Is my method for testing a bottle to be reused good enough?

I have almost a case of Anchor bottles, but I read that someone had an issue reusing them. What I did, was fill the bottle halfway with water, capped it, flipped it upside down and let is sit in an empty plastic cup. 2 days later there was no sign of water having leaked out. Can I conclude that this bottle is safe to re-cap?

Thanks!

What issues are people saying they are having? I've never heard of anything.

I don't recall what issue the person had, just that he decided to not use the anchor bottles. I read about this on a different site.

I was unsure of problems myself, and wanted to know whether or not my testing method was sufficient. Just because water didn't leak, i don't know if I can conclude that CO2 won't leak.

I was unsure of problems myself, and wanted to know whether or not my testing method was sufficient. Just because water didn't leak, i don't know if I can conclude that CO2 won't leak.

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I don't think you can conclude that CO2 won't leak because it is water tight. You could put a little sugar, water, and bread yeast in there; cap it, put a balloon over it; and see if the balloon inflates.

Pixalated said:

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I was unsure of problems myself, and wanted to know whether or not my testing method was sufficient. Just because water didn't leak, i don't know if I can conclude that CO2 won't leak.

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I don't think that would be a good test either. I think perhaps getting an alkaseltzer tablet, breaking it in half, add water til you got the headspace you normally would with bottling beer, add the alka seltzer, cap it, then take a condum, little balloon or even a finger or thumb off a rubber glove, slip that over the cap part of the bottle and then add a rubber band below the cap line, and monitor it to see if it inflates or not.

I've only read that some people have trouble getting the cap on, due to thinner glass. If you have no issues with that I would guess you are good to go.

I use some Anchor bottle without any problems at all. Go ahead.

@Revvy, that's a great idea

@eanmcnulty, thanks for the confirmation

the capper you own will also determine how easily or difficult bottles are to cap.

I couldn't cap any Guinness, and half of New Beliguim bottles with my wing capper but my bench capper does great job.

When you say "couldn't cap", what do you mean?

My wing capper is very, very fussy to what bottles it caps. But I imagine if I had a bench capper it would be fine.

Fill it with some soda
cap it
shake it up a bit
and submerge it in water
look for bubbles
or just wait a couple days and see if it's flat
?

Another good idea!

Agreed, its the capper. My capper hates anchor bottles, which stinks because those bullet bottles are awesome. However no issues with New Belgium. My Sam bottles have been reused over and over and imho, are the gold standard. Has anyone figured out a way to get the labels off of Amstel light bottles? I've tried pbw and star san.

Which capper do you have?

For what it's worth, I use anchor bottles with a wing capper with no problems.

I just used a 6 pack of Anchor bottles last time I bottled a batch. I was worried, as my wing capper was basically 'bottomed out' right after it started to press the cap down. I can tell, looking side by side, that the bell of the capper didn't go all the way down over these caps like it did on my other bottles, but they seem to all be holding pressure just fine. I tried letting one sit upside down for a while, and there was no evidence of moisture.

When I start drinking this batch, I'll probably start out with these 6 bottles, so I'll post up here if any of them have gone flat.

Oh, and the issue, for those that may not be aware of it, is that the lip that is normally found on the neck of the bottle, which the wing capper 'grabs' and used for leverage, is located so close to the top that the arms of the capper are almost all the way down before the bell even hits the cap.

By the way, one of the bottles I got from a friend had absolutely no lip at all. If I didn't already toss it, I should take a picture.

I quit using Anchor bottles because I was losing one or two bottles/batch to breakage during capping with my wing capper. Now I just use Sierra Nevada bottles & haven't had an issue with them yet.

Why were you losing them? Did you capper actually break the bottles?

Pixalated said:

Why were you losing them? Did you capper actually break the bottles?

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Precisely. Tried two different wing cappers; same problem.

After gently pushing down on both wings and then releasing, the handles would not return to their original position; they were kind of stuck mid-way down. Gently extending the handles to get the capper to release the bottle would result in shearing off the top of the neck of the bottle. I don't care much about the bottles, but the dude does not abide wasted beer. No more Anchor bottles for me.

Damn, i did have the capper get stuck, but didn't think much of it. I have enough other bottles where I may avoid using anchor.

tallybrewer said:

I quit using Anchor bottles because I was losing one or two bottles/batch to breakage during capping with my wing capper. Now I just use Sierra Nevada bottles & haven't had an issue with them yet.

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I have about 12 Anchor bottles that manage to get filled every once in a while. Though, I never have had a problem with them, I will be sure to pay attention to the lip nect time I do. I mostly bottle in Sierra Neveda bottles. I love those stubbies. I also like the 12-pack case they come in. Great for storage. I yhave used box-tape to reinforce them so they'll last. I have about ten of those 12-pack cases of bottles. I think Glissade just came out. Might have to get another...