Confirming good seal once capped

[Virigoth]

I bottled my first batch Oct 21st. I have an ancient bottle capper that was given to me for free but the bell sits at a slight angle that is noticeable when the capper is depressed on the bottle. I capped all the bottles and everything looked to be sealed and left them upside down for ~15 minutes to see if anything would drip. None of the bottles leaked and the "crimp" looks good. Is there any way to tell if these aren't all the way sealed besides waiting a few days and testing carbonation?

 

[zachattack]

I can think of a few ways. Easiest might be some baking soda and vinegar in the bottle, but unless you measure carefully that could be dangerous.

What I'd probably do is buy a 6-pack of your favorite beer that comes in pry-offs, get one bottle very cold then quickly pop the top and crimp on one of your caps. Let the bottle come to room temp, if you don't notice a big hiss when popping the top it didn't hold pressure. You could also pour very cold soda or seltzer from a freshly opened container into one of your bottles and do the same experiment.

 

[GrogNerd]

cap an empty bottle and hold it completely submerged under water

look for bubbles

 

[Virigoth]

cap an empty bottle and hold it completely submerged under water

look for bubbles

Thanks for this. I tried it and didn't see any bubbles. I held it under with a brick for awhile and watched it. Hopefully that points to good things.