Bottles breaking during capping

[mainefiddler]

OK, so I've had a very interesting first bottling day. As I was bottling my first brew, I struggled a lot to get my black, no name, "Made in Italy" bottle capper to fully crimp my caps. As I tried to re-crimp, 7 of my bottles either broke or cracked. Not good. The bottles where not used for homebrewing before and were not screw tops. I went to a homebrew store not too far from me (I hadn't been there before since I just moved) and showed the gentleman my capper. He didn't like the looks of the one I had and I left with a better winged capper. The new capper was definitely an improvement, but I still struggled with lots of slipping. I did eventually re-crimp all of the bottles.

I went online and found that this is not an uncommon problem for newbies, but I didn't find a lot for an explanation as to why this happens. I think I know what the problem is: many of my bottles have small collars (is that what you call them?). Several of my bottles are from Samuel Adams and are your typical skinny bottles with a 1/2" (I'm eyeballing this) collar. The majority of my bottles are the shorter squatter kind with about 1/4" collar (http://www.gearybrewing.com/). My thinking is the collars on the shorter bottles are too small for my capper to get a good grip and thus causes the slipping and incomplete capping.
So... what do you all think? Am I on to something here?

 

[flars]

You have experienced what many home brewers with wing cappers have experienced. Not all bottles are created the same. Bench cappers take care of the problem. Recent thread here on bench cappers.

edit: Scroll to the bottom of the screen for more threads on broken bottles.

 

[njohnsoncs]

I second getting a bench capper. I had similar problems as the OP and a bench capper fixed all the problems and made my bottling day go a lot faster and with less stress.

 

[Sadu]

If you can't afford a bench capper you can also use a hand capper. It's the same thing but you bash the cap on with a hammer. It sounds dodgy but it works fine. Never had an issue with caps not fitting right, and I have only broken 2 bottles out of many hundreds of successful cappings. And those bottles I'm pretty sure had weaknesses on the bottom which could have manifested into a bottle bomb anyway.

A bench capper is definitely preferable but if you are struggling to prioritise all the brew gear this is a cheap way to go and will make a good backup once you do get a bench capper.

 

[Brownalemikie]

IMO, if you're going to brew and don't want to keg, buy yourself a bench capper. I struggled through 2 different wing Cappers and after breaking about 10 bottles I bought a Grifo Bench Capper for $45...now bottling is stress free and haven't broke one bottle.

 

[lump42]

If you're on a budget, I would avoid the stubby Sierra Nevada/ Geary's style bottles. I tried a few of the stubbies with my red wing capper but they luckily never broke just didn't seal well.

Buy a few cases of Sam Adam's or New Belgium. They're cost effective, and the labels come off easily with a 20 min soak in oxy-clean. When I started getting serious into home brewing, I was selectively buy commercial beers partly based on how easily the label was removed with a soak.

I did end up buying a colona bench capper/corker. Because at the time I was trying out some wines. It works really well as long as you don't mind a circular indentation on the cap. It even works on screw caps. It does well with corking too, although I've never tried a different corker.

 

[Coathanger]

I spent a few months amassing swing top bottles (mostly grolsch) and will hopefully never have to cap again. Local classified websites, or even just asking around, is a good way to come by these gems.

Now, I have too many!

 

[violinguy]

I'm not going to say anything about never breaking a bottle in 1 1/2 years of capping with a regular wing capper. I'm bottling tomorrow and I wouldn't want that to come back and bite me in the posterior.

 

[lump42]

I spent a few months amassing swing top bottles (mostly grolsch) and will hopefully never have to cap again. Local classified websites, or even just asking around, is a good way to come by these gems.

Now, I have too many!

Swing tops are nice, but I like to hand out some of each batch. I got a few I use on regularly. I stick mostly with easy to come by bottles so I don't fret when they are not return or returned a few months later with half a inch of mold in the bottom (straight to the recycling bin). I also have used empty soda bottles. It's nice to throw one or two in a batch to check carbonation. A simple squeeze to gauge progress.

 

[bleme]

I used a wing-capper for about 3 years and the only bottles that broke were from Anchor. Then my wife found a bench capper at a yard sale for $5 and I do like it a little better. 19 months ago, I was given kegging equipment so I don't bottle much any more and usually use swing-tops when I do.

 

[ProblemChild]

I recently learned a very important thing with the wing cappers.

If you think the capper is going to draw the bottle up when you cap and crimp the cap, you will break a lot of them.

I found I had to get my shoulders directly over the top and use consistent downward pressure on the bottle with the capper and push the the handles down with my arms instead of my wrists. I had to pay extra attention to ensuring the capper was going STRAIGHT down or I would break bottles.

Bench cappers are essentially a perfect down-stroke so there is no torque or moment.

 

[Coathanger]

Swing tops are nice, but I like to hand out some of each batch. I got a few I use on regularly. I stick mostly with easy to come by bottles so I don't fret when they are not return or returned a few months later with half a inch of mold in the bottom (straight to the recycling bin). I also have used empty soda bottles. It's nice to throw one or two in a batch to check carbonation. A simple squeeze to gauge progress.

True about not being able to hand out swing tops as easily. I also fill a few growlers with each batch and hand them out. They're a bit easier to keep track of and I generally get them back within a couple days. Then again, I only really give out homebrews to a couple close friends.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I've been using the same wing capper for 5 years. When I first got it I broke a couple of bottles because I was using WAY too much pressure. ProblemChild had it right. Use steady downward pressure. I also rest my bottles on a dish towel while capping so they don't slip. And yes, the short collar bottles are a pain. I avoid them.