Capper problems

[mtoth1982]

So I was bottling a beer yesterday using the hand capper and had a lot of trouble getting the capper to completely depress. On one bottle the neck shattered. I switched caps and it seemed to work better but it still felt like it might break a bottle.

2 questions: 1. has anyone had this problem with the hand capper? 2. The case of unopened bottles was on the floor and it's possible some glass got in some bottles, I capped them anyway. If I strain the beer will it be okay to drink?

Thanks

Matt

 

[cegan09]

What kind of bottles? I've noticed my wing capper has issues with the shorter stubby bottles (think Sierra Nevada) because the bit it grabs on the neck is closer to the top of the bottle. You may have to try a different bottle style, or move to a bench capper, which is my plan.

 

[20grit]

Check for a sharp point on the part of the capper that touches the bottle. It could be pressing on the bottle neck and creating a stress point. Also, make sure you're pushing straight down. I've found that uneven pressure resulted in broken bottles.

Otherwise, it is probably a bottle shape issue.

 

[estricklin]

Probably just a fluke, or odd shaped bottle. You could get a bench capper, but I personally hate them. I love the 2 handed, it's much faster. Bench capper probably does a better job, but I've never had any leak. I've bottled a lot of beer.

 

[Ruxi]

Probably just a fluke, or odd shaped bottle. You could get a bench capper, but I personally hate them. I love the 2 handed, it's much faster. Bench capper probably does a better job, but I've never had any leak. I've bottled a lot of beer.

And I just broke my bench capper. The little stem inside snapped...I am going to stick with the faster/smaller/cheaper cappers

 

[Jwin]

There's a few threads around about this but certain bottles are thinner than others around the neck, and the collar height also effects usability. New Belgium bottles are horrible. Super thin around the neck. Some stubby bottles have a strange collar height that wing cappers don't agree with.

As per the glass in the beer, I would be hesitant. If you know which bottles they are for sure, and you can manage to finely strain them without making a mess, your probably OK. Maybe. Won't kill you but might screw up yer innards.
The glass should settle at the bottom of any bottles as well.

But, it was me, I'd learn from it and toss them, or at least only pour the first 2/3 of the bottles and dump the rest.

 

[kristiismean]

I brew a lot with my brother in law, we had this problem with the broken bottles.

the quick fix was to not let him cap anymore...

then because he was not allowed to cap with the hand capper, he bought a bench capper.

all is good, we can cap any bottle. we accidentally caps a twist, and guess it worked find. (found it when we popped the top)

 

[Vandulus]

I still have my wing style capper as a backup, but broke a few bottles due to over tightening. I have since switched over to a Queen Lux Professional. Just bottled a 5 gallon batch last night and this is a joy to use. I tried a cheaper Ferrari bech model, but it never seemed to do a good job and the plastic seemed a bit flimsy at times. The caps were never quite tightly sealed, so much that some I could press against the cap lip and hear the Co2 escaping.

 

[mtoth1982]

Thanks for all the advice everyone!, looks like I need a bench capper