Crooked bottle caps

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Stauffbier

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So, I bought a huge bag of bottle caps recently. Tonight I bottled up a batch of brew, and I noticed that about 40% of the bottles looked like the one in the photo below. Some of the caps went on crooked. I'm a little concerned that they won't seal well. Have any of you had this problem before? If so, do I need to worry about this? I re-crimped all of them for good measure, but I'm still a bit worried about it. This is a new problem I've never encountered before...
IMG00724-20120720-2005.jpg

IMG00725-20120720-2012.jpg
 
I've never seen that before, but the picture doesn't look like it made a good seal (hard to tell from a picture). Is it possible that they weren't on straight when you crimped them? I ask because it just looks like it's off center. If it makes a good seal, I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe try flipping some upside down and see if liquid drips out. You could also try submerging one and seeing if the headspace evacuates and causes bubbles. RDWHAHB :mug:
 
check the bell on your capper to see if its straight.
I've bought lots of caps from austin and they are fine.
 
Well, I noided out and decided to re-cap about half of the batch with misc caps I had laying around. It's definitely the caps, because I just used about 3 different brands that capped beautifully for the "re-cap". When I popped the silver caps they did hiss a little (impressive after only being bottled 3 hours ago), so I'm assuming they sealed. They likely would have been fine, but I don't like taking chances with my beer. I also noticed that when I crimped these caps they gave me a little resistance, which I've never noticed with my bench capper. The replacement caps didn't have any resistance at all. I left 3 bottles (including the one in the photo, which was the worst of them all) to see how they carb up. I also tried to see if they were leaking by turning them upside down, but they didn't. If the "test" bottles turn out fine I'll keep using them. I held one of these caps up against one of my other misc caps, and they look like they are a little smaller.

Thanks for the replies friends. After bottling over 2000 bottles in the last year or more I would think I experienced everything, but you always learn something new!
 
That's the best thing about HBT. Someone usually has seen it before and knows what to do. If they haven't, they are so experienced that you will get good advice either way. It's not a bad thing to err on the side of caution. Good thing you had the extra bottle caps around. Also, good thinking on testing them. Now go enjoy some homebrew and take your mind off it :cross:.
 
Well, did they seal well? I am having the same issue, but with sparkling wine!
 
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