Bottle Lifetime

[skitter]

Hey all,

How many re-cappings would you expect per bottle? I am on maybe a 3rd of 4th time of using some of my bottles and they are already breaking under the crown. Is this typical with the handheld bottle cappers? Just in the last session out of 24 bottles 3 of them broke, it turned a full bottling of short stubby bottles into having some off size Bad day to be OCD.

Skitt

 

[aiptasia]

It depends on the bottle. If you're recycling some commercial bottles, some brands are definitely thinner than others. I tend to only collect and recycle thicker longneck bottles which last quite a bit longer. I've had some for years with no issues on refilling, cracks or damage.

But...

If I were filling say, Green Flash, Red Stripe or Michelob bottles, they're very thin and almost like candy glass. I'm sure i'd be breaking those left and right.

 

[beergolf]

Bottles should be able to last for many re-caps. I have bottled about 250 cases of beer so many of my bottles have probably been re-used at least ten times, maybe more. No problems.

 

[IslandLizard]

+1 on thicker bottles.

But also check you capper, or get a better one.

 

[Psycotte]

I use Sam Adams bottles. They seem pretty sturdy and I've had no issues yet.

Also just go to your local distributor. Pick up a sixer of some nice craft beer and ask the guy to sell you some empties. I did this and he looked at me a little cross eyed at first but I explained that I am a homebrewer. For $1.20 you get a whole case and if you bring him some homebrew next time you go in he might even be a new best friend.

 

[deadfall]

Mine is in this thread. Post #12. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/best-bench-top-capper-410524/

Vintage but it still works pretty good. They are on ebay for usually less then $20. I've only broke one bottle when I was figuring out how to use it.

 

[skitter]

New Belgium bottles have cracked on me, Firestone cracked on me, Sam Adams and Goose Island bottles are the ones ones I haven't't broken yet!

All I have is the little black hand-press capper, I need to get a bench setup but that takes space, I don't have right now

 

[unionrdr]

I broke one or two Sierra Nevada stubbies with the red baron capper. But I've only chipped the lip of one Paulaner bottle before. And that was from bumping them around. It was the neck of the stubbies that broke for me. But also,try not to gorilla the capper. Medium pressure is fine. But I def like my super agata bench capper more.

 

[Arrheinous]

I've found that some styles of cappers (the smaller black ones) engaged the bottle with metal to glass before the spring has even acted - meaning they just ended up 'cutting' through the bottle necks.

The larger red capper out here is what I use and I've noticed it has a lot greater clearance between the bottle and the metal edges. Less snipping.

 

[skitter]

I'm not upgrading my capper until I can get a bench one, so looks like I have to deal with more breakage. Just means I have to buy more craft beer to drink dry!

 

[jrgtr42]

I have bottles I've probably used for most of my batches, so at least 10 - 15 times. No problems. I don't think any of my bottles have broken strictly due to the capping / opening process. I broken one by being too vigorous with the bottle brush - put it right through the bottom - and a few by introducing them at high-ish velocity to concrete, but none to bottling.

 

[Calder]

My small bottles are mostly Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada, and I have many bombers too. Many have probably been used 20+ times. In the last 100 or so batches I have broken zero bottles while capping. Before this past 100 batches, I quit brewing for about 7 years. I don't remember breaking any bottles in the approximatly 150 batches I did before I quit.

I've used the same hand-held Red-Barron capper from the start.

 

[Redbeard5289]

My neighbor and I came to the conclusion that that the handheld capper that comes standard with each brewing kit caused a lot of the cracking/breaking issues we were seeing on bottles. Those handheld cappers put all of the stress of capping on the top 1/2 inch of the bottle just underneath the cap. Noticed a lot of his bottles of beer were coming out flat or individually contaminated due to tiny stress fractures caused by his handheld capper. The Bench capper that I have distributes the capping force over the entire bottle thus giving us less breaks and cracks in the bottle.
Of course you still have to deal with defective bottles that have inherit weak spots and cracks from normal use. If you are using recycled bottles from current breweries (Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Schells, etc.) I would strongly suggest in purchasing a bench capper to save your bottle inventory.

Redbeard5289

 

[skitter]

My neighbor and I came to the conclusion that that the handheld capper that comes standard with each brewing kit caused a lot of the cracking/breaking issues we were seeing on bottles. Those handheld cappers put all of the stress of capping on the top 1/2 inch of the bottle just underneath the cap. Noticed a lot of his bottles of beer were coming out flat or individually contaminated due to tiny stress fractures caused by his handheld capper. The Bench capper that I have distributes the capping force over the entire bottle thus giving us less breaks and cracks in the bottle.
Of course you still have to deal with defective bottles that have inherit weak spots and cracks from normal use. If you are using recycled bottles from current breweries (Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Schells, etc.) I would strongly suggest in purchasing a bench capper to save your bottle inventory.

