a sierra nevada pale ale, just make sure you give them a little extra 'push'.

I think that Mexican bottles use the same size standards as European ones. I've been tempted to use one Corona bottle per batch to be able to monitor color (all my bottles are kept in the dark anyway) but never really tried it.

every batch i usually bottle a few in corona or modello so i can see the yeast settling, sometimes ill skunk them to try it. i use the red wing capper. never had a problem with them. i have had a problem with becks and heiniken bottles though.

i have had a problem with becks and heiniken bottles though.

Click to expand...

Somewhere on this forum is the explanation that Becks, Heiniken, and ALL green bottles, or maybe it's ALL green European import bottles, require a cap that is larger than standard US caps.

I forget the exact size, but to use most green bottles you will need to get a larger, optional, bell for your capper, as well as get the larger sized caps.

BTW - These larger caps also will work on those Champagne bottles which have the crown cap lip at the mouth, which allows one to bottle carb Apfelwein in something other than beer bottles.

Pogo

Pogo, you're talking about 29mm caps. Corona, Beck's, et al do not require those larger caps. Champagne magnums and certain Belgian bottles do indeed require the larger cap.

I use Corona bottles and haven't had any issues. Out of curiosity I just looked at the difference between one of my empty Coronas and a standard amber long neck (from the LHBS). The lip of the two bottles are the same size, however the lower ridge where a wing capper seats itself against is higher up on the Corona bottle than the amber bottle. This means a wing cappers arms need to travel farther before it finally seats the cap. My wing capper is the older metal type (it's about 15 years old) and I have never had an issue capping a Corona. I have never used the newer all plastic cappers you see stores today, so my guess is the newer capper design doesn't work well with the Corona bottle design??? Just a guess.

I've usedlots of corona bottles and some have leaked with crooked caps and some have not. Depending on the import company they have different necks. The ones that are imported by Barton Beers I have had no porblem with and I use a wing style hand capper. I'm not sure about the other importers sine I have thrown them all away.

When I started brewing, because of corona drinking friends, I bottled ALOT of corona bottles. Yeah I had a few over time that didn't seal, but in my situtation, it was all I had. Now that I have saved up enough brown bottles, and moved to kegging some batches, I don't use corona bottles, or any clear bottles for beer.

I still have everyone of my corona bottles that I put afelwein & mead in. It works, and saves my better bottles for the brews.

I'd recommend staying away from Corona bottles if you are using the winged(?) capper. They just don't cap very well. plus they are clear. I hear they work fine using the bench capper though.

I have had good luck with Micelob Porter, Sam Adams and Guiness (dark) bottles with my capper.

i've capped plenty of corona bottles with my black wing capper. i've never had a problem. yah, those bottles might not be optimal, but i keep them in dark locations until drinking time so they dont skunk up.

I had to use 8 Corona bottles yesterday because I ran out of dark bottles. After capping, we could pop them off just by using our thumb. They didn't seem to leak, but they weren't seated very well.

BTW, my capper is red. I don't know if they would be different or not.

I started off using Corona bottles, and I got them to seal just fine with the Emily capper (red Plastic). The trick I found was you had to really bear down on the capper lever to seal them. They where a little loose, but they worked until I could get better bottles.

I use Corona's everyone once in a while. I've found that you have to put a good amount of force on teh wing capper and make sure you are positioned just right. It's easy to get crooked on them.

IXVolt said:

I use Corona's everyone once in a while. I've found that you have to put a good amount of force on teh wing capper and make sure you are positioned just right. It's easy to get crooked on them.

Click to expand...

+1 on that

It almost seems to me that the capper bottoms out (lack of a better word) and I can't get enough pressure on them.

I've re-used Corona bottles before with success. (Success = cap stays on and it carbonates.) Regular caps fit, but I usually have a higher screw-up rate of bent caps

This is an interesting thread. It's making me realize how little I know about bottle color and how it affects beer.

Any simple formulas for how different bottles affect taste, color, etc?

DeafSmith said:

I've had problems with Dos Equis bottles and a wing capper. Guy at my LHBS said that a lot of the Mexican bottles don't cap well. Might work OK with a benchtop capper, but I haven't tried it.

Click to expand...

I have a couple cases of Dos Equis bottles and have no problem capping them with my Emily capper.

brew2you said:

Quick question... Has anyone ever tried to reuse Corona bottles.

Click to expand...

I've used both Corona and Coronita bottles with a benchtop capper. The 7oz Coronita bottles are great as sample bottles; you can use them to check for carbonation without wasting a whole 12 or 22. But they do have to be kept in the dark.

I know I've seen it on the forums but couldn't find it- whats the best way to get the paint off these suckers...

My dad drinks an @sston of corona over the summer and I'm going to have him save them for apfelwein

dae06 said:

I had to use 8 Corona bottles yesterday because I ran out of dark bottles. After capping, we could pop them off just by using our thumb. They didn't seem to leak, but they weren't seated very well.

BTW, my capper is red. I don't know if they would be different or not.

Click to expand...

It's the height of the lower neck ring that causes the problem. Corona, modelo, and some german bottles have a lower neck ring that is higher on the bottle than others.

The wing cappers grab that ring--but since it's higher, it won't let your capper go down far enough to crimp the cap. Start looking at bottles and you'll see what I'm talking about.

BTW, my red baron won't crimp them either, but my benchtop will. In a pinch, you can crimp them as far as your capper will allow, unscrew the capper bell, and (using a rubber mallet) hammer the bell over the cap until it crimps. Been there, done that.

I'm glad I found this thread because I just saved a Corona bottle yesterday in order to watch the color and yeast settling of my next batch. It sounds like there is a good chance I'll just ruin a bottle of beer since I don't use a bench capper.

I have five or six Corona bottles and I have never had a problem using my wing capper.

NorCalAngler said:

I'm glad I found this thread because I just saved a Corona bottle yesterday in order to watch the color and yeast settling of my next batch. It sounds like there is a good chance I'll just ruin a bottle of beer since I don't use a bench capper.

Click to expand...

I'd try it. One bottle isn't the worst thing in the world. I had to use 8 of them on my last batch, the tops are not on the best, but so far are still holding. If you want to watch the color and yeast, that is the way to go. Besides, worst case is maybe a flat beer. Pop some carb tabs and let them work for you if needed. There's a fair chance you won't have a problem.

Slight tangent here, am I the only one with capping problems with Anchor stubbies?

I had a handful of Anchor empties, and used some a month ago, with a wing capper: First one: neck break, second one: same. I gave up on them

I just finished conditioning my most recent batch. I had a cardboard 18 pack box that I had some of my brew in. I was taking them out to the kitchen and when I set it down I heard a hissing sound. Sure enough, there was a Corona bottle leaking a bit. I know this isn't the right way to cool these bottles down, but I took the leaking bottle and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes and was forced to drink it .

Had to drink it before it went flat.

BierMuncher said:

I use them.

They're great for giving a slight skunk when you're trying to get a Heineken type of clone.
View attachment 11159

Click to expand...

LOL. I was thinking the same thing.