Capper broke, what to do?

[McManus]

Our Red Baron capper broke seven bottles in on a 5 gallon batch. Few LHBS in the Washington DC area, and those we do have are closed on Sundays and Mondays. Net, earliest we can start capping again is Tuesday evening, 48 hours after priming. What to do?

We siphoned back to five gallon carboy and moved to cold garage to slow process. Will we need to reprime after 48 hours? Also don't want to worry about making bottle bombs.

First batch, really hoping we can get more than seven bottles out of this!!!

 

[flars]

Our Red Baron capper broke seven bottles in on a 5 gallon batch. Few LHBS in the Washington DC area, and those we do have are closed on Sundays and Mondays. Net, earliest we can start capping again is Tuesday evening, 48 hours after priming. What to do?

We siphoned back to five gallon carboy and moved to cold garage to slow process. Will we need to reprime after 48 hours? Also don't want to worry about making bottle bombs.

First batch, really hoping we can get more than seven bottles out of this!!!

You could try taking the bell off the capper and tapping the caps on with a hammer like in the old days.

 

[prpromin]

Since you siphoned it back, I'd suggest warming it back up and letting the yeast east your priming sugar. When you come to round two of bottling, reprime and bottle as normal. Since the sugar is 100% fermentable (and since you probably used ~5 oz for a 5 gallon batch) it should add nothing perceptible to flavor.

Good luck

 

[adiochiro3]

Since you siphoned it back, I'd suggest warming it back up and letting the yeast east your priming sugar. When you come to round two of bottling, reprime and bottle as normal. Since the sugar is 100% fermentable (and since you probably used ~5 oz for a 5 gallon batch) it should add nothing perceptible to flavor.

Good luck

^this^ is perfect advice under the circumstances.

 

[McManus]

Thank you, we have moved the carboy back into the house.

Since we've already bottled some and I'm not sure how much sugar will ferment away in 48 hours, do you think we should add less sugar the second time around (like 3 or 4 oz), or should we add the full amount? Or how long do we wait for all the original sugar priming to ferment away so we can try again?

Thank you so much

 

[Scratch]

For future emergencies, Annapolis Homebrew is open noon-4:00 on Sundays. Maybe a 2-hour round trip or so, from Arlington? Great store.

Edit: Also open Mondays. This store has unusually convenient hours for people who both brew and have a job.

 

[BigFloyd]

Wing cappers don't like certain kinds of bottles (with the narrow ring below the mouth). Don't waste your money on another one. If the store has an Agata super bench capper, upgrade to that.

 

[unionrdr]

I got the Super Agata bench capper after the bell on my red baron capper stretched out just enough not to seal well. Def a better capper that can cap any kind of botles the red baron has trouble with.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Since we've already bottled some and I'm not sure how much sugar will ferment away in 48 hours, do you think we should add less sugar the second time around (like 3 or 4 oz), or should we add the full amount? Or how long do we wait for all the original sugar priming to ferment away so we can try again?

Thank you so much

This is a tricky one, you really have no way of knowing how much of the priming sugar has fermented out. 2-3 weeks at 70 degrees should be enough time to ferment it out, then reprime and bottle. I know, NOT the answer you wanted

Another approach would be to bottle it asap, and after 3 weeks if it is flat, add a measured amount of sugar to each bottle, or buy carb tabs.

 

[IslandLizard]

+1 on checking the suitability of the bottles, although you may simply have a dud capper. I have an all-metal wing capper that's been going strong for years. The bench cappers are the most universal.

5 ounces is quite high already, I doubt even as much as an ounce gets consumed within the first 24 hours, particularly if the beer was cold to start with. I'd bottle it tonight or tomorrow at last with no extra sugar addition. It may end up a tad flatter than originally planned. Time will tell. If need be, you can always add a bit more to the remaining bottles and recap after a few weeks.

I hope your sanitation has been thorough. Each time you tinker with your beer you risk infection.

Another vote for Annapolis Homebrew, which is actually located in Severna Park, about 10 miles north of Annapolis. They are truly awesome with their large and wide inventory and customer oriented hours!

FYI, Maryland Homebrew in Columbia is also open on Sundays from 12-4.

 

[placated]

Must have been going around. I broke that exact same capper bottling a batch this weekend. Luckily I only had 3 more to go when it broke.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[notixx]

another suggestion would be to grab some soda in swing top bottles and clean and use those. I have seen them in the organic section at my grocery store. they're larger in size but it would save your batch