Re-Capping twist off?

Ok, I have just looked at all 8 pages of the bottling area and found nothing about re-capping a twist off. I got my hands on 20 empty "Session" beer bottles and they are twist off. Is there any way to re-cap these or did I just waste my time getting them (luckily they were free)?

It is said that they can be capped with a bench capper but not so successfully with a wing capper. I always used non twist offs so take that for what it is worth.

I always cap twist offs with a wing capper and never had a bad seal.. maybe Im just lucky..

I was just thinking about this last night as I was washing bottles for the weekend. Turns out Blue Point uses twist-offs, and now I'm short six bottles if I can't use these. I filled one with water and capped it--with a wing capper--and the seal seemed to be okay. It held water, but who knows if it would hold pressure (the cap twisted back off).

Not to mention, as everyone notes, the glass around the rim is noticeably thinner, and therefore more likely to break. Frankly, I've only got six of them, and I'm pretty sure I can polish off a sixer of something with pry-offs by bottling time, but if you're hard-up, I'd give it a shot. But be careful.

I had the same question when I started.
My reccomendation is to start drinking from normal (non twist-off) bottles.
Most micro-brews I have come across are in-fact, the non twist variety.
Now, I don't mind spending $10 on a six-pack b/c the bottles themselves would cost me $5.
I've also discovered a few jems that I might not have otherwise:
XINGU Black Ale, HeBrew Messiah Bold, Schafely Scottish Extra Stout, Schell Schmalt's Alt & Caramel Bock, Two Brothers Domain DuPage, New Belgium 1554 Enlightened Black Ale...

If you let your beer ferment/condition 4 weeks, and have a beer with dinner every night, you can save a whole case of empty beer bottles while waiting to bottle.

Im going to be bottling my first batch here soon, i have enough pry off's i also have a lot of twist offs, every where i have read said not to use twist off they are hard to seal. i have a bench caper Im using, so im going to try a few of the twist off ones to see if they will seal or not!!

B-rad said:

maybe Im just lucky..

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CERTAINLY LUCKY that you did not break the bottles. With the exception of the Bud bottles, there is not the correct "Shoulder" on the bottle for the wing capper to hold onto.

Having said that....I have never had a bad seal using a bench capper on twist off bottles....and I have cases and cases and cases of them.

but if you use a bench capper, instead of a wing capper, i know the poss. is still there on breaking them. how do you think they will seal? it is just i have quite a few twist offs i would rather use them in stead of taking them back, i guess i will have to use a few and find out.

I dont know how all these people are breaking bottles capping these.. I have never had any problem at all.. reuse the bottles all the time.. Most people I know around here who brew use twists off's and a wing capper

I have not used a twist-off yet, but I might start trying them if people claim they can work. I have both wing-capper and bench capper.

Ask your local bar to save their Sam Adams bottles for you. They're darker brown then most, pry off tops, and fairly thick rims. Or, go buy some micro brew (beware of sticker shock ;-).

I am in the Navy (and lord knows we drink beer) and I told all my buddies to keep their non-twist off bottles. I am just trying to save money where I can. Why go buy some brand new ones when there are plenty being thrown away?

if it is a matter of just not having the bottles... I have um, lets just say many, 22ounce rogue bottles you can have next time I head that way. But if you have a neighborhood like mine you could just collect as many as you wanted from the glass recycling. I have not bottled in forever but keep the bottles out of habit when I get beers from bottleworks.

If its a matter of just wanting screw caps so that its easier to get them off...
well then I think you are silly, but who am I to judge
I recently opened several bottles in a movie theater with a piece of paper as we had walked over to bottleworks first and the movie needed help so I can see a bit of the appeal.

still... why would you risk breaking a bottle or having a bad seal?

the glass on the twist off seems to be a bit thinner ,,do you really want a beer bomb?

bull said:

the glass on the twist off seems to be a bit thinner ,,do you really want a beer bomb?

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Just a question, Are Twist-off bottles in the US thinner than the ones up here in Canada?

I keep reading about homebrewers in the US and their aversion to twist-offs. I've used them pretty much exclusively for 18 years. Never a "Bottle Bomb", Never broke a bottle... well except for the time the bottom of a case of 24 let go and they went tumbling down on my cement floor in the basement, I lost 3 bottles in that incident. I also in 18 years only had 1 flat beer bottle when I opened it. I can't even begin to guess at how many thousands of twist-off beer bottles that is.

