bottle caps

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You sure can reuse them if in need,but best to try and pry your bottle cap off with a cigarette lighter as they don't bend where as a bottle opener will put a kink in the bottle cap.
They are like new if pryed off with a lighter as it only touches the edge of the cap. I only know this as I reuse my lids for the clean bottles I reuse for bottling.
 
Swing tops are definitely brilliant,I'm not sure how long the rubber ring lasts for as I've only just started using them for the last few brews. They are definitely easier than capping atleast more convenient.
 
I've been using some swingtops since I started brewing - same rings. That's about 2.5 to 3 years now. If they ever go, replacement gaskets are cheap.
 
Once I carbonated too much. I had to open all bottles and re-cap them. I did that with the same cap. If you open the crown cap very gently, without deforming its flatness, but only prying the "fingers" then you can re-use them and my guess is that this can be done many times.

The reason we don't do that is a) they are not expensive and b) using new caps is always safer.

If they costed €1 each, or €0,50 each, I would certainly re-use them many times.

I do recycle them in the metals bin.

I could never "can my own" because I find it consumerist and not ecological.
 
Swing tops are definitely brilliant,I'm not sure how long the rubber ring lasts for as I've only just started using them for the last few brews. They are definitely easier than capping atleast more convenient.
I have a bunch of Grolsch bottles in my bottles line up. They last a very long time. You can buy replacement rings very cheaply. I've only replaced one ring in years. I do 6, sometimes 12, in every batch, so some of those rings have seen a lot of service. The only problem with this idea is I don't really like Grolsch beer, but I was given the bottles.
 
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I have a bunch of Grolsch bottles in my bottles line up. They last a very long time. You can buy replacement rings very cheaply. I've only replaced one ring in years. I do 6, a sometimes 12, in every batch, so some of those rings have seen a lot of service. The only problem with this idea is I don't really like Grolsch beer, but I was given the bottles.
Thanks for the info guys,seems like they last a very long time.
I also had about 60 grolsh bottles given to me and I find them really good to use and I will order some spare rings for sure.
I'm also not much of a grolsh fan unless its very very chilled then its ok I guess.

Probably for a different thread.
I brought a 6kilo co2 bottle with gauges last night 1/3 full with 4 kegs with the pluto and a pub style tap,they seem to be the old race track style lids on the kegs so I hope they are ok to use but it was $200au and not far from me,I've never kegged before but doing bottles and kegs will great fun.
 
Swingtop seals can get deformed and flattened to where I find them suspect. Also, they can dry out and crack. I have a lot of swingtops with the majority being 20-25 years old. They were out of service for about 15 years and I replaced all the seals. They weren't all bad but I bought a big bag. About 1/4 of my bottles are 16 ounces, 1/2 are 22's, so not worth losing. I have about a case of little 11 oz bottles. Not sure if the replacements are made of the same materials, I think perhaps not.
 
Not sure if the replacements are made of the same materials, I think perhaps not.

I have bought some gaskets for "Grolsch bottles" in silicon, they did not exist some years ago. They seem to last longer than the old rubber ones, which were made of some rubber which did get dry and brittle with time.
 
I use the swing top style bottles for my homebrew cider, and it normally works really well. Maybe once every few batches I have a bad seal. Whether it's operator error or what, I don't know.
As a bonus, as a guitar player, those replacement gaskets work great as strap locks.
 
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Thank you, I was wondering. Since I decided to brew by myself, I collect the crown caps. To avoid kinks, I open my beer with a lighter...
 
I was just wondering...
It's just because one can hardly find those crown caps down here...
 
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