Testing Integrity of Bottles before brewing

[sportscrazed2]

Last time I bottled a few broke when capping. I am not sure what brand bottles they where because I had delabled them. I'm pretty sure it was either Goose Island or Sam Adams their beers seem to have thin bottles. is there a test or something I can run to insure they won't break when bottling?

 

[torque2k]

Short of testing each and every bottle with dry ice and water (not sure if that would carb up well enough), no way that I can think of. And even if you did that, you'd be testing against internal pressures, not for forces exerted on the outer top of the bottle.

I've used Sam bottles successfully since I started over a year ago; some of my bottles have 10 batches in them, no breaks yet. I've also used Sierra Nevada and Southern Tier bottles with good luck.

Maybe this is a process issue... What kind of capper are you using? I've got one of those red two-handled jobbies (a little beefier than the black one). Are you using one like that, or a one-handed bench capper?

 

[sportscrazed2]

the capper i use is http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewi...tling/bottle-cappers/black-beauty-capper.html

 

[Revvy]

If you are getting bottle bombs then either, you have an infection, you are using way too much sugar, you are bottling before fermentation is complete, or you have some used bottles that have flaws in it...Or you are bottling in a way to hot environment.

Most of the time it is one of the first three reasons that causes it, and that means you are doing something wrong, either in terms of sanitization, measuring your priming sugar, or not using your hydromter/not giving the beer enough time to finish fermenting before adding MORE sugar and trapping it in a bottle.

# 4 you can't really control, except maybe by inspecting your bottles for obvious flaws, and not using thin bottles.

# 5, just makes sure your beer is not in a place over 80 degrees.

A basic 12 ounce beer bottle, or as it is called the Longneck Industry Standard Bottle (ISB) can actually hold around 4 volumes of co2 without breaking. I can't find the numbers, but it IS greater than the normal 2-2.5 volumes of co2, it may even be 5 volumes. for safety reasons it would have to be much greater than the normal volume of co2 a beer is primed at. They are going to vary obviously in wall thickness. But NORMALLY they won't burst, unless as mentioned repeatedly you waaaay over prime, waaaay over heat, or have an infection.

 

[sportscrazed2]

after reading reviews it looks like a capper malfunction. maybe I should invest in another one or just be super careful bottling the next batch @ revy did you read the original post? bottles aren't exploding they are breaking upon capping

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I have broken a few while capping...I invested in a bench capper and no breaks since.

 

[sportscrazed2]

I might just do that

 

[likwidbliss]

I use to use a wing capper and it was junk after several batches it chipped the bottles and broke some of the necks in some cases. I bought a bench capper and have not broke a single neck.

 

[Nurmey]

Generally wing capper issues are operator error rather than equipment malfunction. It is not a brute strength procedure but a finesse procedure. Stop throwing your manly strength at the bottles and you won't have breakage.

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

agreed!! no brute strength. keep the capper level with the bottle, press slow and firm. i use both the red and black handled and have broken a few when i first started. slowed down and pressed firmly. haven't broken one in a while (KOW).

 

[MrBungle]

Not sure if anyone else noticed but I find Erdinger bottles to be thicker than any other 12oz. bottle.

 

[captainL]

I have the same capper. ON some bottles instead of pushing harder, I take it off, rotate it 90 degrees and repeat until I get full range. But I did break one sierra nevada with it??

 

[dvdanny]

I own both a bench capper and a wing capper (red one). I actually prefer the wing capper (for bottles that they are compatible with anyways) because I can cap faster with it. That said I've never broken a bottle with either cappers and I've used a whole plethora of bottles (clear, brown, green, 22oz, Martinelli Cider bottles, even coca cola bottles). My favorite are Sam Adams or Sierras cause I like their beers and they are readily available for me to bum off after a party, plus their labels remove super easy. Widmer bottles seems to be some of the thicker bottles to me.

I usually start off lightly and slowly ramp up my strength until it finishes capping the bottle. You can lay into the bottles pretty hard, just you know, don't do handstands on the capper or anything. If it wasn't for the fact that I can't bottle modelo or harp lager bottles with my wing capper, I would have gotten rid of my bench capper.

 

[torque2k]

If it wasn't for the fact that I can't bottle modelo or harp lager bottles with my wing capper, I would have gotten rid of my bench capper.

Pardon my ignorance, I don't drink either of those. Is the reason the bench capper works on these because they have the shorter "Euro" throat on the bottle? If that works, I'm switching, because I have a ton of Lagunitas bottles with that short throat...

 

[Pappers_]

Generally wing capper issues are operator error rather than equipment malfunction. It is not a brute strength procedure but a finesse procedure. Stop throwing your manly strength at the bottles and you won't have breakage.

+1 It takes very little pressure, just press the handles down.

 

[dvdanny]

Pardon my ignorance, I don't drink either of those. Is the reason the bench capper works on these because they have the shorter "Euro" throat on the bottle? If that works, I'm switching, because I have a ton of Lagunitas bottles with that short throat...

Yup, the bench capper will generally cap anything with a proper sized lip regardless of the throat size.

 

[remilard]

I only use three kinds of bottles. ISB bottles (what most craft beer is in and what a LHBS will sell you), the bottles Rochefort, St Bernardus etc are in, and bottles with a similar volume and form factor that are returnable (typically german). I do this because the fit my CPBF and it is simpler to store bottles that are all the same form factor. Never had one break under any circumstances.

 

[bovineblitz]

When I started off I broke bottles by capping too hard... you want to cap enough to clamp down but you don't need to crank the handles. I try to NOT leave that inner circle on the bottle caps, that means you pushed too hard.