Bottles and Caps

[ProudlyHomebrewed]

I wanted to get everyone's opinion on what bottles and caps you prefer to use.

I started out brewing smaller batches and used the flip top style bottles. However, I'm wanting to get more into brewing larger batches and want to bottle in 12oz bottles for giving to friends and family. I like the 12oz bottle because I can recycle some and purchase any additional needed, while the crown caps are relatively inexpensive.

I've had an issue though with some of the cheaper crown caps, some of them are not holding their seal and the bottles are losing carbonation. Also, because I am brewing in larger batches, I'm worried about the freshness of the beer lasting a few months.

I've had the best luck with some bottle caps I found on Amazon called Beer Is a Journey Crown Caps.

They are a little pricer at $9.99 but seem to work a lot better than the cheap ones. I like the look of them for sharing with people as well but wish they came in different colors to identify the different brews.

Has anyone else tried these caps? Also, would you recommend them? What caps do you use?

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[FloppyKnockers]

I've gotten a lot of caps off of Amazon. I have yet to have a batch that lost its seal or otherwise failed. Are you getting the right size? Maybe take a look at your capper or capping technique?

As far as the time in the bottle. A few months would not only not hurt, it would help in most styles.

 

[MaxStout]

I've never had a single bottle lose carbonation due to a cap. Doesn't mean it never happens, I've just never had an issue with it. I buy caps bulk-packed in bags of 100 from my LHBS. I've also bought caps in bulk from Northern, Austin, William's, MoreBeer, etc., as an "add-on" item with other stuff. I've used wing-type cappers and now use a bench capper. Different sources of caps, different cappers, never a problem. I've had beers bottle-aged for 2 years, and never a flat one.

That said, if you had leakage from a recent batch of caps, but you hadn't had problems with previous caps, then it's probably a defective batch of caps. OTOH, if you've had leakers from different brands of caps, it's probably the capper and/or technique.

 

[ncbrewer]

I use a bench capper. A while back I wondered if I should push down on the lever harder just to make sure they were sealed well. Also gave it two pumps to be really sure. (If a little is good, a lot is better.) I started having problems with the caps not sealing. Went back to the old moderate force method, and no more flat beer. I think I was mashing the seat down flat. I did find that there are two different types of seats in the caps, but never experimented with changing styles.

Also, I had trouble with the sealing a couple of years earlier and found out the capper bell needs some paraffin wax or something similar applied to make it slide on and off the cap easily. Apparently, once it was pushed onto the cap, it didn't let go easily, and pulled it back up just a little, breaking the seal.

You might have one of the problems I experienced.

 

[Redpappy]

So far I haven’t had any issues with my caps..knock on wood.... I get the regular caps, nothing special 144 count. I have had 1 bottle fail on me though, it cracked as I was capping it...

 

[homebrewer_99]

IMO, MOST of the time you have an issue with caps it's the capper.

There are 2 type of wing cappers. One has the gripping plates permanently set in place and only accommodate 1 size. The other one has removable plates that accommodate two sizes.

If you've ever capped a bottle and it broke at the neck...you used the smaller circumference plate on a larger (necked) bottle. Reversing the plates will correct that.

The plates in the picture are exactly the same. I just reversed the one on the right to show the difference in their sizes. As you can clearly see, the cut out of the one on the left is for a larger circumference neck and the plate on the left has a smaller cut out for smaller necked bottles.

These plates are from a capper that uses screws to hold them in place.

 

[leftcontact]

Bench capper for the win. (Ok, kegging for the real win but that’s not this thread.) I never bought a wing capper, went straight to bench and have zero regrets. I use whatever caps the LHBS had on hand. I generally have a couple different colors around and try to use a color vaguely relevant to what’s in the bottle for easy overhead identification.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Bench capper for the win. (Ok, kegging for the real win but that’s not this thread.) I never bought a wing capper, went straight to bench and have zero regrets. I use whatever caps the LHBS had on hand. I generally have a couple different colors around and try to use a color vaguely relevant to what’s in the bottle for easy overhead identification.

I use HB store caps. Color is not important.

For labels I use 1" circles (Avery template) on the caps. I can fit 4 lines of info on them...batch #, brew name, date and alcohol %.

I have a bench capper (from another brewer's sell off), but have never used it.

 

[dsaavedra]

Hmmm new member with 1 post and some pretty specific name, price, and retailer dropping... this post smells of an advertisement for those bottle caps.

 

[Transamguy77]

Hmmm new member with 1 post and some pretty specific name, price, and retailer dropping... this post smells of an advertisement for those bottle caps.

I have to say after reading your post and rereading the original it kinda got me thinking.......

Just from a price point I wouldn't use those caps at $9.99 for 144 when I could buy 5 times that amount for that price. I have used caps from many different suppliers over the years and have never had an issue with any of them.

 

[Ccceric]

Anybody have a link for the caps in the first post??

 

[JPDosey]

go to grogtag & order custom caps with you own logo. Great sealing caps.

 

[Wrathchild]

I wanted to get everyone's opinion on what bottles and caps you prefer to use.

I started out brewing smaller batches and used the flip top style bottles. However, I'm wanting to get more into brewing larger batches and want to bottle in 12oz bottles for giving to friends and family. I like the 12oz bottle because I can recycle some and purchase any additional needed, while the crown caps are relatively inexpensive.

I've had an issue though with some of the cheaper crown caps, some of them are not holding their seal and the bottles are losing carbonation. Also, because I am brewing in larger batches, I'm worried about the freshness of the beer lasting a few months.

I've had the best luck with some bottle caps I found on Amazon called Beer Is a Journey Crown Caps. View attachment 565733 They are a little pricer at $9.99 but seem to work a lot better than the cheap ones. I like the look of them for sharing with people as well but wish they came in different colors to identify the different brews.

Has anyone else tried these caps? Also, would you recommend them? What caps do you use?

​

Dude that's the same caps I just posted about. I just bottled 2 cases of beer and I can twist the caps with minimal force. Im using the same capper I've always used and never had a bad seal. I think this is 2 cases of beer that's ****ed. Makes me sad. Same damn cap.

 

[MaxStout]

A gross of caps for $10--yikes. They're $3-$4 at the LHBS. Funny, the Amazon reviews for OP's expensive caps are mostly 4 and 5-star. But then...