Can u over crimp bottles?

[Davetct]

I had a brew awhile back ago that I didn't get the caps crimped on good.sierra Nevada bottles I think it was but anyhow I use a hand crimper and crimp hard.Busted two bottles of my IPA opening them .yeah I know.that sucks anyon else ever had this problem.tnx

 

[bruteforce]

How are you opening them? The only time i've ever broken a bottle on opening was putting the cap on the edge of the counter and hitting it

 

[jbaysurfer]

I've busted them while crimping them before, but never have I broken them when opening them. You sure it's not your bottle opener?

Edit: I've noticed for some reason that sometimes, certain bottle openers don't work well with certain bottles..thus the reason I ask.

 

[jwelch1103]

I broke the top off a bottle once by "over crimping", the first time I bottled beer. I suppose you could have stress cracked them while crimping by applying a bit too much pressure and then they could've given up the ghost so to speak when you opened them.

 

[agrazela]

Sierra Nevada uses those shorty 12oz er's, right? The necks on those shorties are not as tough as those on the taller form 12's.

 

[Davetct]

Thanks for all of the response. Using then same opener I have always used. I ditched the Sierra Nevada bottles after I had that problem. I must be cranking them down to hard. Two of the last six have broke. On an ipa I made. Taking about crying over spilt beer... I had never heard of breaking them good excuse to start kegging I'm so ready!!!!!

 

[C-Rider]

Sierra Nevada uses those shorty 12oz er's, right? The necks on those shorties are not as tough as those on the taller form 12's.

Not sure of that. I only use Sierra Nevada bottles and have been recycling them for a few years. Never had a broken neck or a chipped one.

 

[Davetct]

Thanks folks. The rest I have opened been real easy with them and didn't have another problem. Tnx dave

 

[Hello]

You probably can over crimp but it would take effort.

 

[duboman]

Sometimes bottles just break......

I doubt it was the crimp


Sent from the Commune

 

[Davetct]

And that's why I should start kegging

 

[unionrdr]

I broke one or two SN bottles with the red baron wing capper I had. Too much elbow grease. I now have the super agata bench capper & no worries since. Although I still gave away the SN bottles to a local member who needed more bottles asap for him & his son.

 

[Agate]

If your SN bottles are the same as the ones here, the "lip" that the crimper grabs is too close to the mouth of the bottle for it to work effectively. They really only work with a bench capper. Put it side-by-side to a regular 12-oz bottle and you'll see the difference.

Of course, the bottles in your area might be different.

 

[JimRausch]

Yeah, I've had several bottles over the past couple years that the neck broke off when I opened them. They were poorly carbonated too. I figure that I stressed them and probably created a crack when bottling(Red Baron). The CO2 partially leaked out, so they didn't explode, but snapped when I applied the torque of the opener. 1st couple were Sierras, a few were Dogfish but I had at least one Sam Adams bottle crack, and those are usually good bottles. Oh well. I'm now a little more careful when crimping.

 

[worlddivides]

I have never broken bottles by over-crimping...

BUT I have broken TONS of bottles by simply opening them. That's one of the reasons why I am super duper careful whenever I open bottles now.

I'd say I've broken bottles while opening them... at a rate of maybe 6 bottles a year every year for lots and lots and lots of years.

Usually it's only the very top of the bottle that breaks and usually leaves a circular brown ring of glass. I don't think it's ever shattered or gotten in the bottle, so I always through away the broken glass and then drink the beer in the bottle when it happens.

 

[Davetct]

Yeah I think I figured it out. I was grabbing the top lip, barely and just popping the top of the bottle. Had to be on my ipa Thanks for the help. Let's brew!!!

 

[Zekk]

I've had trouble in the past either breaking bottles while crimping or while opening. I take it a lot easier when I cap no. The tops I broke while opening were all Anchor Steam tear drop bottles, plus all but one turned out to be crazy gushers so I figured it was a combination of bad bottles, over crimping and over carbonation. Still use those tear drop bottles but I'm much more careful with them.