Leaking bottles??

I am opening this thread because i've been talking to one friend of mine about bottling beer with metallic caps or instead using bottles with built in earthenware caps.
He said that once he had very low gas beers because of the leaking of CO2,when using standard metallic caps.
I am sincerely surprised about this!
Have you ever experienced something like this?

DonArmando said:

I am opening this thread because i've been talking to one friend of mine about bottling beer with metallic caps or instead using bottles with built in earthenware caps.
He said that once he had very low gas beers because of the leaking of CO2,when using standard metallic caps.
I am sincerely surprised about this!
Have you ever experienced something like this?

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Nope...I've heard of more problems with fliptop bottles (because of gaskets) but not problems with crown caps...

Betcha he just didn't wait long enough for them to carb up or didn't use enough priming sugar, rather than "leaky caps."

No, I never had a problem with metal caps and regular beer bottles. It's possible, I guess, that the metal caps weren't on the bottles tightly.

I think in the US, it's most common for homebrewers to use standard beer bottles and metal caps, or the Grolsch style bottles with the ceramic top and gasket. With newer gaskets in good shape, those work well too. I don't think many use earthenware type lids.

i noticed also that industrial beers have a rubber thingy under the cap itself...which is absent in the caps i use...
and secondarily, i use standard beer bottles AND champagne bottles (we call them "Prosecco" bottles...do you think that it can be a problem because of the shape/whatelse?

DonArmando said:

i noticed also that industrial beers have a rubber thingy under the cap itself...which is absent in the caps i use...
and secondarily, i use standard beer bottles AND champagne bottles (we call them "Prosecco" bottles...do you think that it can be a problem because of the shape/whatelse?

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I just took a look at the crown caps I use, and they all have one of those "rubber thingy's: on them.....Are they not available to homebrewer's in Italy? That MAY be a problem it it is bare metal....the rubber acts as a gasket between the lip of the glass and the metal of the cap...

In regards to champagne bottles, I use a few of them with the crown caps as well to no ill effects...But I usually make double sure the the crown cap has curved around the odd shaped lip of the bottles...usually just make sur I put lots of pressure on the bottle capper...


Now that you mentioned that your caps don't have any rubber/plastic gaskets, I can see how that could possibly be an issue where co2 leaking is concerned...

One option to test the integrity of the seal is to bottle some beer (or some baking soda/vinegar) with your bottle cap and put a small balloon ove the bottle to see if any gas is escaping...

I suspect your friend was doing something wrong with the capper or boiling the caps to sanitize. Metal caps are used on literally millions of beer bottles a day commercially and with homebrew.

assuming my caps are leaking,what would happen if i open all the bottles and recap them with "good" caps with gaskets?consider that i bottled on friday (so few days ago): am i loosing a lot of gas if i do this or the carbonation process takes so long that if you open a bottle and you re-cap it instantly no damage is noticeable -in this peculiar case- ?

If it's only been a few days, you can recap without much (if any) loss in carbonation. There isn't much yeast left in the beer when it goes to bottle so it a takes a little while for them to really get going on the bottling sugar anyway.

DonArmando said:

assuming my caps are leaking,what would happen if i open all the bottles and recap them with "good" caps with gaskets?consider that i bottled on friday (so few days ago): am i loosing a lot of gas if i do this or the carbonation process takes so long that if you open a bottle and you re-cap it instantly no damage is noticeable -in this peculiar case- ?

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I doubt that they are leaking, but if you think it's a possibility, you could try putting a child's balloon over the top. If a cap is leaking, the balloon will expand.

I found out last week at my LHBS that there are actually two(2) Different sizes of Crown-caps.It was news to me.

There's the size that we commonly use here in the US. They work on our brown long neckers, pop bottles and American champagne bottles.
But.......There is a larger size Crown-cap that fits on European champagne bottles.
I bottle all my Mead in champagne bottles because I can use the common size Crown-caps on them. It's simpler than corking.

I have a half dozen champagne bottles that have too big a lip at the top to accomodate a regular crown cap. I asked at the LHBS about it.
My LHBS has the larger Crown-caps and the "bell" required for my bench capper. I haven't invested in it yet, because I only have encountered a few of the larger topped bottles.

It is my surmise, or guess, that the Italian gentleman has some of the larger caps, that surely will NOT seal on a standard American beer bottle.
I may be wrong.....But, I'm just saying........maybe.