Bottling woes

[guitarsophist]

I use mostly the squat Sierra Nevada bottles and 22 oz. bombers that had craft brew in them, but I have also used the taller 12 oz bottles from Sam Adams, Mendocino, and others with no problem, all with my Red Baron wing capper. There is no indentation on the caps, and it is easy to work. I throw out screw tops and other non-standard bottles. Someone gave me some Pacifico bottles, but these are thin with a different kind of ridge around the top, so I don't think the wing capper could grab them. I threw those out too.

John

 

[Justibone]

One reason not to use a benchtop capper: you don't have a benchtop.

When we get a house someday I'll have a workbench. Until then the kitchen counter has to make do.

 

[AluminumGerbil]

The one I used was bolted to a 2x2 piece of plywood. Stabilized it quite well.

 

[jlc767]

I bottled an IPA the other day...

Same thing happened to me. Used an old, crappy capper and it was a nightmare. Payday is this Friday and I'm investing in a new, higher-quality capper. ><

 

[Ichthy]

One thing to keep in mind is that the bell in the wing cappers can be removed by unscreweing it. If the bell comes unscrewd you may not be pressing the caps down far enough. Make sure the bell is secured tightly in the capper. It should take very little pressure to properly seal a pop top bottle.

 

[Homercidal]

Even though I have never had a problem with my red wing capper, I still highly recommend getting a bench capper. I have an old one that a friend gave me when I first started and it's been awesome.

Look on Ebay and see all of the bench cappers for not much money and tell me it's not worth it!

 

[xoltri]

I use a bench capper with screw tops. Works great!

 

[rico567]

I got the red wing capper with my original kit....never had any problems with it, but I switched to grandpa's old bench capper because of arthritis in my wrists, and never looked back.
I cap all sorts of bottles, and have with both cappers- Sam Adams, Schlafly, Red Hook, Dogfish Head, Boulder Beer, Michelob, Saranac....the list goes on. No problems with any. I think you've got something pretty fundamentally wrong here.