Avoid certain bottles?

[HickoryMike]

Ok, my homebrewing mentor seems overly wary of certain bottles, claiming they don't cap well (using the winged, red baron capper) and won't carb. Specifically, he says the New Belgian bottles and the Sierra Nevada bottles are problematic for this capper.

Is there anything to this? I searched the forums and couldn't find any threads about certain bottles to avoid.

Any thoughts?

 

[Revvy]

Is there anything to this? I searched the forums and couldn't find any threads about certain bottles to avoid.

Any thoughts?

The only ones that are "problematic" for wing cappers are screwtop bottles, unless someone perhaps overly clamps down on the capper too hard.

More than likely he had a bad experience as a noob, maybe clamped down on a couple too hard and broke the lip...and rather than think that maybe HE did something wrong, he blamed the bottles. Not thinking it was simply operator error.

A lot of personal brewing "urban legends" gets started that way, and then they get passed down from brewer to brewer without any truth to it. And they sometimes become "canon" and get repeated over and over and over. They end up in books and websites even...Like "autolysis" "Host side aeration" "aluminum for brew kettles."

There's a reason I have the saying "Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc" on my profile.

It's kinda like this old story,

A young woman was preparing a ham dinner. After she cut off the end of the ham, she placed it in a pan for baking. Her friend asked her,"Why did you cut off the end of the ham"? And she replied ,"I really don't know but my mother always did, so I thought you were supposed to."

Later when talking to her mother she asked her why she cut off the end of the ham before baking it, and her mother replied,"I really don't know, but that's the way my mom always did it."

A few weeks later while visiting her grandmother, the young woman asked, "Grandma, why is it that you cut off the end of a ham before you bake it?"

Her grandmother replied ,"Well dear, it would never fit into my baking pan."

I've never found a commercial micro pop top bottle that was anymore difficult than any other.

 

[Scimmia]

I have capped New Belgium and Sierra Nevada bottles with no problems what so ever. Nothing out of the ordinary at all using my red wing capper.

 

[Nurmey]

I can't remember if we've capped an SN bottles but we have used New Belgian for 5 years without any problems.

 

[BlackDogBrewing]

Just as long as they do not have a screw top, and they have a rim below the top of the bottle, they should be fine. I once tried to use a Whycwood Bah Humbug bottle, which looked really cool. Below the lip of the bottle was a gentle swell, not a rim, and there was nothing for the wing capper to grab onto. If I had a bench capper it would have been fine.
To make a long story short, use whatever you want, and if there's any question, try capping a bottle full of water to check it before filling with your homebrew.

 

[ChshreCat]

I have the worst time with New Belgium bottles and have started throwing them all away when I buy their products. Even if I'm really careful, they make a grinding noise as they get capped and maybe 1 out of 3 end up breaking. Other folks on here have said they've had no issues with them. I'm guessing I have the same wing capper as your mentor.

 

[MultumInParvo]

I find that some bottles are slightly more difficult to cap because of the different angles that are on the neck. That being said.... By slightly more difficult I mean my hands slip and I don't cap it perfect. All I do is take an extra second or two of time and do it right.

 

[klyph]

Just as long as they do not have a screw top, and they have a rim below the top of the bottle, they should be fine. I once tried to use a Whycwood Bah Humbug bottle, which looked really cool. Below the lip of the bottle was a gentle swell, not a rim, and there was nothing for the wing capper to grab onto. If I had a bench capper it would have been fine.
To make a long story short, use whatever you want, and if there's any question, try capping a bottle full of water to check it before filling with your homebrew.

+1 on the lip beneath the rim. I used some long necks (Pacifico Cerveza) and the capper didn't have a good lip to grasp. They ended up working, but I had to crank down pretty hard on my capper to get them to look right. I'll be throwing them out next round.

 

[hoplobster]

+1 on SN pry offs capping without any problems, they've worked just as well as every other pry off I've used.

 

[weirdboy]

I use both New Belgium and Sierra Nevada bottles with my wing capper with no troubles whatsoever. The bottles that I have had trouble with are the 750ml "wine" style bottles that take bottle caps. My capper just won't work on those.

 

[kanzimonson]

I love SN bottles... so cool looking. But I find that I have to be careful not to fill them too high or they seem to take longer to carbonate.

 

[HickoryMike]

Great feedback. Thanks for quelling this old wive's tale...

 

[Cheeto]

Ok, my homebrewing mentor seems overly wary of certain bottles, claiming they don't cap well (using the winged, red baron capper) and won't carb. Specifically, he says the New Belgian bottles and the Sierra Nevada bottles are problematic for this capper.

Is there anything to this? I searched the forums and couldn't find any threads about certain bottles to avoid.

Any thoughts?

all I use are Sierra Nevada bottles and I have a Cheapo wing capper.

I have never had an issue with my bottles.

 

[Mista_Sparkle]

I have found that some bottles, particularly Heineken and I think it was Stella Artois, maybe st pauli girl or something, the little 11.2 oz green bottles were somewhat of a pain because the lip on them was too thin and the bell would bottom out before getting a good seal. I haven't had any issues with the New Belgium or SN bottles though. If the bottles have a decent size rim around the neck or whatever, i dont there should be many problems.

 

[Chester]

I have had some problems with new belgium bottles. the caps sometime crimp on crooked and stick in the bell of my bench capper. they seem to carb fine though and I still use them.

 

[northernlad]

No problems with SN or NB, although I do the opposite of Chshrecat and throw away the contents and use the bottles.

BTW Chshre, I will take them if you don't want them.

 

[lady_brewer]

I had a panic attack when I first saw the "don't use twist-offs" as my first two batches were happily conditioning...