So I'm guessing that the Twist-off beer bottles in Canada must be thicker. I did always use a bench capper from day one, in fact I've seen the wing style capper but never used one.

dp

I bought a bench capper right off the bat because I knew I'd be capping twist offs. The extra $15 on the capper saved me quite a bit in bottle re-use.

Only bottled a few batches but so far no problems, carbonation has been the same in my PET bottles and the capped twist offs of all sizes (soda, beer, longnecks, etc).

B-rad said:

I dont know how all these people are breaking bottles capping these.. I have never had any problem at all.. reuse the bottles all the time.. Most people I know around here who brew use twists off's and a wing capper

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I think that since the collar is not amenable to being grabbed by the wing capper, the capper slips over the collar suddenly. This can directly cause breakage by bumping the collar/lip on the way up, or indirectly if the sudden slip causes a reaction where the brewer overcompensates for the slip and bangs the capper back on top of the bottle in reaction. Startle reflex, in a way.

That's my theory at least. Since I've not broken one I do not know.

I have been testcapping twistoffs with a benchie over the last half-dozen batches with zero failures. I think I will use them for freebies when you don't expect your bottle back.

fratermus said:

That's my theory.

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If a bottle is tapered strangely....It'll get crushed by the jaws on the wing capper. They are designed to close around the shoulder...not squeeze the neck.

man, all you guys with your good luck on twist off bottles. I shattered my second ever bottle that was non twist off. What a waste of the beer inside.

I also still have a peice of the glass stuck in my heel...

what about bottles imported from europe? did i read somewhere that european bottles are a bit different than american kind, or am i making that up? i have plenty of paulaner oktoberfest empties which seem fine.

I use a bench capper, with twist offs and pop tops and I've never had a problem...

seawort said:

But if you have a neighborhood like mine you could just collect as many as you wanted from the glass recycling. I have not bottled in forever but keep the bottles out of habit when I get beers from bottleworks.

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It's funny that you mention this. When I started asking my buddies to save them one of them reminded me that WA is littered with recycling cans in public. Being from CA, I am used to people turning them in to get some money. My apartment complex has recycling right next to trash. Problem solved.

Not realizing at first that it was a twist-off I filled a Coopers bottle on bottling day. I went ahead and capped it and it wasn't leaking, but when I went to open it the neck broke off. First and last twist-off experiment for me...

I was test capping some twist of bottles with my bench capper and the caps never seemed to go on tight. You could easily twist them off again with 1 finger. I tried capping them twice (ie. press down on cap, turn bottle, press cap again) but they still weren't tight. Is this normal or are your caps usualy tight right from the get go? Does color of the cap really matter?

I capped 2 batches with twist offs and am now 48 bottles in to them and have not found a seal or carbonation problem yet. All these bottles are various Canadian brands, and it seems that Canadian bottles are quite a bit thicker than the American versions. Out of over 100 bottles capped with a wing capper, I had 2 break while capping, and I knew they were going to break right away, sounded like crushing sand. The caps do feel like they are on a little loose when capping, but after the pressure builds up in the bottle, they are only slightly easier to twist the cap off than commercially capped bottles.

I've been asking people to save me their bottles and someone just dropped off 24 bottles - saved my bacon, all my bottles are full (what a nice situation to be in) - until I saw that they were twist off. I thought I'd have to return them to the beer store, but came here to see if you could cap them

So it was with relief that I got to this thread and read that Canadian cappers are having a better time with their wing cappers and twist off bottles than our friends to the south. So, I'm hoping that this is the same heavy duty twist off that you're used to, Lurker. I have a wing capper.

I might chicken out and just use one or two of the twist off bottles as an experiment, but that'll mean I'll have to go bin diving for PET bottles, and I really don't fancy that.

Good luck with the bottling. I have use the standard Canadian brands, nothing fancy. Keith's, Grasshopper, Bud, Kokanee, Lab Lite, etc. As I said, the two that I broke were not a surprise, you can here there is something wrong before the cap gets tight. And the Red that I bottled is a little bit over carbed and I have not had any leakers from that, so I would not worry about it.
Also, I got all the bottles from the local beer store for only the refund cost, so it was nice to pick up 10 24's for 20 bucks and not have to dumpster dive or horde bottles for the next two months.