I would get the one without the spring.
Sanitation. It's easier to clean the one without. Maybe just piece of mind for me.
I guess that's something to consider but the only extra part is the spring itself. The whole thing breaks down into four easily cleaned parts. The spring less one that I have drips (fails to seal) considerably more than the spring loaded one that I use. Using the spring loaded one I normally loose less than two ounces of beer to the drip tray while bottling a 5 gallon batch and that includes both dripping and overflow from overfilling a bottle or two. Actually the two types are close to evenly matched in my opinion but I always grab the spring loaded one. For cleaning I just disassemble and drop everything into a vat of PBW and let it soak for a while along with the spigot parts and anything else that will fit in the vat. I drop it in the bucket of Star San before use.
If you haven't read through this thread, bottle over your dishwasher with the door open, and use your dishwasher as a drying rack for your bottles and bottling gear. Makes clean up simple and your drips and such will end up on the inside of your dishwasher rather than on your floor.New Brewer here.
My first 5 gallons are in the fermenter bubbling happily away. I'm now thinking about the bottling stage. I have a Williams kit. The bottling bucket has an inverted valve much like those described here. Does anyone have any tips/tricks for the Williams rig?
Great site for the newbie!
Are the clamps/clips necessary to attach the bottling wand to the spigot? If so could anyone point me where to find them ?
I guess the only downside is that you have to remove the clips to clean the wand.
Great thread !
I just bought a new capper for my past brew. I finially got rid of the winged looking capper I got with my kit. I got in touch with one of my beer mentors and told him I wanted the last capper I will ever buy. He suggested the Super Agata Bench Capper (more details here). I really liked using it when I figured it out. There were no english instructions available.
I am looking to go to a keg system but until then I will probably stick with bottles because they are plentiful from my beer drinking friends and I can easily give them away.
I did a review on it for my youtube channel if you want more information. Review on Super Agata Bench Capper
I have the "regular" Agata bench capper, the one that doesn't automatically adjust to height. Still...it's a great capper. And if you ever cap stubby bottles, the bench unit is nice to have, as wing cappers don't work with those bottles.
I just bought a new capper for my past brew. I finially got rid of the winged looking capper I got with my kit. I got in touch with one of my beer mentors and told him I wanted the last capper I will ever buy. He suggested the Super Agata Bench Capper (more details here). I really liked using it when I figured it out. There were no english instructions available.
I am looking to go to a keg system but until then I will probably stick with bottles because they are plentiful from my beer drinking friends and I can easily give them away.
I did a review on it for my youtube channel if you want more information. Review on Super Agata Bench Capper
Thanks so much for putting this video together. This looks like a great product. Although I will say to those who don't want to spend this much on a capper - The red wing capper (forget the name) is FAR superior to the black one that you have. I've had no problems with stubbys or with the arms not going down in tandem with each other.
Are you talking about the Red Baron Bottle Capper
? I have no experience with this one because of the quality of the black one turned me off to those designs. Well maybe the black one was decent quality for the beginner setup and not meant to be the last capper you will buy. Glad to know that there is a middle ground between the black one and the super agata.
I didnt want to spend that much on one either, but when I thought about how much beer I will be brewing down the road and how long it will take me to build my kegerator and go to kegs, I decided to buy once and cry once.
I have the "regular" Agata bench capper, the one that doesn't automatically adjust to height. Still...it's a great capper. And if you ever cap stubby bottles, the bench unit is nice to have, as wing cappers don't work with those bottles.
I am not saying a bench-model isn't better (many special Wicked Weed bottles I can't make my wing-capper work with) but stubbies? What kind? I use my wing capper with Sierra Nevada, Founders, Woodchucks, and even Green Flash bottles just fine.
Gotcha - never seen that beer before, but the lip of the bottle is much like the WW bottles I was talking about. I can totally see how they won't work.
I have a few cases of these.
![]()
But yes, the Sierra Nevada stubbies worked well for me back when I used a wing capper.
Oh, I want some of that...
Regarding temperature/placement - I had the 1L ones in one big bag and the rest in the different bag. The bags were covered with the thick clothes to keep them away from the light sources. Both bags were placed in the corner of the room - each beside other. So I assume they had very same conditions. So let's see later.
I asked because I wanted to check whether this is not some "common feature".
In the past I had over carbonated beers, but it was caused by hurrying up of the fermentation - I was bottling after ~7-10 days in primary. Now I ferment 3 weeks in the primary, then bottle. Now the beer is more clear, the taste is also better. But I noticed the carb level is little bit lower - what can be corrected by adding more dextrose, but I would assume the behavior will be the same in all king of bottles.
But as I mentioned - I might kept more or less air space in the different bottles (I can't measure it easily). Maybe this can be the source of lower carb, I do not know.
OK, so it's been almost 1 month and the 1L bottle's carbonation did not improve. I assume it will never improve. I was thinking about opening them and add some dextrose to improve the carbonation, but when check the PET bottles by pressing them - they are pretty nice pressurized, so I will not do it. I do not know how much pressure they can handle. Anyway - very strange - the bottles are pressurized nicely and the carbonation level when drinking is poor when comparing to the one from 0.5L glass bottles. I will simply drink it as it is and next time I will use just 0.5L glass bottles and maybe I will test again some of the PETs just to ensure it is a general problem or just one batch problem.