Bench Cappers - 0. Bottles - 2.

[QuercusMax]

As I have completely exhausted my supply of pry-off bottles (approximately 17-19 cases, depending on what is on loan to friends), I have been attempting to add twist-offs to my arsenal, as my wife and her friends drink a fair bit of Angry Orchard cider. I have so far purchased and destroyed two bench cappers.

ROUND 0: Red Baron Twin Lever Capper

I've had this bad boy since 2005, still going strong. No complaints, except it doesn't do twist-offs properly.

ROUND 1: The Super Agata. Cost: $45

Made by Ferrari, you'd think this would be high quality. Unfortunately, it's primarily made of cheap plastic, and on my second bottling session my wife destroyed the mechanism. I returned it to the store and they said they'd never seen that happen before.

Also, the auto-adjust is extremely annoying.

ROUND 2: Vintage Capper from Craigslist. Cost: $15

I thought I'd have better luck with this one. All metal, looked sturdy enough. When I got it home, I decided to do a dry run to make sure it would work before putting it to real use.

It seemed to do OK with the first few bottles I tried it on. It capped euro-type-bottles (Stella Artois) smoothly and cleanly, but regular US pry-offs took a little more effort. This should have been a tip-off.

I tried it on a few twist-offs I had. The first two went fine, but required even more effort than the pry-offs to cap, and I noticed it was denting the middle of the caps. The third didn't seal properly, so I tried more force for the fourth....

The bottle got stuck in the bell! And then the bell came off when I tried to wiggle the bottle out! I spent the next hour attempting to fix it, and was able to get the bell back on the shaft fairly securely, and it once again worked fine on the Stella bottles, but popped right back off when I capped the twist-offs.

I'm pretty sure the bell was too small for US bottles...

ROUND 3: ???

I think I'm going to look on ebay for an all-cast-iron antique capper. If my wife or I can manage to destroy one of those, then maybe the universe is trying to tell me something....

 

[BigFloyd]

Do you put an lubricant (like a thin film of cooking spray) inside the bell? I've found that doing that every case or so helps.

I'm afraid that you're going to encounter problems as long as you are trying to use twist-offs. The glass at the mouth tends to be thinner and they're not really designed to take a press-on cap.

A few batches ago, I switched from the dreaded black wing capper to the Super Agata bench model. I mounted to a 2.5'x2.5' 3/4" scrap board. It has been so much better on bottling day than that darn winger. Once I got the hang of the auto-adjust, my bottling speed doubled.

 

[QuercusMax]

The one I got on craigslist was absolutely coated in grease. There was so much grease I had to wipe some off.

It appears I can probably it as a corker as well, so I suppose it's not totally useless.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Yes, the universe is trying to tell you that you can't cap twist-offs without a commercial bottling setup.

 

[QuercusMax]

So what about the folks who say they successfully use twistoffs with a bench capper? I could swear I've read lots of posts from people who say it works well for them.

 

[LandoLincoln]

So what about the folks who say they successfully use twistoffs with a bench capper? I could swear I've read lots of posts from people who say it works well for them.

Sure it works, but not all the time, and chances are much greater that you're going to snap off a top because the glass is much thinner on a top of a twist-off bottle.

Bottles get fatigued over time and use. Most of the bottles we use today are designed to be used only once and then crushed up and re-used again. So personally I wouldn't want to use a bottle that's only designed to be used once that has even thinner sections than pop-top bottles.

The glass on flip-top bottles from the homebrew store are really freaking thick compared to your average Sam Adams bottle. This is because the flip-tops are designed to be used over and over and the Sam Adams bottles are not.

 

[unionrdr]

After reading the instruction sheet that came with my Super Agata Bench capper,I def need to remember to lube the inside of the bell to keep certain US bottles from sticking. The German ones don't stick & seem to seal better.
I've been reading lately about the number of times a bottle should be reused before replacing. I don't think there's a whole lot of truth to it on our level of brewing & the equipment we use. Keep the pop top bottles in good shape,& they'll last for years,mine have.
Also,it sounds like some are still making like a gorilla with the capper. Don't be too aggressive with it. As I was always told,let the tool do the work.

 

[vraftsman]

Are you a regular at any local at any bar? If so, leave a box or crate for your bartender friend and you'll have more bottles than you know what to do with after a good night. That way you won't need to worry about your supply of pry off caps.

 

[kh54s10]

I asked friends for bottles. I now have somewhere around 400-500 bottles. I had to tell them I didn't need any more. Most of them are Sam Adams bottles. I use the red twin handled capper and have never had any problems.

I suggest forgetting the twist off bottles. It would be horrible to bottle up 50+ bottles then find out they didn't seal tightly.