Collecting bottle caps...

[DerCribben]

So I've been collecting beer bottle caps for a bit as a way to help encourage me to try new beers and to give me a memento of them when they are gone. For a while there I just had this big zip lok bag full of caps until I figured out what to do with them and started gluing magnets into them and keeping them on my fridge. I only have two rules, 1) I need to be the one who drank the beer the cap came off of (no exceptions) and 2) All of the caps "should" be different (even if the difference is subtle, I break this rule for 120 minute and occasionally if I get a cap thats in better condition than the one I have now). I am a beer snob, so theres a lot of awesome beers in there BUT! I am also NOT a beer snob and the name of the game is expansion so you will definitely see some poo beer caps in there too. Here's what I got so far:

The top seven caps on the farthest column to the left are all Finnish beers, my wife is Finnish so we go "back home" a bit. Unfortunately for me (an ale guy) Finland is the land of lagers but I have found a few that I really dig.

 

[Dutch218]

Heineken seems to be on there twice.

 

[Dutch218]

And Sam Adams.

 

[Guerrilla]

I have a huge cap collection myself, many different... about 1000 from the local Terrapin Brewery. I'm still trying to find something to do with them!

 

[DerCribben]

Heineken seems to be on there twice.

You missed one, there's three, one has teeth marks and the other two are different incarnations of the cap (one with white, one with chrome)

 

[bob1852]

Cool project! What kinda magnets did you use?

 

[DerCribben]

I have a huge cap collection myself, many different... about 1000 from the local Terrapin Brewery. I'm still trying to find something to do with them!

I'm pretty sure this is where I am going to end up whenever I travel to a new region/country/etc I immediately start scoping out the bottle cap assortment at the beer stores. What drives me crazy is that some of the best microbrews out there still use plain gold caps!!!

 

[Guerrilla]

I'm pretty sure this is where I am going to end up whenever I travel to a new region/country/etc I immediately start scoping out the bottle cap assortment at the beer stores. What drives me crazy is that some of the best microbrews out there still use plain gold caps!!!

Well ill say this... beer adventuring tends to be pretty addictive.

 

[DerCribben]

Cool project! What kinda magnets did you use?

Thanks!

At first I was using craft magnets I got from Amazon but I found some super cheap ones at Wal Mart that are 10x as strong magnetically. The adhesive is caulking tube style construction adhesive.

 

[DerCribben]

Well ill say this... beer adventuring tends to be pretty addictive.

Yeah, I love it. We're going to Finland from oct 14 to the 29th and we are hopefully going to take a train to Russia and a ferry to Estonia so I can try and grab a bunch there too!

 

[BillBeer247]

I do the same thing with my caps, but my collection is currently smaller.

I also find it annoying when a brewery uses the same cap for different beers or just a plain old generic cap

 

[Tex]

I try to save all of mine if I remember not to throw them in the trash. I'm going to make a table or counter top with them. Maybe a mosaic also.

 

[DerCribben]

I do the same thing with my caps, but my collection is currently smaller.

I also find it annoying when a brewery uses the same cap for different beers or just a plain old generic cap

Yup, drives me nuts, a beer that should be considered royalty ought to wear a proper crown lol...

 

[DerCribben]

I try to save all of mine if I remember not to throw them in the trash. I'm going to make a table or counter top with them. Maybe a mosaic also.



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Tex, that is a much bigger version of what my collection looked like before I magnetized em, and decided on a one per rule. Well, a sliding one per rule at least lol... When it finally comes time for me to make something cool like a bar top then that rule may soften a bit

 

[Guerrilla]

What kind of magnets do you use/ can you get them for cheap somewhere im guessing?

 

[dkwolf]

I try to save all of mine if I remember not to throw them in the trash. I'm going to make a table or counter top with them. Maybe a mosaic also.

I'm in the middle of remodeling my basement, but when I'm done one of the first pieces of furniture I'm building for the new space will be a small bar. The counter top will either be solid wood, with an inset row of caps set under clear epoxy, or a full top of caps (over a hardwood base, with a wood border)

 

[DerCribben]

What kind of magnets do you use/ can you get them for cheap somewhere im guessing?

I use these: http://m.lowes.com/mt/www.lowes.com...Magnet&pl=1&currentURL=?Ntt=Magnet&facetInfo=

Thought I got them at Walmart but I just realized its actually lowes. Those are cheap and super strong. I use "Loctite Power Grab" to stick them in to the caps.

 

[Guerrilla]

That seems easy enough, thanks for the info! You ever use the magnetic strip you can cut and stick onto things... its really cheap ($8 for 25' at walmart)