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Can you re-cap bottles with twist off lids? Like Mike's hard lemonade? If so, what is a cheap capper to start out with?
 
No.
Use non-twist offs.

Any capper will do. A hand wing capper or bench capper.

I find the bench easier when capping several bottles as long as they are tall enough. When capping short or just a few bottles I prefer the wing capper.

Mine are old. The bench capper is at least in it's third generation of use and the wing capper in it's second. An all metal Italian model. Couldn't say what new models are reliable.
 
I’ve heard there are people who say that it works fine and others that say it doesn’t. I have only ever used non-twist off and they work great. Also, people say you need to be more careful with carbonation in the twist off bottles because the glass is thinner and can’t take quite as much pressure.
 
I agree. Best to use crown caps and bottles that take crown caps or use wine bottles and cork them..BUT if your mead is still (not carbonated) and you have suitably degassed the mead before bottling then at a pinch you could re-use old twist-off caps, the one caveat being that you should plan on drinking the batch sooner rather than allowing it to age for any significant length of time. Those re-used caps may not be so airtight...
 
You can cap twistoff bottles with standard crown caps, but some cappers won't grab the bottle properly and I don't know which ones work for that. Also the glass is thinner and there's greater risk of cracking bottles.
 
Can you re-cap bottles with twist off lids? Like Mike's hard lemonade? If so, what is a cheap capper to start out with?
thats a negative, ghost rider

Capper- so far ,I'm still using my Red Baron Wing capper. its plastic and easy to use(magnetic cap cup)on standard 12 ounce longnecks.
Has to do with the neck size .
I'm still in search of a bench capper for even easier solo operation and I can use any bottle I wish,but the one I'm after is on back order until August 2019.
 
thats a negative, ghost rider

Capper- so far ,I'm still using my Red Baron Wing capper. its plastic and easy to use(magnetic cap cup)on standard 12 ounce longnecks.
Has to do with the neck size .
I'm still in search of a bench capper for even easier solo operation and I can use any bottle I wish,but the one I'm after is on back order until August 2019.
So the Red Baron is ok to get my feet wet?
 
So the Red Baron is ok to get my feet wet?

You betcha. I started with that model and it worked like a champ for 1000-plus bottles. When I switched to a bench capper I gave the Red Baron to a buddy and he still uses it. It may not reach certain stubby bottles (e.g., Aussie stubbies), but no problem for Sierra Nevada style stubbies, 12 oz. long necks, and 22 oz. bombers.
 
So the Red Baron is ok to get my feet wet?
absolutely. Mine works just fine, I'm just looking for a bench capper to make my bottling day a little easier since I dont always have my wife to help bottling. She fills then sends it to me and I cap,one by one. I've adjusted my solo bottling day to setting my case of bottles on the floor or short bench , fill all the bottle with my wand then carry it to my countertop and cap them.
 
absolutely. Mine works just fine, I'm just looking for a bench capper to make my bottling day a little easier since I dont always have my wife to help bottling. She fills then sends it to me and I cap,one by one. I've adjusted my solo bottling day to setting my case of bottles on the floor or short bench , fill all the bottle with my wand then carry it to my countertop and cap them.

My wife used to help me bottle and then one day I asked her to come and help and she just stayed watching her TV show. So now I fill and set an uncrimped cap on the bottle and then crimp them all at once. I’ve been using a Red Baron since I started bottling. I now use cut resistant gloves while capping now after reading about an injury someone on this forum experienced when one of the wings of his capper broke.
 
Funny, I started collecting bottle cappers many years ago. I've used every one of them. Some are probably 75 years old. They all work. Although I've gotten really good at digging glass out of my fingers.
 
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