Redbeard5289

I will when I have the cash Brewing on a budget ain't got nothin' on me!

 

[eastoak]

kegging :rockin:

 

[Brewmex41]

Kegging.

Haha

 

[tnsen]

Ok....so who can suggest "the best" bench capper out there

 

[eastoak]

Ok....so who can suggest "the best" bench capper out there

the one with the handle you pull down on, not sure there is such thing as a bad one. i used the wing capper for many batches without problems but i did like the bench capper much better, i bought a plastic one that is italian made.

 

[skitter]

I would keg if I had the $100 for both the reg and the keg, per batch! working on what I can...

 

[Beerbeque]

I have many bottles that have been refilled dozens of times for over 5 years now. I really don't think they have a limit. Mine are mostly Sierra Nevadas and I use my original metal wing capper and I don't want to keg!.. for several reasons.

 

[skitter]

I have many bottles that have been refilled dozens of times for over 5 years now. I really don't think they have a limit. Mine are mostly Sierra Nevadas and I use my original metal wing capper and I don't want to keg!.. for several reasons.

I want to keg, but money is everybodies limitation in one way or another.

I tried using a Metal Wing Capper and unfortunately the stupid thing had a plastic insert in the bell that the flanges on the bottle caps fit between and wouldn't seal all of them down. Took it back and traded it for the only other one the LHBS had which was a black plastic capper, have had no issues with it except for shearing off bottle crowns.

I'm set for life though, the same LHBS has a pile of free craft brew bottles at the front of the store that just need to be cleaned, you get to take as many as you want! Unfortunately half of the box I grabbed was the little 11.2oz bottles instead of the 12oz... I will probably be taking those back.

 

[Chadwick]

I use Sierra Nevada bottles almost exclusively. I haven't had any bottle break on my yet. However, I'm not using a bench capper either. I'm still using one of those wing-thing hand held units. I have a bench capper, actually a pretty good one I inherited from my father. But I really just prefer the cheap wing-thing doodad.

That noted. I have some bottles with more than 10 refills on them and they are still going. Not even a chip.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

i used a wing capper when I first started. I had the same problem with the tops breaking off. I switched to a bench capper about 12 years ago and have no problems. hell, my 6 y/o uses it. it stores nice. there's about a thousand places to keep it and well worth the investment.

 

[Hopinista]

I use only the standard short bottles (Firestone Walker, Lagunitas etc) and have used most upwards of 6 times with a wing capper and no problems. I wouldn't use Sam Adam's bottles mainly because I don't want someone else's logo on my beer

 

[Redbeard5289]

Ok....so who can suggest "the best" bench capper out there

This is the one that I have....
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/.../bottle-cappers/super-agata-bench-capper.html

I inherited it from my brother so its about 15-17 yrs old but still works like a charm. At >$40 its a good investment for those that bottle their brew. The only time I had a problem with this bench capper was when the bottle had a defect that I didn't catch during sanitizing/cleaning. So more of a bottle issue than a capper issue.

If you search ebay/craigslist you can probably find them for cheaper from fellow brewers that are moving over to kegging or getting out of the hobby.

Redbeard5289

 

[Billy-Klubb]

This is the one that I have....
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/.../bottle-cappers/super-agata-bench-capper.html

I inherited it from my brother so its about 15-17 yrs old but still works like a charm. At >$40 its a good investment for those that bottle their brew. The only time I had a problem with this bench capper was when the bottle had a defect that I didn't catch during sanitizing/cleaning. So more of a bottle issue than a capper issue.

If you search ebay/craigslist you can probably find them for cheaper from fellow brewers that are moving over to kegging or getting out of the hobby.

Redbeard5289

that's the same one I have. mine's only 12, but seen hundreds of bottles through. hells, I'm still using bottles from a decade ago with no issue.:rockin:

 

[Zuljin]

I've been bottling for several years now, and I'm sure some of these are the bottles that came with my original kit. I use the red plastic wing capper.

Seems the thickest bottles are the ones with glass collars, like some New Belgium bottles.

I've noticed that beer bottles are not round. Roll some between your palms. They're all wonky. I wonder how many beer bottle makers there are.