Can I cap bottles that previously had a screw top?

[huggablejunk]

Hi Guys,

Here is a complete newbie question:
Can I cap bottles that previously had a screw top?

I have some old 8oz, Michelob Ultra beer bottles that I wanted to reuse. However, I don't have a capper or caps so I was wondering if I should just order bottles as well or try to reuse the old ones?


~hj

 

[shunt1317]

Nope won't work

 

[bohdan987]

yes you can reuse ckrew top bottles BUT I DON'T RECOMEND IT!
its very hard to get a good seal on them, just get a 0.5L brown bottles.
you gona need a 54-12oz bottles for a 5g of beer, 24-0.5L so its easyer and faster if you go for biger bottles.

 

[PatMac]

It's well worth your time and money to get pop-top bottles. You will thank yourself in the long run.

 

[Revvy]

Actually if you are using a bench capper, you can, but not with the standard wing capper that most of us have.

It seems at first that accumulating bottles is difficult but if you drink micros you will accumulate them really quickly. Also if you mention around to people that you brew and need crown bottles they will start showing up. There's also craigslist, and freecycle.org, hooking up with other homebrewers, recycling centers. Asking at beerstores that have a good selection of beer for their returnables.

It seems daunting but you'll get plenty really fast.

The cheapest usuable bottles I have seen is the bud american ale bottles, last I checked they were still crown cap bottles. They have an interesting shape, and the beer is not that terrible to drink.

 

[lady_brewer]

I second the bench capper... I deliberated between the crown and bench capper when I started, but since there was only $20 in the difference and there are very few micro-brews around here it was worth it to me. Definitely would have cost me more for crown type bottles.

If you don't yet have a capper and hope to be able to use the twist offs...

 

[jcobbs]

I got one of these recently. You won't find a cheaper way to cap and it caps twist-offs just fine.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Stainless-Steel...aultDomain_0?hash=item2c525bc80e#ht_509wt_958

See this thread for a discussion of it.

And I am going to have to swear off this website until Revvy gets another avatar before I go blind :cross:

 

[huggablejunk]

Haha,

Thanks guys! So many responses!

I think I'm going to acquire some non twist bottles through various friends, co-workers, etc and stick with the wing capper for now. Its funny how many pop top bottles I've gone through just in the past few months. Then all of a sudden I got a home brewing kit as a gift and now I need the damn bottles!

I can see this turning into an obsessive hobby sooner than later.
~HJ

 

[Ragutis]

Haha,

Thanks guys! So many responses!

I think I'm going to acquire some non twist bottles through various friends, co-workers, etc and stick with the wing capper for now. Its funny how many pop top bottles I've gone through just in the past few months. Then all of a sudden I got a home brewing kit as a gift and now I need the damn bottles!

I can see this turning into an obsessive hobby sooner than later.
~HJ

I think American champagne bottles work too and with New Year's Eve coming, it might be worth a trip to the local bar's dumpsters on Jan 1.

 

[huggablejunk]

haha, nevermind all the slobber and hepatitis covering them!

 

[Ragutis]

haha, nevermind all the slobber and hepatitis covering them!

Oxy-clean will take that out.

 

[dracus]

go grab a milk type crate and head to your local bar and say this.

"a free 6 pack of homemade beer if you can fill this up with non twists."

I guarantee you will have plenty of bottles. Trust me you won't mind giving away 6 beers. You'll want people to try it in fact.

 

[dunnright00]

Actually if you are using a bench capper, you can, but not with the standard wing capper that most of us have.

This is the capper that I have, can I cap twist tops with this?

http://www.homebrewit.com/aisle/2060

I suppose I could just try it...

 

[jcobbs]

This is the capper that I have, can I cap twist tops with this?

http://www.homebrewit.com/aisle/2060

I suppose I could just try it...

With a Colonna? Uh....yeah.....

From what I've heard & read, you can cap/cork just about anything this side of a street pothole with one of those. Saw an article a while back showing how to set up one to do those mushroom-style Belgian corks. Seriously, I think they'll do about as well as a regular bench capper for twist-offs. From what I understand the deal is you need a capper that uses only downward pressure and doesn't crimp from the sides or grip the neck of the bottle. That's how my drill press capper works and I assume a Colonna is the same principle.

You got a nice machine there--I'd say go for it

 

[guitarphisherman]

I go to my local bottle redemption center were you return your bottles for the 5cent deposit. They charge me 10cents/bottle for 12oz or 22oz crown top bottles. I take them home and soak in Oxyclean for an hour, clean off the labels and then wash in the dish washer on high heat wash and sani rinse. Then on bottle day I do a sanitizing wash with iodiphore.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I know revvy mentioend this already, but in case other new members see this post I would like to reiterate the following.

Yes, you can use twist off bottles IF you use a good BENCH CAPPER, and not a hand capper. I used twist off bottles for 15 years.

Never had a problem with the seal. In fact I sometimes had trouble getting them off without a bottle opener.

 

[MaximumTrainer]

Just want to be sure before I get this capper.
Should this one work to reuse twist cap?
http://hopdawgs.ca/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=253&search=capper

Currently not sure if i'll go buy empty swing-top bottle or just buy standard twist cap and reuse them.

Thanks for helping noobs!

Edit:
I may just go with PET bottle to start with, they seem good but the only down factor is the look
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00428AXYY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Venari]

I figured I'd chime in here, because until I switched to pepsi bottles, I was using a wing capper on twist bottles.

Up here where I live, there isn't a beer store or recycling center or any such way to get crown capped bottles,unless you're willing to drop $250 on a twofer.

Once a year, however, we get a sealift, and many people in town usually load up on beer at this time. Nobody ever orders crown capped bottled beer. So making my rounds to "canadian tire" (what we call the local dump, since that's where people pick up all their free parts), I can get a few unbroken bottles. (All that was just my way of pointing out how I have to source bottles)

For months I used my wing capper on the threaded bottles, and have noticed that you can "feel" when the tension on the capper is about to break the bottle. Also helps if you can hear the stress on the glass. One in every 5 Labatt Blue bottles will actually completely cap! As for the rest of the bottles, all you have to do is use the wing capper until you can feel the tension hit just the right level (and you don't hear the glass getting stressed), and then use your fingers to lightly try to pull the cap off.

If the cap doesn't come off, you've got a sealed bottle. However, of the two cases of beer you just made, ONE of the bottles will be flat. The rest are just fine.


I have since switched to pepsi bottles. The stores here charge $9 for a bottle of pepsi/coke, and I pay the kids $1 each to bring me their empties. Now i've got stacks of milkcrates with 16 empty pop bottles each. As long as they're not in sunlight (in winter, no problem!), the clear plastic doesn't cause me any troubles.