The reality was that when buying all of my gear I figured I was going back for the $45 bench capper anyway, so I thought the $20 wing capper was a waste of my time.

Add in that there is no way I ever would have found enough pop-type capped bottles to put on one batch, let alone many and I would have been lost without my bench capper.

Anyway, my two cents, but I think the bench capper is worth the $ and the peace of mind...

 

[UTbrewer]

the only bottles I have really had a problem with using my red capper are bottles from Real Ale Brewing Co in Texas. It crimps them down fine but then it gets slips off the cap and gets stuck and slightly uncrimps the cap when you pull it off. Not enough to badly effect carbonation really but enough to be annoying.

 

[khiddy]

+1 on the bench capper. Guess who has two thumbs and can use just about any bottle out there without worry?

This guy!

 

[overflow]

I've only had problems with Warsteiner and Woodchuck cider bottles. Dunno why, but my capper just doesn't seem to like them.

 

[ChshreCat]

No problems with SN or NB, although I do the opposite of Chshrecat and throw away the contents and use the bottles.

BTW Chshre, I will take them if you don't want them.

That could be arranged. I don't get them often, but I do like some of their beers. Shame... I threw away a couple cases of them a while back.

 

[bob1852]

For me, SN bottles tend to cap really easy with a wing capper. Pacifico bottles seem a little weird for whatever reason....

 

[klyph]

For me, SN bottles tend to cap really easy with a wing capper. Pacifico bottles seem a little weird for whatever reason....

The lip that the capper grabs is higher up (very close to the top) so the bell can't come down as far before the capper bottoms out. They work, but don't crimp as tightly, so I stopped using them. You should be able to tell from the shape of the neck whether a bottle will work.

 

[JMSetzler]

I'm the guilty party. I told the OP that certain bottles will not cap well with these winged cappers. New Belgium and Sierra Nevada bottles aren't great examples, but as someone else posted here, the lips on those bottles are shorter than some others and if you aren't paying close attention, its easy to mis-cap those bottles. The dimple on the cap needs to be present to guarantee you have a good seal.

I can provide lots of examples of non twist-off bottles that can't be capped with the winged cappers for those of you who have posted that any non twist-off can be re-capped this way. It's simply not true. I have several boxes of these bottles waiting to hit the recycle bin.

 

[Revvy]

I just capped a case of Sierra Nevada bottles with my winged capper with no problem whatsoever.....For at least the third time with them.

 

[no1likesme]

The only bottles that I have had trouble with were lion stout bombers, the lip is a bit rounded and my caper would slip off.

 

[cheesecake]

amstel light bottles i cant seem to cap. not enough of a lip to grab onto

 

[JMSetzler]

I just capped a case of Sierra Nevada bottles with my winged capper with no problem whatsoever.....

I'm just saying that there are plenty that won't cap. You indicated the opposite in your original response by saying that you had never encountered a micro pop top bottle that you couldn't cap. While this may be true, I have lots of examples of the opposite.

 

[northernlad]

All due respect JM, but as nearly every person responding to this thread flatly contradicts your information, there is a problem somewhere other than the bottles.

 

[JMSetzler]

All due respect JM, but as nearly every person responding to this thread flatly contradicts your information, there is a problem somewhere other than the bottles.

OK... I'll get the camera out tomorrow and show my evidence. I have identified quite a few bottles in my stash that won't cap effectively with my wing capper, so I have set them aside. I'll make photos of those bottle tops and show how problematic they are to cap. Some of them will cap, but you can flip the top off with your thumb afterwards. Some will not cap at all because of the shape or length of that lip...

 

[northernlad]

I am not saying you can cap SN bottles at your house with your capper. What I am saying is, scientifically speaking, if 95/100 people can cap a particular bottle the other 5 have to look somewhere other than the bottle for the explanation.

 

[JMSetzler]

I am not saying you can cap SN bottles at your house with your capper. What I am saying is, scientifically speaking, if 95/100 people can cap a particular bottle the other 5 have to look somewhere other than the bottle for the explanation.

Yea.. you are right. It's me. I'm out of this thread...

 

[YulebeHoppin]

I actually cap the twist-off returnable ISB's here in Ontario without a problem with my winged capper and pop top lids.

Maybe I"m just lucky, but I've never had a problem. I'm drinking a beer right now that's at least a year old, and it was carbed up and ready to go.

I have had problems with certain bottles myself though. If the lip is too big, or on some bottles, the neck will be a little wider, and taper down right before the top.

 

[JuanMoore]

I have had a few New Belgium bottles that made a grinding noise as I capped them, and I found that turning the neck grabber plates around to the larger side (29mm) made capping them easier. I actually have two wing cappers, and it's handy to always have one with the 26mm grabbers and one with the 29mm available. That way I can cap the 750 ml and other odd shaped bottles without the hassle of turning the plates around.

I have yet to find a pry-top bottle that can't be capped using my wing cappers if proper care and attention is taken, but that's just my experience.

 

[klyph]

I didn't even know that there was a 26mm and a 29mm. I thought they were all supposed to be the same.

 

[McKBrew]

Wow how about a fist fight over which bottles cap and which do not!!!!

 

[klyph]

lol, you'd be able to cap the bottles if your were a REAL MAN!!!

Ridiculous.

 

[no1likesme]

this thread took a bit of a hostile turn.

 

[ChshreCat]

I do have consistent problems with NB bottles. I think it's just a matter of different cappers having issues with different bottles. You pretty much have to try them all yourself with your equipment and see what works for you. Some don't work for me, others don't work for JM. The same bottles might work fine for someone else's capper. No need to get all riled up over it.

 

[Rowdy]

Wow how about a fist fight over which bottles cap and which do not!!!!